A pet owner performed DIY surgery to remove a gruesome parasitic worm from a grasshopper.

Yanyong Rithsongmuang was about to feed the insect to his scorpions when the parasite emerged from its body in Maha Sarakham Province, Thailand on August 11.

Feeling sorry for the green bug, the exotic pet owner then helped rid it of the horsehair worm.

Stomach-churning footage shows the grasshopper creeping around the table while a worm that looked like a long strand of noodles emerged from its host.

Yanyong picked up the insect and shook it lightly to help the worm come out faster, letting the parasite spanning at least 4ft-long twitch on the wooden platform.

Yanyong said: ‘It was a clever parasite. I was making sure the grasshopper was clean and took it to the scorpions when the worm came out.'

The exotic pets breeder added he disposed of the worm and released the grasshopper.

He said: ‘I couldn't feed it to the scorpions. It suffered enough.'

A horsehair worm is a type of parasitic nematode that can grow up to several feet long. They are named for their long, thin bodies, which resemble horsehair. When the adult worm is ready to reproduce, it causes the host to go into water and releases its eggs.