# Help! Worms!



## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

Okay.. So have a pair of Vulture Point pumilio and a trio of basti's in temp tubs currently. And they were putting on a show just now and calling their hearts out and courting.. I went to admire them (since this was the first confirmation of the VP being a male) and noticed that inside the water droplets on the edges of the tubs there were a bunch of white worms!! To fat/short to be the general nematodes we usually see.. and not chubby enough to be fruit fly larvae... We do use banana's in our tubs so I know we get larva from the flies in it. BUT I am panicking now.. I know we need to get fecals and swabs done.. but money is tight right now.. Can someone with good experience with WC frogs and parasitic worms please chime in and possibly post pictures?? We wanna be sure these are not life threatening so we can atleast rest easy until fecals and meds are in order.. HELP!

Brandon


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

also sorry for no pics.. so small I cant get a good focus on them with my iphone. and no other options for pictures. Looking at them they do kinda resemble online photos of nemerteans/nematodes.. The almost look "ribbed" like an earthworm would. The move around like a maggot or caterpillar and seem to have a "needle" on the rear end. Hope this helps a bit.. We're freaking!


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

BURN EVERYTHING!!!!! Seriously though just do a CO2 treatment...


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

hey i wanted a professional frogger to chime in not a pro butt sniffer. hahaha


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## cbreon (Apr 25, 2005)

someone once said to me 'if you can see them, they're probably not frog related parasites.' --its been a pretty good rule of thumb 

That being said some pics could help us make some guesses.

What is the substrate in your temp enclosures? One of the more common white worms I see are grindal worms, they look pretty gross, but are pretty much harmless.... do some google searches and see if thats what your worms look like. There are also other types of gnats and flies that have tiny, white, worm-like maggots...


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

okay, so the grindal worms are the worms I am actually familiar with and not the nemerteans I originally claimed. If I had access to a good camera that could take a photo of something so small I would be able to post pictures.. The substrate is a mix of the "jungle bed" mixed with some sphag and tree fern. A rough ABG if you will. topped with the usual leaf litter and pothos clippings. 

They are not grindal worms, maybe these are the nematodes I am always hearing about.


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## cbreon (Apr 25, 2005)

OK, so, some other possibilities include nematodes, nemertean, or some sort of maggots or larvae...

One way to know a nemertean is they typically can be seen probing around with a proboscis, waving back and forth...do some searches to find out more about nemertean and nematodes for that matter...


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## Nismo95 (Jul 30, 2011)

so.. after some careful examining of these worms today and the idea about fungus gnat larvae I think you nailed it.. And the fact of what you said if you can see it its not harmful.. may not be always accurate but its letting us breathe easier today. They are a maggot of some sort it would appear.. So either from dead flies or fungus gnats. Just caught me off guard when only 2 of the 4 temp tubs had them and only the 2 with frogs.. which are both WC imports.


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## oldlady25715 (Nov 17, 2007)

I stopped putting lettuce for spring tails and fruit for the flies in my tanks because I've seen the little worms that come with them eating eggs laid in leaf litter. The frogs seemed to figure it out and started laying on the broms, but it was still a valuable lesson learned. 

Its a little unappetizing to think that I accidentally bred worms from the same lettuce I eat in salads.


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## frogfreak (Mar 4, 2009)

oldlady25715 said:


> Its a little unappetizing to think that I accidentally bred worms from the same lettuce I eat in salads.


Lol!!!!!!!!


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