Worms in the water dishes of my frog tank

[lara]

I have two white's tree frogs. The time before last I changed the water in their bowls and noticed that there were tiny reddish worms swimming in the water. The tank is a vivarium with lots of wood and live plants and usually I just pour enough water into the bowls to flush out the old water and dirt, etc into the soil where it waters the plants and seems to act like fertilizer for them. It has always seemed like a good mini ecosystem. Then one of the largest plants outgrew the tank and I had to remove it. Now if I pour water into the bowls and just let it run over the tank gets too wet. So I started taking out the bowls and dumping them in the sink and then pouring in new water. This is how I found the worms. I cleaned everything very well with hot water, and decided to change the water sooner than I usually do. Then I found a new set of worms with this past cleaning also. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm not sure if they are coming from the frogs or maybe the crickets? The frogs seem to be healthy although they are very shy and always hiding. They croak like crazy at night or when there is a loud sound. They are more brown in color than my last tree frog who I had for many years and was much more green and would often sit out in the open on top of a rock.. Any ideas? I'm worried it might mean that one or both frogs are ill.

[SethD]

Without seeing the worms it is impossible to know if they are parasites or from the soil. I would tend to suspect they are from the soil though as most parasitic worms I have seen in frogs appear clear not reddish. Even if they are parasites it isn't the end of the world, they can either be treated or the worms will gradually thin out or disappear over time on their own in a captive environment. Rarely do worms cause frogs significant issues unless the worm burden is very heavy and the frogs are stressed.