Bleach in feeder water?

[littleindiangirl]

Marks commented in the sticky thread "building and plumbing your own rack" that he puts a cap full of bleach in his tub of water for the rats.

Is that really safe? I wouldnt think so. I know there is chlorine and floride in city water, but actually putting bleach in?? Has anyone ever had any problems?

[ADEE]

i think he does it for cleaning purposes not nessesarily for the rats to drink, just my .02

[lord jackel]

i think he does it for cleaning purposes not nessesarily for the rats to drink, just my .02

Actually it is fairly common in watering systems to add a small amount of bleach. It dilutes easily so there is no detriment to the animals but on the good side it keeps mold, slime and algea from building up in the water lines.

[ADEE]

o wow, didnt know that.

[MarkS]

Yup, my rats and mice drink water with a small amount of bleach added. Its not that different then the chlorine that your city adds to it's drinking water. In very low doses where one capful is diluted in 4-5 gallons of water its not harmful to drink and it keeps the bacteria level down thereby making the water safer.

When I was younger, my family had a tent camper. The camper had a holding tank for drinking water. Following the recommendatons of the owners manual, we added a small amount of bleach to the tank everytime we filled it up, this kept the water pure so nobody would get sick. I've drunk water myself with a small amount of bleach added and I've suffered no harmful effects. If it's good enough for me, it's good enough for the rodents.

Of course you would never ever want to give your rodents bleach at full strength, that would kill them. But when it's been diluted enough it's safe to drink and still kills bacteria. I use roughly 1 ounce or less of bleach per 5 gallons of water.

Mark

[ADEE]

wow, interesting.