nightcrawler
Avid Member
no rain is not pure at all. it does have minerals to my understanding that rainwater is always better for your plants. a good example of not pure rain, and a drastic one, is acid rain.
Question about "the little dripper"
- Thread starter vtecdreamer
- Start date
Justin Carl
Avid Member
yea i was thinking about that, but i ment over madagascar. not much polution there.... right?
nightcrawler
Avid Member
no not at all. but after looking around im starting to think that it doesnt have any minerals in it.
Marc10edora
Avid Member
A small bottle of reptisafe will last me about 4-5 months. The tap water is treated for human use. Imagine the amount of chlorine used in the water to make it safe for a humans size. Then imagine the same amount of chlorine used for the chameleon. it would be way too much.
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
Personally,
I use water straight out of the tap.
No repti-safe...definetely no distilling and....no problems!
I got that little packet of repti-safe with the dripper I bought too....I threw it away.
-Brad
I use water straight out of the tap.
No repti-safe...definetely no distilling and....no problems!
I got that little packet of repti-safe with the dripper I bought too....I threw it away.
-Brad
nightcrawler
Avid Member
i use reptisafe for my turtles water in order to get rid of the chlorine that will kill my bacteria in my filter.
Brad Ramsey
Retired Moderator
That makes sense.
No reason to use it for chameleons though.
-Brad
No reason to use it for chameleons though.
-Brad
MollyGreen
New Member
Ok, so like i said before, im no expert. BUT! i found this stuff that zoomed makes that is called "REPTISAFE". It is a blue solution that conditions water for your reptiles. It was only like 5$ and i use about 15 drops per day. It saves a lot of time!!!
PardalisGirl
Avid Member
I use filtered water.........
We have nasty water where I live. It has a high mineral content. The minerals turn a white toilet rusty brown in a few days and our dishwasher is also stained that color. Everyone around here hates the water. I won't drink it straight from the tap and won't give it to my cats or the lizards. We have one of those Pur water filters on our sink faucet. Each filter lasts a long time so it's pretty economical. I use the filtered water for all my misting.
We have nasty water where I live. It has a high mineral content. The minerals turn a white toilet rusty brown in a few days and our dishwasher is also stained that color. Everyone around here hates the water. I won't drink it straight from the tap and won't give it to my cats or the lizards. We have one of those Pur water filters on our sink faucet. Each filter lasts a long time so it's pretty economical. I use the filtered water for all my misting.
LaserGecko
New Member
If you live in a particularly dusty area (like the desert), the first few drops of rain can actually trap the dust that's floating in the air as the water either condenses in or passes through that layer of air. However, it's usually "washed out" of the atmosphere if you get enough rain to matter.
Actual mineral content is impossible since rocks don't float very well.
I think you'd be hard pressed to come up with any real evidence that chlorine in your misting water causes damage to chameleons (but that's just opinion). There was a company that used to make an automatic aquarium fill system some years ago. It used a float valve, was hooked to a house's water supply, and shot an ultrafine, needlelike stream of water into the aquarium.
I asked the company's tech support about chlorine issues from the topped off water. They said that the stream was so fine that the chlorine came out of solution and didn't cause any problems. "We wouldn't be selling something that would kill our customer's fish" was the quote I remember.
It may/should work the same with misting, but that's just a guess on my part. I can't remember the name of the product nor the company that sold it, but it was one of the big ones.
Actual mineral content is impossible since rocks don't float very well.
I think you'd be hard pressed to come up with any real evidence that chlorine in your misting water causes damage to chameleons (but that's just opinion). There was a company that used to make an automatic aquarium fill system some years ago. It used a float valve, was hooked to a house's water supply, and shot an ultrafine, needlelike stream of water into the aquarium.
I asked the company's tech support about chlorine issues from the topped off water. They said that the stream was so fine that the chlorine came out of solution and didn't cause any problems. "We wouldn't be selling something that would kill our customer's fish" was the quote I remember.
