The best way to start leech farming is by purchasing mother or breeding leeches. You can buy leeches in any season, but the best time to purchase them is in early spring, early summer, or early autumn.

How much space do you need?
To start, you can begin leech farming with just a 30-square-meter space. This area can be a bedroom, a kitchen, a parking space, or even a rooftop, as long as it is covered.

First step: Equipment

In a 30-square-meter space, you can start with up to 10,000 larval leeches or 2,000 mother leeches. The length of a larval leech is about 1 centimeter, while a mother leech can grow up to 10 centimeters or more. To accommodate the leeches, you need to install shelving in your room. You can use shelves available in stores or metal shelves made of 2×2 cm iron frames.

After setting up the shelves, you will need water containers to keep the leeches. You can also use aquariums, but they are expensive due to their glass material and can be easily damaged during transportation.

After the plastic tubs, you will need inlet and outlet hoses or pipes, as well as inlet and outlet water valves.

Then you will need to a water tank for storing water

Then, you will need a water filtration system to ensure the water is suitable for the leeches.

Then you will need aTDS meter for measuring TDS(total dissolved solid), ph meter for measuring amount of ph inside water, EC meter and chlorine meter

Placing a mesh on the edges of the plastic tub to prevent leeches from escaping.

Then you need to an air conditioner ( heating and cooling system) for controlling room temperature.

Fogger or humidifier for increasing room humidity!

Brick or brush for leeches to shed their skin.

After providing room and equipment your room now is ready to receive the leeches

Second Step: Purchasing leeches

You can buy leech from Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.

For buying the leeches you will have three options
I recommend Medicinalis or Orientalist varieties !

The best method for transporting leeches is to use Styrofoam boxes. First, place the leeches in burlap bags, then put them inside the Styrofoam boxes. Alongside them, place an ice pack or a frozen water bottle to ensure that temperature increases during the journey do not affect the leeches. Leeches are highly sensitive to heat.

Third Step: Breeding

After receiving the leeches, as I mentioned before, it is best to first purchase breeding or mother leeches.

First, tilt the plastic tubs slightly so that half of the tub is filled with water while the other half remains dry. On the dry side, place a mixture of moss and clay so that the leeches can easily move from the water to the dry area and lay their cocoons.

For shoreline preparation, the best materials are a combination of clay and moss. Then, increase the room temperature to 30°C and humidity to 90%. Under these conditions, leeches will start laying cocoons within two to three weeks. Each leech can lay between two to four cocoons, and up to fifteen larvae can emerge from each cocoon. The leeches, or larvae, emerge from the cocoon after 21 days.

It is advisable to collect the cocoons after observing them and keep them in a separate tub, as the mother leeches may harm the cocoons. Additionally, separating the larvae from the mother in the same tub can be very challenging once they have emerged

The cocoon-laying period lasts approximately four months.