“Can you tell me if this is a worm?” asks this reader about the fuzzy, white, worm-shaped creature pictured below. “If so, what kind is it? I found one of them on the floor beside the toilet in my bathroom, and it seemed to be moving a little so I sprayed it with bleach. It was about one-and-a-half inches long. The others were in the toilet and all but one (which was probably about 3 inches long) were the same size. Also there was this little funny looking brown thing too in the toilet, and it was about a quarter inch long. I’m in Sumrall, Mississippi.”
Right off the bat, we have to say that we have never seen anything quite like the fuzzy worm below. Of course, the second picture shows us the same worm after it was sprayed with bleach, and then it is not so fuzzy. In that picture, we are reminded of a flatworm, which we suppose it could be. Flatworms can be pretty slimy, so perhaps in the first photo, it is covered in white hair/fur/lint that it picked up from moving around the apartment. They are predatory creatures that feed on small invertebrates. Maybe this one ended up in our reader’s home in the bathroom because it was chasing prey. In case it is a flatworm, we suggest that our reader avoid physical contact with the worm, as they secrete a toxin which can cause pain and/or irritation to the skin.
Now, with that said, we can’t be sure that the fuzzy parts is just hair stuck to a normally slimy worm. It could be that the bleach burnt off/melted the ‘hair’ or bristles that this worm would naturally have had, and its slimy state is only a product of it being sprayed with the bleach. For that reason, we can’t say with confidence that this is a flatworm, or that it is a flatworm at all. With the exception of bristle worms, most species of worm-like creatures that possess bristles are insect larvae, like beetle larvae or caterpillars. There are a few white-colored, bristly caterpillar species that come to mind, but none that look like the one our reader found. We recommend she take the creature to her local county extension office, as someone will be able to physically examine the worm there and will have a better chance at identifying it. Likewise, we do not recognize the little brown creature, so we advise bringing that one as well.
In conclusion, we are not quite sure what it is our reader found around her toilet, given the uncertainty surrounding what the white worm usually looks like. We hope nonetheless that something in here helps, and we wish our reader the very best!
All About Worms is always free, always reader-supported. Your tips via CashApp, Venmo, or Paypal are appreciated! Receipts will come from ISIPP Publishing.
CashApp us
Venmo us
Paypal us
You might also find these guys interesting!
Long Gray Worm with Black Stripe is a New Guinea Flatworm- Long Worms Climbing Walls are Flatworms
- Predatory Flatworms Not Much of Danger to People Despite Scary Clickbait Articles
- Brown Worm on Cat Could be Flatworm
- Long Beige Worm on Shower Window is a Flatworm
- “Shape-shifting” White Critter Could be a Baby Slug
- Yellow, “Boxy” Snake-like Creature is a Flatworm
- Slimy Dark Green Worm in Toilet is a Flatworm
The worm they found near toilet is an intestinal rope worm, and main is possible horse hair worm, stay from them all!!!! And carpet beetle they host parasite, larvae, organisms. As carpet beetle eggs look like seasmee seed ,and like under coach cushions,and ones on rug when hatch tiny black beetle larvae goes in rug & can’t see but if you spray apple vinegar with water they’ll all pop up! I found out the hard way
They are helminths and they infect humans, burn them all. They are evil, for real. The brown thing too, burn it all.