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Posted in Gross Worms Red Worms Worms Found in the House

Red Worms All Over Breaded Green Beans

“Found these in the Birdseye breaded green beans!” writes Susan about the tiny, maroon worms pictured below. “Yuck! Are they parasites? Concerned that my family and I have been eating these before seeing!” Yuck indeed: Susan seems to have lived many people’s worst nightmare, finding worms in their food. It reminds us of that scene from Mousehunt where someone finds a cockroach in their food. In any case, we have to tell Susan right off the bat that we will not be able to confirm or deny if these are parasites.

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Posted in Composting Worms Worms Found in the House Worms Generally

Small Brown Worms in Vivarium are Likely Helpful Benefactors

“I recently found tiny brown worms on the cucumber in my vivarium”, states this reader in her submission. “Do you know what this is? And is it harmful? I’m in the UK.” Now, the creature in the image is so tiny and nondescript that it really could be any number of things, though our best guess is that it is not a harmful worm, but one of the many that can occur in a vivarium that serve to break down the organic matter inside. The fact that they are eating the cucumber would suggest this, and for that reason, they are likely beneficial to the vivarium. Of course, we do not know if the vivarium contains any animals for which the cucumber was intended, and in that case, we understand that our reader is concerned, in the case that the worms are harmful to eat (some species of worms can contain diseases, pathogens and/or parasites).