Chinese woman’s ‘bloodthirsty’ hobby of keeping leeches as pets not quite to her parents’ taste

A Chinese white-collar worker living with her parents has discovered the perfect way to stop her parents going into her room – her hobby of keeping two bloodthirsty leeches as pets, mainland media report.

The young woman, Li Dan, who lives with her parents in Beijing, said her family now refused to enter her room because the sight of her two pet leeches living in a tank filled with water made them feel sick.

“I don’t think raising leeches is a problem,” Li was quoted as saying by the Beijing Morning Post. “My friends are making an unnecessary fuss.”

She bought the two leeches, each measuring about 3 to 4 centimetres long, online about six months ago. Li feeds them with the blood of fish, which she buys from the local food market every week and then places inside the water-filled tank with the leeches.

“The fish won’t die after their blood is sucked, which is not as scary as you may imagine,” she said.