Water

[froggielog]

Okay so ive read around places and diffrent people say diffrent things, so im confused.
Is it safe to let your chameleon have warm tap water?
Or are you supposed to treat it with drops?
Or give him bottled 'spring water'?

Thanks!

 

[melrito]

Tap water is generally not good, as it contains chlorine. I don't know about water treatment drops, but you can get a water filter (either for the sink or a brita pitcher type) to filter the water. You can use spring water, but that will be more expensive of course.

 

[ataraxia]

many use tap water. i have a r/o system that i try to use as much as possible but dont always have time to wait for the fill up. from what i understand walmart bottled drinking water is r/o. i personally dont like to drink tap water and try to do the same for the animals.

 

[Geckoxp]

It all depends on the area and the tap water source. Here in Western NY we get our water from water sheds down in the finger lakes region and have some of the best water in the states so I use regular cold tap water. I know this because I use to have a couple saltwater tanks and the PPM was 133 in which 0 is the best. Others are not as fortunate and have there PPM in the 1K+ range especially with sulfer water(ick). You can generally get your ratings from a simple search online. I have noticed no issues with the chams I have had even with the chlorine....

worse comes to worse I believe regular fish chlorine remover would work fine but I never have tried it.


Also...last pt I promise...Cold water is fresher than using hot tap water because it generally sits in your hot water tank etc...if you want your water to be warm use fresh cold water and get a fish heater in the bucket...ive tried that during the colder months and that works great too.

 

[armyrec1]

I've been using "Jurassi Safe" water treatment drops, and everything is great.

I think it's basically the same thing as fish water treatment, but hey, it says it is for reptiles/lizards, so I use it for my cham and geckos.

 

[EmilioPichardo]

i use reptisafe works good so far

 

[heartben]

tap and reptisafe here for all thing water. ive only been using it since tuesday but ive seen no ill effects yet and i havent heard of any.

 

[Dave Bull]

I use fitered tap water via a britta, we are lucky here in Germany they dont add chlorine or flourine to water

 

[meleondollars]

I use distilled water most of the time. Even the tap water that is supplied to my home leaves a lot of water stains on things when it drys. Its about .99$ a gallon, which adds up but I know its all good.

 

[DavidBuchan]

I use tap water - lots of Calcium in Yorkshire tap water,

 

[okiroo]

im useing tap. i drink tap water all the time. really i dont see a big diff when i or my animals drink it.

 

[fluxlizard]

when I lived in town I used tapwater, chlorine and all. Not a problem for my chams.

I now live out in the country and have a well and use well water.

I've never heated my water. Never seems to bother the lizards.

 

[Monzon]

In their ideal world, chameleons drink and are washed by essentially "pure" water with a pH of ~5.4. This comes to them as rain and dew. I like to provide water as close to this natural state as possible. This is not just drinking water that goes straight to their stomachs. Chameleons use rain events to wash and hydrate their eyes (and most likely the nares/sinus and other mucous membranes). Heavily mineralised water of a pH 8.0 or even higher (mine is 8.5) is a very different substance than rain water, and chlorine an flourine only add to this difference.

Plenty of experienced keepers report no differences attributable to tap vs. filtered vs. RO, so it may ultimately be personal preference.

I like to try to replicate as many of the natural variables as possible.

I see this as respecting the animal's evolutionary history.

As far as heating water: I try to keep my ambient temperatures dialed in and I then try to deliver water that is at or near the ambient temperature - just like nature. During the day, the water could be at 75 degrees. At night it could be at 55 degrees. I accomplish this with a carboy as a reservoir.

 

[heartben]

so how do you go about that monzon?

 

[azgnoinc]

If you leave tap water to sit out overnight, or better yet a full 24 hours, most all of the chlorine that they use in it should evaporate off, and this will also give the water a chance to get to room temperature. I'm not sure if it is still the case or not, but I learned many years ago that you don't give chams cold water - they have to thermo-regulate their bodies to digest food, and cold water would slow that process down.
I use 6 1 gallon thoroughly washed out milk jugs and rotate them to fill my drippers, as I run about a gallon and a half a day through my 3 Panthers water drippers, this way they have access all day long to dripping water.
You can make your own dripper by using a tupperware container and some easy to find parts from hardware store - pm if you need further details.

 

[Shawntea]

we have tons of chlorine in our water, but I have found most supermarkets sell 2 gallon jugs of water, and last time I bought the reverse osmosis purified store brand for $0.97 for a 2 gallon jug.

 

[Monzon]

Tap water is not automatically bad. Not all tap water is heavily mineralised or alkaline like mine. If you just need the chlorine removed, then get an inexpensive brita type activated carbon filter. Or for cheaper-in-the-long run, an undersink carbon filter. This will make quality tap water into a high quality, Chloramine free, water. Some municipalities over-chlorinate to deal with other water quality problems they are having. I repeat: Tap water is not automatically bad. But you should know about the water you and your pets are consuming. You may find that it is a great product or you may find that it is not acceptable. I guess I just don't agree with the idea that all water is the same.

 

[Elizadolots]

All water is not the same, which is why everyone has to make this choice on their own. I happen to think that fluoride is a problem for chameleons and now that San Diego is fluoridating the water, I need to avoid tap water. But others disagree. It's a case where you have to read up and come to your own conclusions and act accordingly.

It's really great preparation for parenthood for those who haven't had babies yet.

You can only do what you think is best with the information you have available. You'll probably be told repeatedly how wrong you are and at times you'll question your approach, but at other times you'll think you must have done everything right because it's all so good....

It's an adventure. You just need to take responsibility and make the decisions yourself.

 

[garcia031]

I, for the most part use Reptisafe water drops.....