It may/should work the same with misting, but that's just a guess on my part. I can't remember the name of the product nor the company that sold it, but it was one of the big ones.
Scuba60056
New Member
Clorinated water is safe.... Here is the truth about tap water.Ok so the tap water bit again…. What gives… are all of you from the wacked out state of California?
From the breeders desk of George E Reynolds.
Chlorine is not harmful to your animal in the least bit. But if you would sleep better, you can leave an uncovered pot of water out over night. With in 12 hours all the unbound chlorine is out of the water regardless of the amount of chlorine gas was in the original water. This is not the same for bleach added to water. I promise, it is a gas law. Get out the chemistry books.
Water from un-chlorinated sources do not offer the protection of killing harmful microbes and small parasites found in runoff or well/pump/river/lake waters. That is why when you should have the vet check the stools from your chameleon once a year. Also, the PH is most important. Your city adds Calcium, Poeticism and Fluorine in small to regulate the PH. These small amounts are of integral important to neurological and muscular/skeleton development and maintenance. Yes, I said fluorinated water. City water is also a good source of Iron and Copper. Runoff and Rain water not so good. But that depends on where you live. Both in industrial and forest areas tend to be acid or “SOFT WATER”. That is, it has a lower ph value than is healthy. Low PH can add to bone loss and cause some forms of atrophy especially in young chameleons.
But what source is best water? Well, heavily calcified water mineral or city water; and yes, from the standard tap water. Yes, just like found in all regulated USA municipal water supplies. Remember your chameleons need a supplement of Calcium / and Potassium daily. That is why you dust your chameleon’s food.
Think of where they eat and drinking in the wild. The wild food they eat live on the forest or desert floor and become arboreal. That is the food source eats food found on the ground. The food has run in the mud and dirt sticks. The insects and fruits get their water and mineral vitamins and Iron from rocks, salts in mud and carrion. They in turn pass the minerals to your chameleons by not only what they have taken in, but what is also what is stuck on the outside of the food sources.
In the wild chameleons are omnivores. They do eat small rodents, eggs, birds, fruits and even fish. As a side note, one of the best source of all minerals are butterflies caught after eating from muddy riverbanks. They are loaded with all right kinds of good things your chameleon needs. If you use make sure that the species is not toxic or feeding on a toxic food source first.
Remember dusting, gut loading food their source and good UV light source is more important than tap water or not. Here is something else to try if your water source has a low PH. Try adding cuddle/cuttle bone grindings/powder to your water fountain or dripper. It is also a good way to add extra calcium and potassium and vitamins in correct ratios. Add ½ teaspoon cuddle/cuttle bone per gallon of water and also add a teaspoon of grape juice concentrate to the mixture to sweeten the water and ensure that all the calcium is dissolved and not suspended.
Lastly, also try this … save your pennies buying distilled or DI water and use it to buy a new compact UVB 5.0/10.0 bulb every 6 months. They don’t last forever. And remember to dust daily live food and fruits with a quality reptile supplement with D3 dust. This is more important than to tap or not to tap.
Have fun and I hope that this answers all questions about tap water.
George
Elizadolots
New Member
saltwaterguy02
New Member
Correction only three of us are from "Wacky" California ;^)
withlime
New Member
I live in California, and after moving here I found that only a small portion of the people are "whacked out" 
I use a reverse osmosis system on my chameleons for many reasons. One of the reasons being the hard mineral build up on my misters was a hassle to clean and expensive to replace. With RO I never worry about fluoride, chlorine, or anything else being in my water except H2O.
If you only have one or two chameleons, then using a kitchen tap filter is probably your best bet.
I use a reverse osmosis system on my chameleons for many reasons. One of the reasons being the hard mineral build up on my misters was a hassle to clean and expensive to replace. With RO I never worry about fluoride, chlorine, or anything else being in my water except H2O.
If you only have one or two chameleons, then using a kitchen tap filter is probably your best bet.
supermrchameleon
New Member
Personally, I just use the tap water. I do live in Oregon though which has AMAZING water quaility. Out treatment plant does one extra step at the end and I dont remember what it is called or what is it that they do but I know that since it isnt required most other places dont do it. Id just examine the water quality in which you live and go from there.
