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...

[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.

[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!

[drache]

probably some kind of filarioid
good you got it out

[infernalis]

Jerry you are my hero

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.