Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I recently got a new "Garden Pressure Sprayer" at a reptile show. I got it for misting/humidity purposes. I also use it on my house plants. It is one of those hand held sprayers with a pumping mechanism built it. I have been having some problems with it. First off, when I got it, it took a LONG time to get rid of the "new plastic smell". Then, the pressure pump mechanism started to discolor and make the water smell. I think it discolored from the oil that was used on the pump rod. I then disassembled and cleaned the sprayer with soap and HOT water to get rid of the discoloration and smell. Now, the sprayer does not pressurize well. I think the hot water may have deformed the rubber O-ring on the plunger. Is this a likely assumption, or is their some other reason for the sprayers malfunction? The bottle of the sprayer has maintenance instructions printed on it. The first instruction is "Periodically apply a few drops of oil down the pump rod hole". What kind of oil am I suppose to use? I used a soybean oil based lubricant that is suppose to used as you would use a 3 in 1 oil. I think this oil might not be good for this purpose, as the discoloration of the pump occurred after I applied the oil. Someone suggested I use just plain vegetable oil, but I am not sure about it. The water smells and tastes like the oil, so I am worried if it could hurt my animals. Could the oil hurt my animals? I appreciate your patience in reading my post and I apologize if it was some what long-winded. Thank you, Josh

my advice, buy a simple spay bottle from walmart or home depot and use that. Lot less trouble and no need to oil it.
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I think my frog owns a megaphone....

White's tree frogs : 1:1:0
Mantella viridis : 1:1:2