Elizadolots
New Member
Generally I'd say if you feel comfortable drinking it straight from the tap, then it's fine. Possibly a stupid idea. The caveat being: is it fluoridated? Ours is not, but I know a lot of communities do fluoridate.
summoner12
Avid Member
just remember we are a lot more tolerable of the 'stuff' in drinking water than your chameleon... The general rule of thumb that 'if it is ok for me it's ok for them 'doesn't always play through... Some people do this and it is fine. But, it doesn't hurt to check out your water supply and see what is in it. You can contact your water treatment people for this data. I suggest at least running your water through a carbon filter to remove chlorine and fluorine. It might take a special filter to get fluorine out of your water. This is necessary only where found in tap water.
Scuba made a good post. But if you dust properly, there is no harm in removing the minerals in tap water. You'll make up for it later.
Scuba made a good post. But if you dust properly, there is no harm in removing the minerals in tap water. You'll make up for it later.
Elizadolots
New Member
Fluoride as a supplement is commonly added in community water systems. I've know 2 people from other (different) parts of the country who were shocked when their children developed horrible dental problems...
"But...she drinks lots of water" they both said...
Water isn't fluoridated here.
They were both stunned.
I just sort of got from those experiences that a lot of people have grown up with fluoridated water and don't even think about it. So...something to check.
I strongly suspect that unless you are a parent who is asked by their child's pediatrician about fluoridation, it might not be something you are conscious of (meaning: we hadn't thought about it but at our daughter's first {5 days old} appointment, her pediatrician made us make a plan for providing fluoride in our daughter's diet).
"But...she drinks lots of water" they both said...
Water isn't fluoridated here.
They were both stunned.
I just sort of got from those experiences that a lot of people have grown up with fluoridated water and don't even think about it. So...something to check.
I strongly suspect that unless you are a parent who is asked by their child's pediatrician about fluoridation, it might not be something you are conscious of (meaning: we hadn't thought about it but at our daughter's first {5 days old} appointment, her pediatrician made us make a plan for providing fluoride in our daughter's diet).
withlime
New Member
Fluoride in water makes me nervous for chameleons because of its poisonous attributes. Fluoride is good for your teeth because it kills bacteria that cause tooth decay, and it is generally okay in water supply because of its low levels. Chameleons are much smaller and can tolerate much less of things than we can. I have not seen any studies about this, but like I said, it makes me nervous for my chameleons. This is one situation where I feel like "better safe than sorry".
Thomas Bower
New Member
Uncle Tom
First of all, boiling will NOT create distilled water. Chlorine is a gas and will disipate within twenty four hours. This process can be improved upon by putting asn air stone and air pump in the jug. Buying distilled water can get a bit pricey plus the lugging og the bottles.
I am capturing the Distilled Water that is a byproduct from my air conditioning. The drain line can be extended into a hole dug under the the drain, bury a 5 gal bucket and slip a clean gallon jug (milk bottle) inside the bucket with the extended flexible tube running into the jug. Bury the bucket just above ground level to keep dirt out. When you bring in a jug and replace it with a new one, run the water through the basket and filter on your coffee maker. You will end up with gallons of distilled water without adding salt or other chemicals.
First of all, boiling will NOT create distilled water. Chlorine is a gas and will disipate within twenty four hours. This process can be improved upon by putting asn air stone and air pump in the jug. Buying distilled water can get a bit pricey plus the lugging og the bottles.
I am capturing the Distilled Water that is a byproduct from my air conditioning. The drain line can be extended into a hole dug under the the drain, bury a 5 gal bucket and slip a clean gallon jug (milk bottle) inside the bucket with the extended flexible tube running into the jug. Bury the bucket just above ground level to keep dirt out. When you bring in a jug and replace it with a new one, run the water through the basket and filter on your coffee maker. You will end up with gallons of distilled water without adding salt or other chemicals.
