Urgent Care :: PARASITES! OMG, LITTLE WHITE WORM THINGS> SUPER TINY!

[a and c]

ok, i just came home and turned on the heat lamp, and i saw these little white things, super little white things, and they were in the tank. it kinda looked like little worms on the walls of the tank.... i emediatly started cleaning the tank, top to botton and i soaked everything in hot water i also threw all of the plants in the garbage (fake plants)... can any 1 help me. what is it? are they going to come back? what should i do? i dont have a vet any where close to me! im so concerned. my babies arent going to die are they.

[a and c]

and, there seems to be nothing wrong with my babies. they are healthy and happy. no change in behaviour. not sick, they are eating well, basking like normal, no problems. i clean there tank regularly, i might feed them a little more than i should (once every 2 days), im not sure if they are boys or girls yet, and i change the water between cleanings.

[Chrisbarnett]

What you have is Planaria. They come from uneaten excess food/ waste etc in the tank. They are a member of the flatworm family and can live in both salt and freshwater. They are harmless to your turtle, and to get rid of them you need to clean everything in the tank. Get your plastic plants out of the trash if they haven't gone away yet too.. they can be cleaned.

To prevent them from reoccuring just don't feed as much.

[Chrisbarnett]

Here's some other info as well.
http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/ ... ite_worms/

[a and c]

thank you sooooooooooooo much, i was so scared. i wont feed them as much and i have been thinking of feeding them in a diffrent tank. ill keep an eye on it jus to make sure. you took alot off my shoulders, i was soo worried. i do feed them veggies and they love them, and i jus saw on google that it can be caused by carrots, and thats wat they love to eat. and i did clean it all, but im also going to get new plants. i think it might be a good idea just incase... thank you so much for the help.

[a and c]

thats exactly it. i cant believe it. thanks so much.

[Chrisbarnett]

You're welcome. Glad I could help.

[jameshermanto]

cooL!

[Rosepruner]

Hey, just so you know, I noticed a white whippy little almost hairlike worm thing, and was searching the forum, and when I found this, it made me happy. Though I don't usually have a lot of extra food around because I feed Sam in a seperate tank, so I'm not sure what's going on there...But I will give a full cleaning of the tank tommorow. Would you also recommend cleaning the filters too?

I'm still going to take a fecal sample to the vet anyway. Can't hurt to have a fecal sample analyzed just in case it is a parasite. Plus it will make me feel better.

[twyangzii]

Sorry if I am bumping up this...
But, you can just wash your filter more frequently
They're harmless .