Drinking water and live plants

[Elgato]

Since the tap water that i use to mist his enclosure obviously gets on his live plant and causes mineral build up on the leaves. I was considering using distilled water to solve this issue. I am able to clean the leaves, but i find it to be very tedious and i also can break the leaves. Once he starts licking his lips after a few sprays in the enclosure, i use this same water for him to drink. I am using reptisafe to remove the chlorine from the tap water. Reptisafe says that it adds electrolytes back to the water with other minerals. Distilled water is free of anything that isnt H2O, including electrolytes and minerals.

For those cham owners using live plants what are y'all doing about mineral build up on leaves??

Would using distilled water with reptisafe to add electrolytes defeat the purpose of using distilled water to prevent build up?

 

[CLP]

I used distilled water for my chams and have never needed to clean any buildup of the leaves of my plants. I wouldn't bother with the reptisafe. It's primary purpose is to make tap water safer to drink for your reptiles. If you are providing a varied diet, proper supplementing and gutloading your feeders well, you shouldn't need anything else.

 

[Elgato]

The reason I was thinking the reptisafe was because I had read on here before that distilled water had no electrolytes. Do our chams need electrolytes from water or are the regular supplements ok? I regularly use reptical for calcium and on occasion use herptivite. Gutload consists of apples, oranges, collars greens, butternut squash, cricket crack and other occasional fruits and veggies..

 

[CLP]

You are correct distilled water is supposed to be nothing but H2O, no salts, minerals, etc. That is why I said that as long as you're gutloading your feeders well and using proper supplementation, it should be fine. Not to mention, I don't know if anyone is actually sure what electrolytes and at what dosage a cham needs.

I have been using distilled water with my guys - oldest one I got a year ago, and he's extremely healthy, never had any issues. IMHO, distilled water is great. No mineral buildup on leave, cage or in any sprayers/misters. Why add the work of cleaning off mineral buildup