Water Treatment

[Ringo]

I use Reptisafe to treat the drinking water for my snake to remove the chlorine. Do I also need to treat the water I use to spray the tank? Ive not been treating the spray water and have had the snake for a few months now with no ill affects. It just occurred to me that maybe I should be treating the spray water as well.

[dr del]

Hi,

I have never done either and have seen no problems whatsoever so I wouldn't stress about it overmuch.


dr del

[bearhart]

I use distilled or "purified" water I get from the store for everything. No water spots that way and its really not that expensive.

I'm considering starting to use repti-safe for my cham since they claim it also puts beneficial electrolytes into the water. Most people use it to remove chlorine from the tap water but I've never read anything on the risks of chlorine.

[dr del]

Hi,

Ah us Scots have naturally soft water - makes the big jessies who put it in their whisky happier.

As for treating to remove chlorine leaving it overnight in a bucket (or indeed their waterbowl) does that just as well. I've never been convinced of the electrolyte thing to be honest and (I think the link came from here) recently read a page claiming distilled water could actually cause problems by leaching oxygen molecules and causing free radicals. No, I didn't beleive it either just thought I'd share as it seemed relevant.

A lot of this depends entirely on the make up of your local water - mine tastes fine so I never felt it was necessary to change it for my pets but I can see where some supplies would make it a good idea.

It might be an idea to ask your local water authority for information about this and see what they say? At the very least this would give you an exact breakdown about what your drinking and then you could hit google for any possible ramifications.


dr del

[tigerlily]

I agree with Derek. I did start off using the stuff to remove the chemicals, but I figure if it's safe for me to drink it's fine for them. I do leave the water overnight to allow the chlorine to evaporate.

I believe using distilled water can be harmful. I'd stick with the purified water over the distilled.

[bearhart]

Snakey has made it nearly a year on distilled alone, and he's looking healthy!

With the exception of some added pollutants from the air, rainwater is basically distilled water that's nicely aerated. So, I consider misted distilled water to be roughly equivalent. I would say that the oxygen thing you mentioned dr. del seems to have little basis in the science and chemistry I've been taught. I could be convinced that tap (or spring) water might contain extra minerals the snake's body could use. However, I've seen a definate preference for freshly misted water in 3 of 4 of my reptiles which suggests to me that they like pure water over anything else.

I also have to agree that I'm somewhat suspicious of the electrolyte thing.

[bearhart]

I agree with Derek. I did start off using the stuff to remove the chemicals, but I figure if it's safe for me to drink it's fine for them. I do leave the water overnight to allow the chlorine to evaporate.

I believe using distilled water can be harmful. I'd stick with the purified water over the distilled.

"Purified" is a code word for "reverse osmosis" which is another way to purify water.

I think distilled water tends to get a bad rap because it sounds like a chemical process (and is associated with making alcohol). All it really means is that the water has been forced to evaporate and then re-condensed. Morning dew is the exact same thing.

[sg1trogdor]

I started on distilled then went to reptisafe and now its good old arrowhead i figure they can have to fancy stuff too just like my dog and cats. lol. (funny thing is i dont even drink the stuff i have like 10 5 gal bottles of it i cant seem to drink it fast enough before the guy leaves another bottle. lol.

[hoo-t]

Distilled water would be absolutely fine for misting. In fact, probably better than tap because you won't end up with mineral deposits. You should NOT use it as drinking water though! For the same reasons! It doesn't contain the minerals that our bodies (and our snakes' bodies) need to get from our water!

Steve