I dont want to tick you off or anything... but read from paragraph 4 down...They say distilled water will not be consumed by "any" wild creature on our planet. They "all" need the minerals and such. It goes on to explain why. Im no vet or scientist but I am 53 yrs old and grew up in S. California and have had many many different types of reptiles as pets growing up. My parents even told me as a kid not to drink distilled water. I mean.... its not poison...... But all the person asked was what could be used instead of distilled and not clog his nozzles Thats all.....
Your parents probably told you not to drink distilled water because it has no taste and is therefore deemed "icky" by kids. The article is seriously flawed. It quotes the EPA saying bad things about distilled water, but if you go to the EPA site and search "distilled water" you won't find it. In fact, all you will find is praise for its purity, safety and use in cleaning things. You'll even find an experiment it recommends for school kids to compare different "waters" for plant growth. According the EPA, the result should be that the plants raised on distilled water do the best because of its purity.
Distilled water and Reverse Osmosis water are processed very differently, which is why RO water. Is recomended, not distilled. Distilled water doesn't contain any of the solutes normally present in drinking water, and yes, even rain water has minerals. This lack of minerals and salts in distilled water is harmful because first of all, distilled water is more acidic. Also, when an animals cells are in a balanced solution (I.e. regular water), water flows evenly back and forth across the cell membranes. However, in a hypotonic solution (less solutes in the water outside the cells than inside), water flows to the area of higher concentration of solutes, into the cells, which causes them to swell up. This isn't good, for obvious reasons, its essentially exactly the opposite of what happens when you drink salt water and become dehydrated.
Check out this article for some more info:
http://waterhealthstudies.blogspot.com/2007/12/distilled-water-vs-reverse-osmosis.html
The article contains the complete misquote from the EPA... so, is suspect at best. The only problems I've been able to find on distilled water is that in small home systems it isn't 100% and some of the contaminants do not get removed, making it not really "pure". However, pure distilled water is completely PH neutral.
Rain drops fall from the sky contacting dirt and dust on the way down. Most of which is from human activity (coal fired power plants, agriculture, construction, nuclear meltdown in japan, jet exhaust and chemical plants emissions) so there are a few minerals and a whole lot of pollution in every rain drop.
Good point. Distilled water, however, would not have those things. It is what rain water would have been if mankind had not been messing with it. On quick guess, I'm going to bet you wouldn't argue that chameleons benefit from the crap humans have put into the air.
Sorry but I'm not to good to drink tap water why shouldn't my cham?
Because you're a big strong mammal and it's a little reptile? Do you honestly not think that there is a difference? Heck, even among mammals there are dramatic differences in what is toxic. Don't give your dog Tylenol! Just the size difference alone is enough to mean the two beings are not comparable.
That said, your tap water might be fine. Tap water is definitely not the same everywhere. You should check with your water authority to see what their tolerances are on chemicals present in the water and find out what is being done to the water in your area. It might be dandy.
I used tap water all the time until San Diego started fluoridating their water. I had read this in
Chris Anderson's e-zine. and always thought, well, it's so cool my city doesn't fluoridate.
Fluoridated water contains 0.5 to 1.0 ppm fluoride, usually as the sodium salt. Fluoride has a narrow safety range. In mammals, deficiency is associated with dental caries and with osteoporosis in the aged. Fluoride toxicity (fluorosis), due to accumulation from long-term consumption of high levels, is associated with deformed bones and soft, mottled, and irregularly worn teeth. Animals fed diets deficient in protein, calcium, and vitamin C are more susceptible to fluorosis. Water sources containing high levels of fluoride are found in parts of Arkansas, California, South Carolina, and Texas and may be a risk for fluorosis. In reptiles, fluorosis can mimic the signs of metabolic bone disease (MBD).
I've actually wondered for a long time if some of what is called MBD is, in fact, fluorosis.
Anyway, based on that, I don't feel comfortable giving my little lizards tap water anymore, so I don't.
