Worms in Drain Water

[JoCarp]

So I notice some worms in the drain water of Merlin's cage. They were in the bottom of the five gallon bucket that catches all the excess water from his enclosure. They look like earthworms to me, and the water does run though his live potted plant in the enclosure so I think it is possible??? I would say that they are about 2-5 inches long. Since it was secluded from the enclosure and no way for anything to go back into the cage (10-12" of vertical separation), I left them in there to see if they would die from being submerged for a few days and they were still alive. I thought that earthworms would drown in water, but don't know for sure. I will get a fecal done as soon as possible, but the closest place to do it is over an hour away and so I'm looking for some input before I can get everything checked out correctly. Merlin's colors are good, eating and everything else seems normal. Thanks in advance!

 

[Virgil1972]

They do look like earthworms. Do you keep those in your live plants?

 

[JoeVet]

Definitely earth worms or annelids. You can see the rings on them.

 

[RescueHerp]

red wiggler earth worms can survive for weeks totally submerged I have some living in the bottom of my axolotls tank from when he doesn't eat them. they are probably just red wigglers.

 

[JoCarp]

Awesome! Thank you all! I was really concerned especially since there were so many! I never put them in the plant, but I suppose they could have been in the soil I used when I reported it initially.

 

[MelissaB]

Had something similar happen. I used some top soil in a plant, and had some small earthworms hatch out and end up in the drain bucket. I freaked out, and brought fresh fecal samples to the vet, they both tested clean. Then I looked closer at the few worms and saw that they were just earthworms, lol. I felt like such a putz.