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Discussion on Weird worms in the trough
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Member:
drlarry
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Posted on Wednesday, Feb 7, 2007 - 8:28 pm:
Today I was filling troughs, and found a bunch of little red, wiggly, pointy-ended worms. There were many of them, probably less than half-an-inch long. Another trough had a few, and the last one had none. As I look at photos, I suppose they look most like strongyles, but I'm just not sure. I wish I'd saved some, but instead I freaked out and started scrubbing - I was SURE that I'd Google up an instant answer! What the heck were those things??
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - 6:11 am:
Hello Larry,
Hmmm, less than 1/2 inch...I don't know. While large strongyles are red and less than 1/2 inch long, finding a bunch in the trough seems unlikely unless you have some major fecal contamination from some unwormed horses. Perhaps some really good photos might help but it might require someone who specializes in invertebrates.
DrO
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - 10:37 am:
Awhile ago someone else posted about finding worms in a water trough. If you do a search, you might be able to find the post.
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Member:
ejar
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - 11:23 am:
Could be tubifex red worms, like the kind that grow in fish and turtle ponds and sold in pet stores as treats for fish. The worms eat detritis and establish easily. If you have even a light layer of muck at the bottom of the trough, you'll find them. They're a beneficial, added on purpose to turtle pond filters.
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Member:
jojo15
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Posted on Thursday, Feb 8, 2007 - 1:41 pm:
I was just going to say, my turtle aquarium gets them periodically. I panicked at first, but then they disappear if i clean more. Don't know how they get there.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Feb 9, 2007 - 6:22 am:
Tubifex huh...it does require a fair amount of dirt in the bottom and then decaying organic material to maintain and how did they get there if the first place?
But they are small red worms that live in the water usually in colonies in the mud with half their body below and half above. Having been an aquarium buff for over 40 years, with a small bottle of freeze-dried tubifex worms within reach of where I am now working, I don't know why I did not think of this, great job guys! Larry does this sound possible?
DrO
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Member:
frances
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Posted on Friday, Feb 9, 2007 - 10:17 am:
I find my veranda covered with tiny red worms sometimes after a heavy shower with a southerly wind. They're so slender that some of them seem to get underneath the door into the house, and they don't seem able to move - just get washed up and die. It's as if they fall from the sky with the rain 
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Member:
drlarry
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Posted on Friday, Feb 9, 2007 - 9:46 pm:
Based on guppy-raising experience, tubifex worms are long and thin, and blunt on the end. These were segmented, and pointy, and very back-and-forth wiggly, floating on the surface (what I saw), and more red. I can't help but think more like a larva than a worm, but what do I know?! Everybody's troughs are sparkly now ("sparkly" would not have appeared in their descriptions before!), and I'm keeping a paranoid watch. Unless I see another, I'm thinkin' it'll remain a mystery. Thanks for everybody's thots!
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