I have not seen reptile specific reasons as to why distilled is bad for them but I am sure that the same reasons that make it unhealthy for humans apply.



Distilled water is unhealthy in general because it lacks the mineral content that is in it in nature. What it does is leach nutrients from your body. Now in a healthy person this is negligable and hardly noticeable. Likewise with baby formula you are adding a absolute ton of content to the distilled water so it is no longer in the distilled state when ingested. Years ago the distilled water and zero fat craze caused ENORMOUS health problems in the elderly comunity since they were not healthy enough to take the stress of nutritional starvation.



Another example of a similar thing occuring is what happens to aquatic animals(particularly frogs if I remember correctly) and put them into the wrong type of water. ie freshwater animal into oceanwater or vice versa.



Another thing to keep in mind is that almost everywhere(at least in the US) the water quality standards for tapwater are higher then the standards for bottled water so you are normally better off using tap water.



The exception to the tap water is some counties use a chemical to treat the water(disinfect) that is extremely toxic but which is not deadly to humans. If I remeber correction it is some bonded form of amonia or chlorine. Either way it will instantly kill fish and many other aquatic or sensitive animals.



That being said there are treatment products specifically for reptiles water which among many other things removes the chemical mentioned before. I apologize for not remembering it's name, it was a while ago that I got all the info on it when they were talking about starting it's use in my area.



If your really worried about using the tap water I would talk to a reptile vet and/or a good quality fish store as both should be familliar with any issues.

[ Show Entire Thread ]