distilled vs bottled

[batmancumming]

so my vet said that he highly recommends switching from distilled water to bottled water for my automatic mister, for the obvious reason of it lacking minerals and such. i have read on the forums that many people do use distilled water and even the booklet for my monsoon recommends distilled to stop buildup in the nozzles. i would rather do whats best for my cham tho, so what does everyone think??

 

[Elizadolots]

That's crazy talk! Distilled water is practically pure with no minerals or anything...a lot of bottled water has minerals added back for taste. Also, you can buy bottled distilled water. I think you need to talk some sense into your vet!

 

[coldbloodedAL]

Imo tap water is even okay, unless your city water is poorly treated. I have ran tap water w/ reptisafe( an additive to remove chlorine, and add some minerals i believe) through my mistking for seven months straight w/o clogging or having to change nozzles for any reason. Maybe, juustt maybe, some of the minerals from bottled water could be helpful? Rain in there natural habitat cannot even be as pure as bottled water.

 

[Eltortu]

I buy my water at Albertson's. I have use tap water when they are outside and run the mister, but inside is always drinking spring water.

 

[Davonat]

Mist King recommends Reverse Osmosis filtered water in thier systems. To save the cost of buying water..... I purchased a R.O. system for about $130 on E Bay. I will tackle that this weekend. Looks fairly simple. The hard part is gonig to drill the hole in the sink for the faucet. A plumber will cost a few bucks for sure. If you want to buy at the store.... its clearly stated R.O. filtered on the jugs.

 

[Cainschams]

That's crazy talk! Distilled water is practically pure with no minerals or anything...a lot of bottled water has minerals added back for taste. Also, you can buy bottled distilled water. I think you need to talk some sense into your vet!

Not really crazy talk if you ask me. Pretty spot on. Natural rain has minerals in it and all animals need a good balance of minerals. I have never used distilled water because its just h20 with nothing else. Maybe using it with a product like minerall would be good but alone I wouldnt recommend it. Ive used well water and tap water with no problems. Spring water would even be good but minerals are necessary.

 

[batmancumming]

That's crazy talk! Distilled water is practically pure with no minerals or anything...a lot of bottled water has minerals added back for taste. Also, you can buy bottled distilled water. I think you need to talk some sense into your vet!

i have been using bottled distilled for my auto mister only, and tap water treated with reptisafe for his dripper and hand mister. i know alot of people use distilled, but with it's lack of salts and minerals, it kinda makes sense as to why it wouldn't be good as the only water source. here is an interesting article i read awhile back http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptile-health/amphibian-health/bloated-herp-water-problems.aspx thought of this after what my vet said

 

[Elizadolots]

Y'all do know that in the wild they drink RAIN WATER...which is pretty free of minerals and all that stuff.

Animals that drink from "land based water" need minerals in their water...animals that drink from "sky based water" don't. I use RO water for my chameleons, my husband uses treated tap water for his fish. The fish need the minerals, the chameleons do not.

 

[Canny Chams]

summary: ur vets got mental issues
Distilled water prevents build up in the nozzles.
The plastic may leach into bottled water.
The minerals are added, and you cant manage the minerals that go in or out

 

[Davonat]

Excellent article!!!! SO...... The folks at mist king know thier stuff. R.O. water has filtered out all the bad stuff & put back in what is good for the Herps health & ours, it also wont clog thier nozzels. No adding to tap water with reptisafe.... Now you can go buy a system or lug spring or R.O. water from the market. The article clearly states NO DISTILLED water for us or our pets....The Vet was corectamoondo!

 

[Elizadolots]

The article was not written about chameleons. They are not like most reptiles.

 

[Whatcamo]

Mist King recommends Reverse Osmosis filtered water in thier systems. To save the cost of buying water..... I purchased a R.O. system for about $130 on E Bay. I will tackle that this weekend. Looks fairly simple. The hard part is gonig to drill the hole in the sink for the faucet. A plumber will cost a few bucks for sure. If you want to buy at the store.... its clearly stated R.O. filtered on the jugs.

There's adapters at lowes or home depot that go on your faucet or you can Y it of your laundry wash machine line with a garden hose splitter that if you have those options that's how I have mine for my reef tank

 

[Davonat]

The article was not written about chameleons. They are not like most reptiles.

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.....

 

[Davonat]

There's adapters at lowes or home depot that go on your faucet or you can Y it of your laundry wash machine line with a garden hose splitter that if you have those options that's how I have mine for my reef tank

Thanks.....I saw those too. Im going to hook it up under my sink and use the nice tall spouted faucet that came with it. I can get rid of my PUR faucet mounted filter "FINALLY"...... Been meaning to do this a while now.

 

[summoner12]

The amount if minerals in the water from your tap is so miniscule that if you are supplementing your feeder animals with vit/mineral supplements, they will not miss any nutrients.

I have had my animals on RO water for almost two years and I have NO issue with any mineral or vitamin deficiencies. I also only drink RO water, at home and at work. I don't have any health issues.

If you are even worried about the minerals... they make 'filters' that add back minerals.... this is for taste purposes that these types of filters are created... You clean the water and then add back what is needed to make the water have a better Ph balance. The application is for coffee shops. Make coffee with RO water, you'll get so much more flavor.... add the calcium filter and it tastes even better.

Another thing... what do you think those places in the middle east are doing to get water? it never rains.... they use desalination... which is basically RO water stations on HUGE scale...... entire cities drink this water. Your vet, and that article are not as accurate as they will lead you to believe.

 

[madden]

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

 

[mgebbie]

I actually use deionized water. I haven't had any problems with it thus far. Thor gets a lot of help from his calcium, and herptivite, so i'm not worried.

 

[ferretinmyshoes]

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.

This would be true if you were giving your water intravenously. Salt water only has that effect orally due to the incredibly concentrated amount of salt in it drawing water out of cells. Distilled water is not nearly as dangerous orally because the cells of the stomach have mechanisms to prevent swelling (like lymphatics) and regular tap water does not have so many mineral ions that is is so terribly different from distilled from a drinking standpoint.

 

[chevy20]

so tap water is good enough??

 

[madden]

True, I didn't mean to imply that distilled water was as dangerous as salt water, so if it came across that way it was unintentional, but it's still my belief that distilled water is unhealthy for human Or animal consumption, and its also the opinion of many in the medical professionals for humans and animals, as well as herpetologists I've spoken to, so while I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, I would rather play it safe than sorry, and follow their advice.