# Worms - What are these in Tarantulas Cage



## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

I am wondering what these things are.. I was unable to get a clear photo of them... I am currently useing store bougth and wild caught crickets... but think of moving compleatly off wild caught and staying with store bought crickets..

anyways.... 

I was looking at one of my T's, Straw to be exact, and noticed small super fine worms around the entrance to the T's hole... so I got "Straw" out of his burrow and threw away all the substrate and cleaned out his home... I added new substrate and burrow and put "Straw" back in his encloure.

anyone ever encounter these little white worms? What can I do.. Do Tarantulas get worms? Im worried.. the other two T's are great, have not worms in sight... So Im thinking they worms came from the cricket I caught outsite..

I will move off of wild caught and stick to store bought from this point forward..

Please please comment back.. I need feedback on this.

these are the best pics I could find online that resemble it... the look like this.. some smaller.. id guess 1/4 of an inch or smaller..


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## BamaZ71 (Dec 1, 2008)

Wild prey items = a no no.

I don't know about the worms, but I would definitely not feed WC crix. And I believe it is possible for T's to have worms of some sort, and other parasites... but that may not be 100% correct so maybe someone else has an idea.


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

thanks... ive learned my lesson from WC food.


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## secular (Dec 1, 2008)

springtails (Collembola) perhaps?  just a guess.


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## AzJohn (Dec 1, 2008)

Could be fly larva


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## Travis K (Dec 1, 2008)

Nematodes aka micro worms is what it sounds like to me.  Straw? from your yard right?


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## secular (Dec 1, 2008)

i think "straw" is the name of the pet.


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

Straw is the name of my pet..

there are 3 of them.

Bricks... is an H Lividium
Sticks... is an H Lividium
Straw... is an H Lividium

They were named after the complexity of their structures... and from the 3 little pigs.


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

pic added above


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## Kirk (Dec 1, 2008)

texascowboy1979 said:


> pic added above


Based on your pic, they don't look like nematodes. The bodies appear to be segmented, so might be very young earthworms. What's the origin of the substrate you're using?


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

the origin of substrate is Forest Floor substrate that they sell at the petstores... I dont belive it to be the substrate because then the other two cages would have had worms too.... i thinking its the cricket that I caught outside.

I only saw them one day and I took care of it..

My main concern is... how much danger can my T's be in? are they safe?


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## Kirk (Dec 1, 2008)

texascowboy1979 said:


> My main concern is... how much danger can my T's be in? are they safe?


If the worms are in fact nematodes, then hypothetically they might have been parasites of the crickets, and what you're seeing are progeny that have hatched from released eggs. Parasitic nematodes tend, however, to be species specific with regard to host, so I don't think you have anything to worry about.


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## Moltar (Dec 1, 2008)

I think those are nematodes. Not sure though, maybe someone else could chime in here? You are on the right track in ceasing immediately the use any wc prey items. If they are in fact nematodes then yes, your t's could be in danger and could be infected. isolate the one you found those worms on in a SEPERATE ROOM from the others. Really, any T you fed those wc crix to should be isolated and observed carefully.


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

Well, they are and have been isolated since I got them.. and I will keep a close eye on all 3..


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## buggal (Dec 1, 2008)

Crickets get what are called horse hair worms and many other types of parasitic worms.  However, horse hair worms are some of the most common ones.  They look like





Some kinds can parasitize both spiders and crickets.  However, some are specific for either spiders or crickets or even a specific type of spider or cricket.  They are hard to tell apart unless you are an expert so if that is what the cricket had, then it will be hard to tell if your spider got any.  From your description, it seems likely that you may have put a cricket in the cage that had one or more inside of it (they live inside an arthropod for a number of months eating and sometimes reproducing).  Then they decided to come out while the cricket was in the cage.  They do this around this time of the year or when they run out of nutrients within the arthropod they are eating. Hopefully you did not get one of these that is a generally parasitic worm.  If you did there is nothing you can do for the spider, as any time an arthropod gets them it is just a matter of time before the worm comes out (this means death for the arthropod).  Good luck!  Sorry to scare you.


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## Kirk (Dec 1, 2008)

buggal said:


> Crickets get what are called horse hair worms and many other types of parasitic worms.


It's very highly unlikely that Cowboy is seeing nematomorphs (horse hair worms). When these exit a cricket host, they're considerably longer that what he's described, and usually will only exit the host when it's near water, as the adult is free living and aquatic.

I was just reading from the book, _Invertebrate Medicine_, which describes the parasitic nematodes that can occur in the area of the chelicerae and mouth. These are 0.5 to 3 mm long (= 0.01 to 0.11 inch). So it's doubtful (fortunately) that you don't have these.


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## Travis K (Dec 1, 2008)

remeber the pics that Cowboy posted are not the actual worms he has.


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

ok... I should have save some.. but threw them in the trash... I cant really go threw the trash because what if something else is their now... but if I get any more... PLEASE LET ME NOT GET ANY MORE, but if I get more, I will do my best to find a camera that will take a good shot of it.

So.... basiclly... if my T is infected with these guys... he's done for?

