A reader recently sent us some photos of worms he found in his bathtub. He wrote, “I believe they may be drain worms. I think there might be eggs around too. Your input would be great.” The first photo he sent just looks like the white tub, but if you look closely, you can see a cluster of something in the middle and a few filaments that look like pieces of hair or string but might be worms.

The cluster in the middle of the photo might be the eggs he mentioned, but we aren’t totally sure. We also aren’t convinced the filaments are worms since they seem more like tiny strands of hair. Let’s move onto the next picture:

In this photo, we can definitely see an organism, right in the middle of the photo. It appears to be very tiny, but its small appearance could be the result of how far away the camera was. We can see that it appears to be a red/brown color. Based on this, we aren’t sure that our reader is dealing with drain fly larvae.

Drain fly larvae, or “drain worms” as our reader referred to them, are commonly discovered in bathtubs, showers, and toilets. They feed on the organic gunk that builds up in these places. However, they are often black and covered in minuscule hairs, not red or brown. In other words, they aren’t a close match for the specimen our reader found. It is still possible that these are drain fly larvae that just appear to be more brown than black. Let’s take a look at the final picture our reader sent:

Upon closer inspection, this might be a drain fly larva. It might also be a bloodworm (a.k.a. midge fly larva), another specimen discovered often by readers in their bathrooms! Like drain fly larvae, bloodworms feed on organic matter and typically live in polluted waters. A dirty bathtub is a prime environment for both of these organisms.

Luckily for our reader, getting rid of both drain fly larvae and bloodworms requires the same steps. He will need to thoroughly clean out his bathtub and drain in order to eliminate the food source for these worm-like organisms. He will need to purchase a cleaning agent designed to kill organic material. Two products we recommend are Bio Drain gel and Bio Clean powder, which are both available for purchase on Amazon. Once his bathtub and drain are properly cleaned, he shouldn’t discover any more specimens.

To wrap up, we aren’t totally sure what kind of organism our reader found in his bathroom, but we think he is likely dealing with either bloodworms or drain fly larvae. In order to prevent these specimens from appearing in his bathroom again, we recommend he clean his bathroom thoroughly every 2-3 weeks!

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