Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just discovered today that my turtle is swimming around with little white string-like worms or parasites. they seem to cling and crawl around the side of his tank. i don't know what they are or if they are good or bad but anyone with any info about this should e-mail me at ten@earthlink.net. i think that they are gross!! please help me i don't want my turtle to die!!

I have found some worms that sound similar in my tank as well. They are about a 1/4 - 1/3 of a centimetre in length and are about as thick as a hair. I noticed them in the evening, the light was still on and the black rock i have in the tank provided a dark background to let the light show these worms up in the tank. They apear to be white bordering on transluscent but this could be a trick of the light and they could be more clear than they appear to be with the light shining on them in front of a dark background. They also apear to be on the side of the tank, sticking fairly close to the glass. I can't be sure if they aren't anywhere else in the tank.

Any information you or anyone else has would be appreciated.

yep, that sounds like what i had. i just cleaned everything in the tank with really hot water and let my turtle dry out for a couple of hours. i think it might have been because i moved the tank near a window but it also might be worms inside your turtle. i would take a sample of his poo, you're going to have to do this if you need to take him to the vet anyways, and carefully inspect it with a magnifying glass and a toothe pick, if you see those worms in the poo then your turtle has worms and you'll NEED to take it to the vet asap. if you've cleaned everything, i mean everything gravel, plants, filters, heaters, etc. and your turtle still acts normal and eats normal and you don't see anything wrong, than i wouldn't worry. this is what i did when my turtles tank had this problem and it has been a couple or months and i've not seen another worm and my turtles behavior is still the same and he's still active. BUT IF YOU WANT JUST CALL A VET AND TAKE A SAMPLE OF THE WORMS AND YOUR WATER WITH YOU TO THE VISIT!! let me know how it turns out!! thank you!