Look what I pulled out of a Garter Snake

[Bay_area]

Someone I know gartersnake had some babies & they gave some to me recently. After about a month, I noticed one developed a lump on its side. I thought maybe one on the siblings had bitten it. The lump was not going away, as a matter of fact it appeared to get bigger. I thought it was an infection of some sort. It was just under the skin & I have removed ones before from snakes with no problem, so I decided to remove it. When I opened it up, I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a worm! It was just under the skin all balled up. I removed it to find it was about half the lenght of the snake a little thicker than a thread. Not certain how it got the worm. Did it have it when I got it? Did it come from a feeder minnow? Just glad I got it out. The snake is doing good now, eating regularly. I am keeping a good eye on them. I am glad that I was keeping them in a room that is seperate from my other snakes. Hopefully, that is a one time incident.

Here are pics of the worm...

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_4271.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c306/norcalsnakemaster/IMG_4272.jpg

[Zephyr]

Wow! Good find!
Maybe preserve it and ship it off to a lab/vet to get it analyzed!

[jitami]

Ew, ew ,ew! Other's here have had similiar...I would guess the same, but?... parasites and I think there was some aftercare involved. I'm sure they'll speak up soon, but I want to say they had some oral medication and possibly something topical as well. Good for you for ridding the baby of that monster, though! Ew...

[reptile3]

WOW, i am glad you found that. :eek:

[prattypus]

Nice catch! I want to know how you held the little guy still long enough to perform the "operation"

[Bay_area]

Nice catch! I want to know how you held the little guy still long enough to perform the "operation"

My wife assisted in the proceedure. She is a good sport about helping me. One day I will tell the story about when my Reticulated Python had a prolapse clocia...LOL!:eek:

[drache]

probably some kind of filarioid
good you got it out

[infernalis]

Jerry you are my hero:D

This is exactly the level of education I am striving for.

Kudos to you!

[GartersRock]

Interesting! I rescued a checkered male that was COVERED in bumps. I ended up removing several *hundred* worms from beneath the skin. This was a year ago, the snake is great and healthy now!

What is interesting is that it's a different species! "My" worms (LOL!) where flat and white and about that long. Tapewormish. ICK!

[Tori]

I remember a neighbor's cat back when I was much younger that had a lump on it's side. Not a large lump, but it worried me. They wouldn't take it to the vet so I talked to a local farmer that everyone called when their animals needed "fixin". He told me it was a worm, he called it a "wool". I got him to help me get it out. I was shocked at how long it was! The cat healed up fine and lived a long time. Yes, I know that I didn't have permisson, but they were going to let it kill the poor thing rather than pay out for a vet.

[Lori P]

Wow. Ewww. Ick. Well done!!!

[Garter_Gertie]

BARF! (swoon... THUMP! hitting floor)

[infernalis]

Awe come on MK, they are tasty fried in butter:eek:

[Loren]

I think its kinda cute. :)

[GartersRock]

Awe come on MK, they are tasty fried in butter:eek:

Oh gosh Wayne, I actually gagged when I read that. :eek::rolleyes:

[Snake lover 3-25]

not me lol just looks like an earthworm:D:p lol nice catch:D

[Garter_Gertie]

As the paramedics work on mk she moans before going comatose,

"He said it was calimari..."

[DaveM]

I have read quite a few accounts of worms moving from the gut, to end up somewhere else in the body, what's the procedure for removing one, and afte care?

[prattypus]

Well, as much as I thought this was nasty, I had a run in with it today. My anery radix had a lump on it's tail, but I wanted to see how it was after a shed. Well today when I was feeding her, the lump was opened. It almost looked as if she had her tail caught in something and cut her up. With the help of a toothpick I was able to extract the worm. Nasty little snots, aren't they? Now I am just going to monitor the wounds and look out for lumps on the other snakes. Don't want these things to infect the whole lot of em.

[infernalis]

Great job Jason! http://planetsmilies.net/star-wars-smiley-6580.gif (http://planetsmilies.net):D

[Stefan-A]

http://planetsmilies.net/star-wars-smiley-6580.gif (http://planetsmilies.net)
"Great job kid, that was one in a million!" :D

[infernalis]

Woo hoohttp://planetsmilies.net/star-wars-smiley-6462.gif

[prattypus]

The Star Wars references are well placed!:D

[Snake lover 3-25]

interesting.... :p

[infernalis]

The Star Wars references are well placed!:D

Nowhere else, I think they should behttp://planetsmilies.net/star-wars-smiley-6458.gif

[Snake lover 3-25]

:rolleyes: :p

[infernalis]

Blame Stefan, He started it.... all I did was add a X wing smiley.

[Snake lover 3-25]

nope lol i think you started it:p

[brain]

So this parasite is in all garter snakes? Do we know?

Where do you believe it came from?

What were some of the environment conditions?

Has it occurred in others of your snakes?

What was the snakes diet?

More info please for the benefit of all. :confused:

[infernalis]

Hey Loren, see if you can't coax Jerry into posting some of his knowledge on this one.

[prattypus]

So this parasite is in all garter snakes? Do we know?

Where do you believe it came from?

What were some of the environment conditions?

Has it occurred in others of your snakes?

What was the snakes diet?

More info please for the benefit of all. :confused:
I have no idea about the regularity of this parasite in other individuals. Mine, which there are no worm pics, was from an anery radix that I got from Scott, this summer. She wasn't a good eater at first, so *guilty* I had her on a mix of rosies ans tilapia. This was just a temp. solution, and after two weeks or so of that diet I worked in nightcrawlers and pinkie parts. That's been her diet since. She is housed communally with a similis and a red sided- both females also until they get bigger. I haven't seen this in the others- yet. Once I pulled the little bugger out, I did an immediate bleach/rinse job on the enclosure. She is now in a critter carrier all to herself until I determine (stab in the dark) whether or not these freeloaders happened to latch on to any other of her roommaters.

[infernalis]

Here is some evidence that may lead to the source of this parasite....

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/4698-stinkin-minnows.html

Certainly has me thinking.

This may also be what killed so many of my baby snakes last summer?

[brain]

Here is some evidence that may lead to the source of this parasite....

http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/4698-stinkin-minnows.html

Certainly has me thinking.

This may also be what killed so many of my baby snakes last summer?

TY Wayne very good info there. More for my sheet “What I have learned about garter snakes.”

I’ll stay away from the bait shop minnows and stick to night crawlers, Salmon and Tilapia.

[infernalis]

Its going to be a challenge, but plans are underway to farm my own food.

The basement is 50 feet by 25 feet, so plenty of room to put in some big stock tanks.

I'll be breeding Dace and culturing polliwogs.

[wolfpacksved]

horsehair worm perhaps? i have found them in turtles and they occur in streams , have found them on numerous occasions in creeks.

[keelerskiddiecare]

Jerry was the lump, hard or soft, could you feel the worm move or did it just feel solid? I ask as I just bought a new little cream sickle corn today and noticed a very small hard lump on the tail, past the vent, on the back, right near the spine. I know it is not a radix, but your story has scared me...should I be concerned??