I observe them EVERY Day.... at least for 1 hour. A few mins in the AM, a few here and there, and a few before bedtime... So when I noticed them... it was only about 6 to 8 hours since I had last seen the T. when the cricket was inside... NO WORMS... then the cricket was eatten, and thats when I found the worms and a half eatten cricket...

Ugh... I hope my T is ok.... but only time will tell... It would S*ck to loose a pet to something I over looked... I dont know what I was thinking... It felt so safe to use W/C food. Sorry for being so... :wall:


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## mitchrobot (Dec 1, 2008)

have you noticed any fungus gnats around your cages? 

actually...does anyone know what fungus gnat larvea look like? :?


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

no I have not..


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## Kirk (Dec 1, 2008)

texascowboy1979 said:


> ok... I should have save some.... but if I get more, I will do my best to find a camera that will take a good shot of it.


If you find some more, put them in a very small vial with enough alcohol to cover them and send them to me. I work on worms for a living, and have the micrsocopes to examine them.


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## Kirk (Dec 1, 2008)

mitchrobot said:


> actually...does anyone know what fungus gnat larvea look like? :?


Check out: http://www.hort.uconn.edu/IPM/greenhs/htms/fngnatser.htm


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## Radamanthys (Dec 1, 2008)

it's off topic, but it's hammering my head... why did you used WC crickets when you had shop bought ones?


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## UrbanJungles (Dec 1, 2008)

Those are phorid fly larvae...I'm sure you have seen the adults, they look like "fruit flies" but are a bit larger and they like to walk around and aren't scared off easily.  They will show up regardless of what food source you use and will congregate in moist areas.  Doing a bedding change and keeping the enclosure clean of all biological waste and dead crcikets will get rid of them.


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

I found more in my T's cage named "sticks". They were in the moist area... I cleaned out his cage too and placed some of the worms in a little jar for reasearch.



Radamanthys said:


> it's off topic, but it's hammering my head... why did you used WC crickets when you had shop bought ones?


I figured it be chaper... sorry... I have learned from my mistake... you get what you pay for.. Never again will i us WC food... Store bought from now on.


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## Drachenjager (Dec 1, 2008)

texascowboy1979 said:


> I found more in my T's cage named "sticks". They were in the moist area... I cleaned out his cage too and placed some of the worms in a little jar for reasearch.
> 
> 
> 
> I figured it be chaper... sorry... I have learned from my mistake... you get what you pay for.. Never again will i us WC food... Store bought from now on.


hmmm yeah been there done that. 
Anyway. cheap is a roach colony lol
what part of the republic you in?


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 1, 2008)

Drachenjager said:


> hmmm yeah been there done that.
> Anyway. cheap is a roach colony lol
> what part of the republic you in?


I live in La Feria Texas... 15 mins from McAllen Tx, and 1 hour from South Padre Island.


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## somethingbig (Dec 1, 2008)

texascowboy1979 said:


> I live in La Feria Texas... 15 mins from McAllen Tx, and 1 hour from South Padre Island.


it's dat 9-5-6, wut? wuuut!!? durty durty souf siiide...


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## Anthony Straus (Dec 2, 2008)

Did they look like little maggots or did they look like worms? Long and skinny or shorter and thicker?


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## Drachenjager (Dec 2, 2008)

texascowboy1979 said:


> I live in La Feria Texas... 15 mins from McAllen Tx, and 1 hour from South Padre Island.


long ways from here lol
im 60 miles east of waco lol


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 2, 2008)

somethingbig said:


> it's dat 9-5-6, wut? wuuut!!? durty durty souf siiide...


Yup... 956 here...



anthonystraus said:


> Did they look like little maggots or did they look like worms? Long and skinny or shorter and thicker?


They are long and skinny... about 1/4th of an inch... Im sending them off to get looked at on Friday.. Ill try again tonight to see if I can get a better picture.


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## Moltar (Dec 2, 2008)

Drachenjager said:


> Anyway. cheap is a roach colony lol


Ditto that. A colony of B dubia or B lateralis is the cheapest way to go for feeders and also the safest. When you control everything they eat and you keep them inside the risk of parasites or other nasties being passed on to your t's is virtually nil.


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 2, 2008)

ugh... Id really need to see them... I have a fear of roaches... Id probly be ok with hissing roaches... they dont look like the ones from here... The ones we have FLY!!! and they FLY AT YOU!!!


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## Travis K (Dec 2, 2008)

go to blaberus.com and read up on the different feeder species.  If you want some hisser's, let me know.  I am out of dubia right now, but will have more in a month or two.  James has some really good info and pictures on his site.

Regards,


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## texascowboy1979 (Dec 2, 2008)

the website did not work... can you type it again?

P.S. I think roaches that dont have WINGS will be ok... if you can recommend one to use to breed and use as feeders...

Winged roaches freak me out...


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## bigdog999 (Dec 2, 2008)

go with dubias.  Although they have wings, they rarely fly and don't look like native roaches.


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## somethingbig (Dec 2, 2008)

bigdog999 said:


> go with dubias.  Although they have wings, they rarely fly and don't look like native roaches.


and it's actually only the mature males that have wings. none of the other dubia have them...


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