Tap Water V Spring water.

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Originally Posted by Valaryan

Lol, that's like saying "snakes carry a parasite load in the wild so we should expose them to parasites in captivity because it's natural." The parameters in captivity are different to the wild so our care should be adjusted accordingly.

Snakes in captivity are unable to experience a natural balance with parasites and would quickly become overwhelmed by them. In the same breath, wild snakes don't drink chlorinated water from taps.

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True but i have yet to see a case of chlorinated tap water actually affecting a snake adversly. We as humans drink it and have been for years and again, i dont see any adverse effects and i have been drinking it for almost 48 years. People assume snakes are these fragile as glass animals that need pampering. As a person who kept reptiles and amphibian back in the dark ages before all this eco friendly tree hugging era began, there were none of these special things. We kept them in wood cages with heat lamps and rheostats. My first ball python was kept in a 55 gallon tank with a screen lid that i didnt cover at all. Sure he had bad sheds but nothing a soak and run through a wet wash cloth didnt fix. I had him for over 10 years before i had to re home him.

While i agree they done drink tap water in the wild, they drink water that could have far more contaminates in it than a little chlorine. Ever went out to ponds as a kid to catch frogs and water snakes and stuff? I have seen some serious iron stained ponds and ponds with a nice oil slick sheen on them and you know what, i have seen lots of frogs, tadpoles, salamanders and snakes around it too.

Bottom line is these reptile companies will market anything to try and get a buck whether it is needed or not. They are praying that unknowing keepers will fall for these items being 'needed' which in most cases are not. Like shed aid. If you set your snake up correctly, you will never need it. If you have it set up wrong and do need it, guess what, an 80F soak in water and a wash cloth will do more to get the shed off than spraying it with some stuff which is like 90% water and oil or something. Same with the Repti safe stuff. Like i said, i have kept reptiles for over 30 years and never once used anything except tap water and never had an issue. If you want to use the stuff, its your choice and I'm not going to talk down to you for using it. I'm just saying, the stuff isnt needed.

Now chloramine, i have never heard of that but unless the stuff is recent, my snakes have had no issues with it. They all got insatiable appetites, poop, pee, and do snakey things fine and have been for years.

Anyways, i'm not here to debate using it or not. I'm just saying it is not 'needed'. People have been keeping reptiles for at least 80+ years as i believe back in 1941 was the first documented captive boa breeding by some Zoo on the east coast and I'm sure people have been keeping reptiles long before that. That is a LONG time before Reptisafe was even invented but also before chlorine was added to drinking water i bet too. But anyways i know there has to be many years between when chlorine was added to drinking water and Reptisafe was marketed.

Oh and let me add, they dont always market good products. Remember the whole fiasco with coil type UVB that werent coated properly to save a buck and they were releasing very low UVB into the UVC light wave. They were causing blindness in basking reptiles. I know Zoo Med was one of the culprits. So, i wouldnt trust reptile supply manufacturers 100%. Do your own research and make sure what you are going to purchase is safe.

And i agree, snakes in captivity are unable to experience a natural balance which is why i also say i bet 80% of keepers worldwide over feed their snakes which is why you see so many huge fat stuffed sausages with people bragging how they got a 10 ft boa that is 2 years old lol.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Oh and let me add, they dont always market good products. Remember the whole fiasco with coil type UVB that werent coated properly to save a buck and they were releasing very low UVB into the UVC light wave. They were causing blindness in basking reptiles. I know Zoo Med was one of the culprits. So, i wouldnt trust reptile supply manufacturers 100%. Do your own research and make sure what you are going to purchase is safe.

And i agree, snakes in captivity are unable to experience a natural balance which is why i also say i bet 80% of keepers worldwide over feed their snakes which is why you see so many huge fat stuffed sausages with people bragging how they got a 10 ft boa that is 2 years old lol.

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I see where you're coming from. It probably isn't needed for their survival but I think if it's something that might be beneficial even a little bit and I can afford it then I don't see a reason for not using it.

