reverse osmosis water for chameleons

[chamden]

hi guys,i moved home around 3-4 months ago and so my large collection of chameleons came with me, after around 6-7 weeks after the move i noticed some serious changes in my animals including severley washed out colour and edema in some of the older males and now in some of the younger females also.

I am well aware of the most common causes of edema but nothing has changed care wise or supplementation wise since the move and they are a well established colony rangeing between 8 months and 4 years old.

At this point im 99% sure its the new water causing the issues as its got a very distinct taste and smell, it also leaves the tap very cloudy and the sodium content is higher than the old place.

Has anyone ever used r/o water for there chameleons or know of anyone who does, i have heard bad things about using pure r/o water for chameleons but with no real science behind the comments. i am going to install one next week but dont want to waste the money if its going to kill them quicker than what my crappy water will do anyway.

Any info at all will be greatly recieved

thanks
ben.

 

[GoFast]

Here is a link that has links to every ro discussion on the boards
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...avclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS312US312&ie=UTF-8

 

[Todnedo]

I've used Ro water for years and I don't see any problems. Most ro water is not pure, usually 5-15 PPM of TDS depending on the source water TDS.

I find it very interesting that your chams developed edema from the tap water.

 

[Carlton]

I use RO for all my animals but for various reasons. I am on well water, very hard and high in iron, other salts, and some arsenic. The house has a softener too. I don't want my frogs, chams, or birds drinking softened water nor do I want to keep cleaning deposits off plants, terrariums, out of my humidifiers and misters. My birds are iron sensitive. RO water isn't demineralized entirely, the levels are just lower. It also tastes great!

 

[alinder450]

I too am considering getting an RO system. Not because my tap water is that bad, because I live in Arkansas, but because I was told by Marty of Mistking it will increase the longitivity of my misting system.

I have used regular tap water with my chameleons, leopard geckos, and anoles for years without any problems. I was told by a biology professor that reptiles can easily adapt to the high concentration of chemicals in our tap water but to avoid using it as a precaution.

There are multiple ways to make your tap water more suitable for your chameleon. Letting it sit over night for chlorine evaporation, treating it with reptile/fish water treatment, or boiling the water. I personally don't have time every morning to boil water and i'm not sold on just letting it sit out...which seems like in itself could be problematic.

I opted for ZooMed Repti Safe Water Treatment. I have used this for over 2 years with no problems. I use 2 drops per 8 oz. and let it sit for a few minutes after a good shake.
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...o-med-225-ounce-repti-safe-water-conditioner/

 

[chamden]

cheers for the help and links guys,the unit i have got is a 4 stage system with a particle and carbon filter underneath and then the r/o membrane on top with a deionizor on top of that.
now can anyone tell me if the deionizor is benifical to use or would i be better running without it and just running the two filters and the r/o membrane.
any advice would be great,
thankyou.

 

[jannb]

You might find this older thread interesting.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/gular-edema-23379/