Tiny Black Worms

[ADestroyah@aol.com]

ADestroyah@aol.com

September 11, 2002 at 12:25 am #17721

I need a bit of advice.. Have any of you ever encountered any tiny little black worms in any of your animals enclosures? They looks almost like little baby leeches.. I know about the infamous white worms, but I’ve never heard of black ones before. I’ve had an Alligator Snapper for nearly a year now, and it has never had these in it’s tank before. They were all just living on it’s shell, and on it’s hollowed out log. I don’t think these are internal parasites.. But they do worry me. Especially since I have no idea where they’re coming from. I recently aquired a painted turtle, wild caught, and put it in isolation near the Alligator Snapper, and now the Snapper has these worms.. I suspected they came from the Painted, but surprisingly, the only place I find them is the Alligator Snapper tank. I’m worried about a potential spread to my tanks, as everyone of my reptiles is aquatic. Has anyone ever encountered these before? A little extra info.. My turtle tanks don’t have tops. My main theory is that these are just some flying insect larvae or something, and not parasites at all. It would explain why they look to be trying to stay OUT of the water. IE: Nesting on the snappers shell, and hiding log. The only relatively new thing in terms of husbandy, is I’ve started feeding my larger turtles pinkies. I offered these to all of my turtles, so I doubt they’re the culprit since only the Alligator Snapper tank currently has them.. Just to make things clear, I do not keep the painted with the snapper, just somewhat nearby. And something I’ve found strange is that only my two male Diamondbacks will eat pinkies. The female finds them, and sometimes takes them, but refuses to eat them. The males get really territorial over them, and fight.. Then the female just comes and snatches it away, and let’s it go when she’s tired of it. It’s quite the scene.

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