I think the same about using racks. Snakes will obviously survive in racks but I don't believe they offer the best quality of life compared to a vivarium. Nor would I enjoy keeping a snake in a rack. I would also say night time temp drops may be beneficial.

That said, I do see how it makes sense financially if someone is a breeder to omit Reptisafe and temp drops for simplicity (outside of breeding) and to use racks.

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I know that is a old and tired debate but not everyone uses racks to save money or space.

I could afford cages for each of my Ball Pythons. I have the wall space to stack those 5 cages. But after years and years of keeping Ball Pythons in both cages and racks (both set up correctly) I find that Ball Pythons do exceptionally well in correctly set up racks. I still enjoy a nice display cage and I do have one. They please me. If I wanted more of them, I would set up a different species in them, one that enjoys all that space far more. A snake that is out and about by nature.

I have no problem with people setting BP's up in cages. As long as the needs are met all is good, no matter how it's done. I have a problem with people saying that people that keep BP's in racks do it to save money and space to the detriment of their snakes. Some may, but there are bad keepers no matter the enclosures they use. I wouldn't keep many snake species in racks, but Ball Pythons absolutely so.

So to each their own. If using products like Repti safe makes people feel better or it actually makes their water safer, by all means...use it. I rather see people go all out to take good care of their animals than the other way around.

On the other hand, using tap water seems perfectly fine as well as long as it's safe for humans.

There is more then one way to do things right [emoji6]


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I think it funny how this hobby is so uninformed about the physiology of the animals they keep. Unless a snake (we don't keep aquatic snakes in this hobby) somehow soaks so long in chlorinated water it might enter their blood stream by say their cloaca (not likely people, don't get crazy ideas!), it is impossible for a snake to have tissue damage from chlorine treated water because that is filtered out before hitting the bloodstream.

You can safely give your snake chlorine or chloramine treated water without harm because unlike fish and amphibians they lack membranes (skin or gill) that directly absorbs water to the bloodstream. That being said, there is no harm in removing it from the water using treatment agents like reptisafe. If you don't trust zoomed, use another product if you are concerned. There are dozens of products out there that do the same thing. Or look up a water report for your municipality online as they are all legally required to post them. Find out what is in your water and be informed.

For me I have used reptisafe or the equivalent longer than some of you have been alive and will continue to use it as long as I have reptiles, fish, or keep delicate plants

Dang...that is a great idea! So I could use it to make water safe for my air plants? Never thought of that. All my air plant forums just say to use rain water or drinking water. Or let chlorine dissipate. Never mentions water additives. But it makes sense.


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Originally Posted by SDA

I think it funny how this hobby is so uninformed about the physiology of the animals they keep. Unless a snake (we don't keep aquatic snakes in this hobby) somehow soaks so long in chlorinated water it might enter their blood stream by say their cloaca (not likely people, don't get crazy ideas!), it is impossible for a snake to have tissue damage from chlorine treated water because that is filtered out before hitting the bloodstream.

You can safely give your snake chlorine or chloramine treated water without harm because unlike fish and amphibians they lack membranes (skin or gill) that directly absorbs water to the bloodstream. That being said, there is no harm in removing it from the water using treatment agents like reptisafe. If you don't trust zoomed, use another product if you are concerned. There are dozens of products out there that do the same thing. Or look up a water report for your municipality online as they are all legally required to post them. Find out what is in your water and be informed.

For me I have used reptisafe or the equivalent longer than some of you have been alive and will continue to use it as long as I have reptiles, fish, or keep delicate plants

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Also, a lot of people seem to be focussing on one aspect of Reptisafe - that it removes chlorine and chloramine. Whilst it does do this it also removes ammonia and prevents it's accumulation.

I like the fact it will keep toxicity levels low if my snake pees in her water bowl and I'm not there to clean it.

I add a few drops to my mister too as I find it prevents mineral build up on glass.

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