Little green worms

[Jaci]

When I went to change their water bowl today, I noticed about 3-4 of these little green worm/ parasite looking things and it worries me. Are these threatening? Are they coming from my tortoise themselves or from other bugs that fly around their home?

 

[Rue]

You have to narrow it down a bit...or post a really clear photo of them...there are over 1 million species of insects alone...

But my guess is...not a concern...

 

[Tom]

When I went to change their water bowl today, I noticed about 3-4 of these little green worm/ parasite looking things and it worries me. Are these threatening? Are they coming from my tortoise themselves or from other bugs that fly around their home?

I've never seen a parasitic worm that was green, so I am also guessing it is something else. Got a pic?

 

[Speedy-1]

I have not seen anything like that and would be interested to see a picture and perhaps learn more !

 

[CathyNed]

Picture would be helpful here....hopefully its nothing to worry about.

 

[Jaci]

Here's two more that I just picked out.

 

[Rue]

I need a better picture. I need to see some detail. But from that I'm guessing a caterpillar of some kind. Again, not a concern.

 

[Speedy-1]

I am no "Entomologist" but from what I can see , except for being green they look like maggots or some other "fly larvae" type of critter !

 

[Jaci]

I thought it was a baby caterpillar too but they wouldn't be in water, would they?
That was the beat picture I could get. They're so small.
Hopefully its some type of fly larvae or something.

 

[Rue]

Caterpillars will sometimes head for water, and then fall in the bowl, and can't get out. Or they were blown in somehow...and again, couldn't get out.

Again, I can't tell 100% from that photo, but doesn't look like a maggot. Plus, caterpillars are more likely to be green. Maggots are more likely to be white or white-ish.

 

[Jaci]

As long as you guys don't think its coming from my torts then I'm fine with that. I just didn't know if they looked familiar to anyone. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[Speedy-1]

As long as you guys don't think its coming from my torts then I'm fine with that. I just didn't know if they looked familiar to anyone. Thanks for all the responses.

I really doubt it came from your tort . They are some sort of larvae , probably some sort of fly or I guess they might be "caterpillars" which are butterfly and/or moth larvae !

 

[CathyNed]

Looks like caterpillars to me too. Do you feed fresh greens? Could they have come in withe your torts food?

 

[jay surfs]

My first guess would be brain sucking maggots from planet uranus.

But if thats not the case....i'm fairly certain they are moth larva. i find creatures that look just like that all over my garden, they particularly enjoy eating my basil plants. They will form into brownish/red cacoons, often buried just under the surface of the soil.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm pretty sure they came off grocery store produce, or some sort of vegetation you picked from the yard. They eat plants and are not harmful to your tortoise.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

I'm pretty sure they came off grocery store produce, or some sort of vegetation you picked from the yard. They eat plants and are not harmful to your tortoise.

I agree with yvonne. Ive washed store bought veggies before and found green wormie things in the water when i was done

 

[Sara G.]

They look like the little green caterpillars that are hanging from nearly every tree I've walked under for the past week!
They're cute, by my god are the "webs" (are caterpillar strings called webs?) sticky!

 

[cmacusa3]

I agree with Sara

 

[Schatzi011]

They look an awful lot like this:
https://www.ent.iastate.edu/soybeaninsects/node/352
So they may be very closely related, which is the larvae of some vegetation-eating insect. They are not parasites coming out of your tortoise.

 

[Gillian M]

Here's two more that I just picked out.

View attachment 175788

Picture isn't clear enough, though I would not worry: they are not harmful.

And a warm welcome to the forum!