A reader wrote to us from India about some worms he discovered in his toilet and bathroom floor after returning from a 5-6 day absence. He believes these are earthworms, and describes them as dark brown or black in color and more than 5 inches long. He is certain that these are earthworms because he is very familiar with them and has grown up seeing them his whole life. He says he also finds these quite often on his third floor terrace and near his water pipes. He is curious how they got there and is anxious to get rid of them. We hope we can give him some answers!

Since our reader hasn’t provided a picture, and his description matches earthworms, we will assume that this is indeed what he is dealing with.

Earthworms are not usually found inside homes, but when they are it is often in the bathroom or a sink. This is because earthworms need moisture to survive, and if they end up in a house they will seek out a water source. It is very difficult to figure out how the earthworms got into our reader’s toilet and bathroom. Our best guess is that there is some opening in the pipes or sewer system that the worms are getting into from the soil and then travel up to his toilet. However, since the reader leaves on the third floor this might not be plausible.

Our reader found earthworms in his bathroom and was hopeful we could advise him how to get rid of them. Unfortunately, due to the rarity of finding earthworms in a bathroom, we aren’t confident in how the worms got in or how to get rid of them. Our best advice would be to contact a professional plumber to check for leaks.

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