Today we will discuss what kind of worm-like organism one of our readers found on her shower curtain. This is the message she sent, with a little editing by us: “This morning when I was in the shower, I saw a small worm/maggot-like creature crawling on the clear vinyl shower curtain. It was a beige color and just shy of being a quarter inch long. When I tried to squish it, it turned red but didn’t squish. After I released it, it turned into a ball and fell down the drain, so I couldn’t get a picture of it. Could it have just been a run of the mill maggot? I’m afraid there might be more somewhere in the house, since we had our windows open due to nice weather.”

Without a picture, it is impossible to know exactly what our reader has discovered. Although we don’t know a ton about its appearance, we know enough to rule out the usual specimens readers discover in their showers: earthworms, bloodworms, and drain fly larvae. Based on the description, we agree with our reader that it is probably a maggot, which is the larval form of a common housefly.

Maggots are generally white or off-white and have round bodies. They feed on decaying organic material, so they are usually discovered in unsanitary places. We aren’t suggesting that our reader’s shower is unsanitary, but there are a few places in a bathroom where the maggots might be hiding out, such as the trash can.

We can’t guarantee that our reader won’t discover more of these creatures in her home, but since she only found one we don’t think she is dealing with an infestation. We recommend that she examine the trash can in the bathroom, and look around for other signs of these larvae in potentially unsanitary places. If she does find more larvae, she should clean the area thoroughly in order to remove any potential food sources. All in all, while we know finding an unwanted creature in her shower was irksome, we think she has nothing to worry about!

To wrap up, one of our readers found a beige worm-like organism on her shower curtain. We think this might be a maggot, but we cannot confirm this identification without a photograph.

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