Urgent Care :: Little white worms

[ivonaa]

Guys help! yesterday I had a call from a good friend of mine, and she was so panic that i can bearly understand her... Her's her problem: she has 2RES, and one of them arrived in her home 3 days ago. And she put her in the tank with the other, befour checking if the new one is ok. So after couple of hours she notise little white worms (1-2mm) in the tank
I can't send you a pics cos after she sow the worms, she did 100% water change... She put the two turtles in deferent tanks. I have no idea what this is
And the most sad part is that when she called a vet, he told her to give them chicken all week, cos the turts need strainght to fight with the parasites Lucky for the babys she called me.
So guys please help. And she can't write here cos she doesn't speak English...

[marisa]

Do they move? Does she have anything in the tank like aquatic plants? If so, something could have come in the tank with them. If by chance they're planaria, they're harmless to turtles.

If she thinks the worms are from the new turtle, it would be best to separate them (although the other turtle could already have ingested some of the new one's waste) and bring stool samples from both to be tested.

The advice on feeding chicken for strength to fight parasites is strange to say the least. Having the stool(s) analyzed for parasites would be more helpful---then appropriate medication could be prescribed if needed.

[moldygrape]

it might be that a fly has layed eggs in your filter this happen to me once it was sick !!!!! my turtle was fine she should clean it out like she did. is the turtle full of them i dont see why a new turtl can introduce worms ive never heard that.

[SpotsMama]

A new turtle could introduce internal parasites, which could leave the turtle's body and then be visible in the tank. If the worms are internal parasites, they need to be identified and cured. A vet will need to tell whether there are parasites, and if so, what kind. Different medications are required to treat different parasites which is why a vet is needed for the identification. And probably if one turtle has them, they both do since they spent some time together sharing a tank.

However, regardless of whether the worms are parasites or only free living worms or larvae, the tank will need a thorough cleaning. You can wash everything with a mild vinegar solution then rinse thoroughly before refilling with water.

[ivonaa]

Thanks guys, I told her everythink, so now she's looking for a good vet. I will let you know if there's any news.

[ivonaa]

Guys I'm gonna go nuts! I will kick the stupid vet a** He told to my friend that chicken meat contains supstance that helps turtles to get rid of the parasites, and I'm just talking silly thinks about turtles diet older than year (these two have about 1.5 and 2 years) So cos I'm not vet, his opinion is more precious than mine... And about getting the parasites identified... Well according to him, there's no need, The chicken will cure anythink
All this is so sad, and I'm very angry. I told her to make the analysis and to go for second opinion but there's no hope... Only think that she asked me was: so, wat is the supstance in the chicken that kills parasites????

[SpotsMama]

How awful. Can you get your friend to look on the internet for accurate information? What language does she speak?

The hope is that the worms aren't internal parasites at all but free living worms or larvae. If so, they probably won't harm the turtles - the turtles may consider them food - and frequent and thorough cleaning may eventually rid the tank of them.

There so many things wrong with the advice your friend got it's hard to respond to it. What a shame that an irresponsible person like that is telling people who need help what to do.

[ivonaa]

Oh my god, I totaly freak out... I feel so sorry about the turts... I will look for some information on internet, and I will take some water samples and poop and I will look for somethink on microscope at faculty... And if I find somethink that may look like parasite (worm ) I will consulte with my microbiology or inverte profesors and we will try to determinate the species... And than I will try to find some medicine or somethink... And I realy hope that I won't find anythink under the microscope... And I ll tell her, that I will do all the work so that she doesn't have to bother with her turts health...
P.S. The biggest problem here in Macedonia is that there are no herp vets, so the ordinary vets think that RES are tough enough to serrvive everythink, so they just simply don't bother to learn somethink about RES

[SpotsMama]

I understand. The university is a very good place to seek help. I hope it works out.

[ivonaa]

I was long time gone, but here I am with some terrible pics This are the pics under microscope:




My prof. told me that he need some time to determinate the parasites... So anybody of you seen somethink like this???

[SpotsMama]

Well that's about as ugly as they come. Has your friend been cleaning the tank thoroughly? Are the worms still showing up after the tank is cleaned?

[ivonaa]

Yeah she did 3 or 4 times 100% water change and dezifection... Amd one good friend of mine told me to tell her to try clean the tank with KMnO4... To take out the turts and the equipment and to leave cupple of cm water in the tank. Then to drop slowly KMnO4 untill the water turns red. And than to put the equipment in the water and to clean everythink...
What do you think about this? And I hope that my prof. will determinate the parasite these days...

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Sorry,never seen anything like it!

[SpotsMama]

I don't know anything about kmno4 but found a little about on the internet. Apparently it is sometimes used as a disinfectant. It's highly explosive in the presence of certain acids.

Alternative disinfectants would be either vinegar or bleach. Vinegar is the safest. Bleach is an excellent disinfectant - more powerful than vinegar - but it needs to be completely removed from the habitat after the cleaning. If bleach is used, remove the turtles and anything else living from the tank, clean thoroughly with dilute bleach, then rinse well and let the tank and other equipment stand and dry until there is no more bleach smell before refilling with clean water.

I curious to know if the worms are still showing up in the turtle tank even after your friend cleaned it.

[ILUV_Rocky]

sorry if this is a dumb question, is it contagious to humans?
my poor res got lots of little thin worms in his tank. I cleaned it like a mad woman with vinegar, im afraid they might have some in those sponges in the filter. Also my mom had brought these guppies for him to eat, before that i had never seen them.