what parasite did I find

Today I was checking out my sons BP and we found some tadpole looking things swimming in his water bowl. They looked like tiny hairs but they were swimming. What the heck are these?
Thanks, I'm a little worried!!!

Strange, I have no clue. Do you have pictures of them? Try to describe them more, if possible.

they are white VERY tiny, they jerk around when they swim. I flushed them so no picture. Someone siad maybe house fly larve? picture a TINY tadpole and you'll get the picture.

yuk :weirdface maybe they are aliens and they are cunducting research .:O:rofl:

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Originally Posted by texron

they are white VERY tiny, they jerk around when they swim. I flushed them so no picture. Someone siad maybe house fly larve? picture a TINY tadpole and you'll get the picture.

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Dipterans do not have an aquatic larval stage, therefore they could not be house fly larvae.

The only think I can think of is planaria...but that tends to occur in aquariums. Do you have any fish tanks with water?

thanks for the help

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Originally Posted by omnibus2

Dipterans do not have an aquatic larval stage, therefore they could not be house fly larvae.

The only think I can think of is planaria...but that tends to occur in aquariums. Do you have any fish tanks with water?

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No, none

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Originally Posted by omnibus2

Dipterans do not have an aquatic larval stage, therefore they could not be house fly larvae.

The only think I can think of is planaria...but that tends to occur in aquariums. Do you have any fish tanks with water?

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I googled planaria, thats not it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematode

I believe that it's not a parasite, I think that it was mosquito larvae.
It fits the descrition that you gave and I can not think of another organism that swims with a "jerky" motion. Use a search engine for pics to double check.

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Originally Posted by EchoPyrex

I believe that it's not a parasite, I think that it was mosquito larvae.
It fits the descrition that you gave and I can not think of another organism that swims with a "jerky" motion. Use a search engine for pics to double check.

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i have never seen white mosquito larve

do they look like these http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...55&postcount=2

Did you keep it? If so, i'd run it by your herp vet to see if they know. If not, you may still want to get a fecal down on your snake of which it possibly came from just to be sure it's nothing threating.

What type of substrate do you use in the enclosure?

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Originally Posted by EchoPyrex

I believe that it's not a parasite, I think that it was mosquito larvae.
It fits the descrition that you gave and I can not think of another organism that swims with a "jerky" motion. Use a search engine for pics to double check.

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The pictures I found on Google don't look like what I threw away, but the pictures I found were blown up about 5-6 times normal so It's hard to be sure.

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Originally Posted by nixer

i have never seen white mosquito larve

do they look like these http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...55&postcount=2

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No, MUCH smaller. What I found look more like tadpoles than worms. maybe 1/8" long

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Originally Posted by Repsrul

What type of substrate do you use in the enclosure?

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Aspen

my guess is misquito larvae. often times when people see clear things, they call them white. its a common mistake. but with no picture or a better discription, there is no telling what it is. next time put it in rubbing aclcohol and get better pictures or send it to a vet.

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Originally Posted by Lucas339

my guess is misquito larvae. often times when people see clear things, they call them white. its a common mistake. but with no picture or a better discription, there is no telling what it is. next time put it in rubbing aclcohol and get better pictures or send it to a vet.

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yeah, I freaked a little. All I could think of was to get it out. I'm going to give his cage a good cleaning tonight. The head of whatever it is was larger than the body, but this thing was tiny. Think human hair for its body, but only 1/8" long and what I assumme to be the head was a little bigger. It moved like it was having spasms.

misquito larvae for sure. that type movement is typical for them.

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Originally Posted by Lucas339

misquito larvae for sure. that type movement is typical for them.

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WHEW!!! Thanks for the help man!!!

I second the ID as mosquito larvae. It only takes mosquito eggs 48 hours to hatch, after they are layed, and the newly hatched larvae would be very tiny and probably clear or white, before they molt out and start growing. With nothing in the bowl to feed on, they wouldn't have lasted long anyhow. Also, completely harmless.

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Originally Posted by EchoPyrex

I believe that it's not a parasite, I think that it was mosquito larvae.
It fits the descrition that you gave and I can not think of another organism that swims with a "jerky" motion. Use a search engine for pics to double check.

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That's exactly what I was thinking, sounds just like mosquitos.

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Originally Posted by texron

yeah, I freaked a little. All I could think of was to get it out. I'm going to give his cage a good cleaning tonight. The head of whatever it is was larger than the body, but this thing was tiny. Think human hair for its body, but only 1/8" long and what I assumme to be the head was a little bigger. It moved like it was having spasms.

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Yes, now that you have given us this valuable piece of evidence...it's most probably mosquito larvae, even though they aren't white as far as I know.

But it means that mosquitos were living and breeding inside the house...not harmful to the snake, but a PITA for the mammals in the house. Do you have any dogs or cats? If so, make sure both are up to date on heartworm preventives (yes, cats can get heartworm, too...it's new info to me from our vet, but they've been seeing more and more of it with the super wet weather we've had in the northeast).

sounds like mosquito larvea

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Originally Posted by Moonshae

But it means that mosquitos were living and breeding inside the house...not harmful to the snake, but a PITA for the mammals in the house. Do you have any dogs or cats? If so, make sure both are up to date on heartworm preventives (yes, cats can get heartworm, too...it's new info to me from our vet, but they've been seeing more and more of it with the super wet weather we've had in the northeast).

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not really. it means that a female ready to lay eggs was in the house and found a suitable place in the snakes water bowl.