# TEENY white worms in water dish?



## pouchedrat

I was curious as to what nematodes would look like, as I read about them but haven't seen them.  I recently purchased a wild caught C. ritae and today I noticed TINY white worms in her water.  They looked more like tiny white maggots with little darkish black heads.  The enclosure is a cube style from Michael's, and there's cocohusk fiber dirt with holes drilled in the sides for airflow.  The holes aren't that large.  Could a small fly lay eggs and maggots hatching in 1-2 weeks?  Or is it possibly nematodes?  I've SEEN her drink from the dish numerous times but I don't see white stuff from her mouth.  

Now I'm freaking about parasites, yikes.


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## barabootom

pouchedrat said:


> I was curious as to what nematodes would look like, as I read about them but haven't seen them.  I recently purchased a wild caught C. ritae and today I noticed TINY white worms in her water.  They looked more like tiny white maggots with little darkish black heads.  The enclosure is a cube style from Michael's, and there's cocohusk fiber dirt with holes drilled in the sides for airflow.  The holes aren't that large.  Could a small fly lay eggs and maggots hatching in 1-2 weeks?  Or is it possibly nematodes?  I've SEEN her drink from the dish numerous times but I don't see white stuff from her mouth.
> 
> Now I'm freaking about parasites, yikes.


They are probably either fruit flies or some other flies.  Some flies hatch their eggs in their bellies and lay maggots so they could suddenly appear.  I'd definitely clean the water dish and watch for more.  You don't want them with your T, or if they mature, flying around the house.


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## spiderfield

Fly eggs could hatch in 1-2 days, even less.  Sounds like maggots from the description.  Any way you could post a pic?  Are there any small flies present in the enclosure?  Fungus gnats are what come to mind for me, which, if that's the case, are not to be worried, but are rather an annoyance.


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## pouchedrat

This is as close as I got to photos of them (I dumped the water since). 

They're EXTREMELY tiny.  I don't see others in the enclosure and definitely no flies of gnats to be had.  












I thought they looked similar to maggots and am hoping that's all they are.  I've grown attached to this girl in the small time she's been with me.

/edot-  size reference:  that little water "dish" is .75 inches wide.


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## squamata99

They're more than likely scuttle fly larvae.  They love to enter reptile or T cages because they are nice and humid.  Plus there may be leftovers from the residents.


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## spiderfield

I agree with squamat99, they may be Scuttle Fly larvae, also known as Phorid Flies.  They could be feeding on any leftover prey remnants (bolus) in the enclosure.  As Tom stated, i'd clean out the water dish and remove any boluses you may find.  In my opinion they definitely look like maggots and not nematodes; the latter tending to be thinner and whip-like.  Hope that helps!


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## DrAce

Whatever they are, they are not nematodes.  They are FAR to fat.


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## Moltar

Definitely not nematodes but they are some sort of maggot which isn't necessarily good either.
You should let the substrate dry completely out (temporarily) in order to kill off any maggots that may be in the soil. Also keep that T seperate from the rest of your collection for at least a month and keep watching for more.

The question now is did they come out of the spider or were they introduced from elsewhere, eggs laid in the soil?

Have you seen any little flies cruising around your T area or the house in general?


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## skips

There's no way in heck you could take a picture of a nematode.  For future reference nematodes will be incredibly small, approximately 1 mm to a few mm's in length but the width of a human hair about.  They only have longitudinal muscles which contract on either side of their body, so they can only move by flopping from side to side.  You wouldnt see them unless there are ALOT  of them or you were really looking.  They're almost always white.  They come in many varieties which all look exactly the same.  Most of the time you would have to disect their genitals or do a DNA test to tell the difference between them.  Not all parasitize animals


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## pouchedrat

No, no flies around to be had.  I've had fungus gnats or whatever they're called once before, last year in a millipede enclosure, but I haven't had anything like that since and we MOVED a few weeks ago to a new house.

I'll change the substrate completely out and watch her.  I don't see anything else in the enclosure at all, and I do tidy up in there quite regularly (but considering the size of what she eats, usually I can't find much of anything left).  

Thanks everyone, it does ease up my mind quite a bit.  I'm still quite the newbie, heh.


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## barabootom

They are some kind of maggot.  They could be a parasitic fly so be sure to get rid of them because it is possible they came out of the spider.  They look too big to be phorid flies in my opinion.


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## pouchedrat

Just so everyone knows the size we're talking about, that same cap next to a ruler.  






She's seperated.   I guess we'll see what happens.  Also, the maggots were completely dead when I found them.


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## blazetown

I'm not sure if it would work for phorids, but I've been killing fruit flies using a small cup with vinegar and fruity dish soap mixed. They kinda just drown in it after drinking from it.


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