Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i did a water change on my tentacled snake tank today and when i got really close i noticed hundreds of tiny white worms all over the glass. they were inch worming around on the glass. while sucking out water i took a rag and whiped the glass clean. i had let the tank go for a while because im really trying to get algea to grow (iv read it benefits their skin). what i have in my tank are a few peices of drift hood, pebbles, larger rocks, and 2 fake plants. every thing was soaked in VERY hot water before put in the tank for hours/days. could the worms have come from any of that stuff? or maybe they came from the feeder fish? i just want to know where they came from and how i safely get rid of them. any help would be great, i'm scared to death im gonna lose my snakes =

Those worms are no threat to your snakes, they commonly infest tanks high in disolved wastes. Your best bet is to hydroclean the gravel and do more frequent partial water changes. The chemicals used to kill the worms are more of threat to your tanks biology and to the snakes then the worms could ever be.

thank you. i told my friend about it that has a few fish tanks, she said shes had them before and uses coppersafe? i think thats what she said, copper something. told me the worms come from the feeder fish. as long as they arnt going to harm my snakes i dont care, i want to get rid of them but i'm not worrying my butt off any more.

Copper safe uses copper ions to kill the worms, its the safest thing you could use, but that doesn't guarantee that it won't affect your snakes, Your better off trying to keep the tank little cleaner. I don't think the worms come from the gold fish directly, when you feed a large fish or in your case, snake, feeder fish in a tank, you will have a higher amount of disolved waste then what is present in a tank of flake eating fish, so the link between the worms and the fish are indirect. In either case the worms become established becuase of the high amounts of disolved waste which if not cleaned up will raise ammonia and nitrite levels.

thanks for your help. i wish i knew exactly what nitrate levels and all that tentacleds need, i test the pH and try to keep it around 6 but as for every thing else i have no clue, i cant find that information any where.

Thats an easy one, you don't want any nitrite levels or ammonia. 0 ppm. Nitrites, and ammonia are deadly to most forms of life. They are produce from waste breaking down in the tank nitrosoma and aerobic bacteria break them down into nitrates which are less harmful. if the bacteria in the tank is overwhelmed with waste then the levels will rise. The worms that are in your tank are actually helping to dispose of the extra waste and are helping your water conditions, that's why I don't suggest that you try and kill them. If you killed them without also keeping the tank cleaner, you will have problems with ammonia and nitrates. The bottom line is there is too much waste in the tank. More frequent partial water changes and hydrocleaning of the gravel will eliminate the source and the worms will disapear. That may be slower way to get rid of them, but it will be safer overall.

I had this same problem in my snapping turtle tank, and I stocked it (150 gallons) with about a hundred minnows. The water amazingly enough cleared up in a day. The fish pick at my turtle and feed off of excess food. and at a hundred of the little buggers, my turtle finishes off more than half out of boredom. She is 8" long now, so a minnow is nothing to her.
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