Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey im new to the forum. Ive had my Alligator snapper for about 4 months now. Shes about a foot long and weighs about 3lbs. I just noticed the other day when i was changing her water that there were these small black worm-like things moving around on her shell and near her head. Anyone have any idea what these are?

i noticed the same thing on my bigger turtle after i got him from a lousiana turtle farm. most of these worms were red so i guess they were sort of blood sucking parasite. a leach would be black but wider and fat. i would clean the turtle off but they always seemed to come back until i put alot of small perch in the tank. i guess the perch kept the worms in check. if it is leaches your dealing with, you can remove them by hand(carefully)

Thanks, ill deffinitally try the fish and see what happens. I dont think their leaches cause they do wash off like yours did. Hopefully that works, thanks again