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...