A reader reached out to us on Facebook to ask us about a worm she found in her shower. She says it has appeared after the shower hasn’t been used for several hours. What could it be?
As you can see from the photo, the worm is long, red, and shiny. We are confident that this is a bloodworm!
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Bloodworms are actually the larvae of midge flies, which technically classifies them as larvae, not worms. Bloodworms are often discovered in toilets, sinks, or showers because they feed on the organic matter that lines the pipes and drains. The fact that our reader has spotted these creatures is a great indicator that she should give her shower drain a good cleaning! This cleaning process involves using a cleaning gel that is specifically designed to eliminate organic material, since that is the food source for these larvae.
Although these bright colored worms are alarming, our reader shouldn’t be too worried because they aren’t harmful to humans. That being said, she should clean the drain as soon as possible.
To summarize, a reader asked us to identify a red creature she found in her shower. We believe this is a bloodworm.
All About Worms is always free, always reader-supported, we don't subject you to ads or annoying video pop-ups. But it does cost us money out of our pocket to keep the site going (nearly 20 years so far!) So your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP Publishing.
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Deborah, have you gone to the doctor?
About 4 yrs ago I started noticing these black things in my skin. I would pick at them because they bothered me and I was sure that whatever they were they were there because of the black mold in the walls of my room, which the landlord refuses to fix. One broke open and the black things were buried inside of the sore. I used tweezers and tried to get one to come out, when it finally did it was hard. My family said that it was just skin but, I’ve never seen skin that looked like that.. I’ve been battling this for 4 yrs and it’s a nightmare. Over time it’s gotten worse ? and tonight I pulled out 4 wriggling worms. My health has gone down hill and I’m starting to feel worse than I did when I had stage 3 Breast Cancer. My memory is slowly getting worse, I’ve started getting headaches every day and I never get headaches, my left knee hurts all of the time and I feel whatever this is on every single part of my body. I use to be beautiful now I’ve lost almost all of my teeth and it didn’t matter what how much I brushed or flossed they have just gotten more and more disgusting every day. I feel like I’m getting bitten and sometimes it makes me tell because it really hurts. I can feel it in my hair, on my scalp and even under the skin on my scalp. I feel them deep in my ears, every where. Yes, I’ve been to many doctors and two skin doctors. I’m all alone ? in this. No one and I do mean no one believes me. Not even my husband and I’m pretty sure that he has it too. I’m going to find an attorney and sue the pants of of my landlord and the one before him. Like I said the walls have black mold in them which the previous landlord had painted over because the black came through and she wanted to sell this place. The carpet is over 20 years old and is so disgusting! It has things living in it as well. When I’m not in this room my skin isn’t as itchy but, as soon as I come back in I get itchy and feel like it’s all over my body. I’m horrified to know that there are worms living inside of me and I’m so scared that they are eventually going to kill me because I can’t get anyone to believe me.