2 Responses to “Advice Column: There are little white worms swimming in the tank…”

1. Whitney Lynn said on April 13th, 2009 at 8:00 pm:

   I’m having a similar problem, except they are red and tiny hair-like worms. I’ve recently lost a red eared slider, cause of death was unknown, no prior indication that it was sick….I later replaced him with a yellow bellyed mississppi slider. I cleaned the tank throughly and purchased a new filtration system. Very small turtle, captive born, in a substancially large tank. Please help?

2. admin said on July 31st, 2009 at 2:30 pm:

   Whitney -

   I’m not sure what those could be honestly. I recommend that you remove your turtle from the tank and change all of the water. Clean the tank completely, along with everything that was in it, with a mixture of 10% bleach and 90% water. (I know you already said you cleaned your tank, but it doesn’t hurt to do it again.)

   Also, since you said you already lost a red eared slider (and I’m assuming it was in the same tank), I would take your turtle, a stool sample and a sample of the worms to a qualified veterinarian that treats turtles to get checked for parasites. That’s the best way to find out if they came from the other turtle that passed away (because while you can get rid of worms, sometimes you miss the eggs) or from something else.

   Good luck!