Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is distilled water safe to use in the incubation medium? I am using a vermiculite/perlite mix. I do not want to use tap water because ours has so much stuff in it (floride, chlorine, etc.) When buying bottled water you never know what is actually in it. What have you guys used succesfully? Thanks.

I use filtered tap water that has stood for 24 hours, or bottled spring water or just bottled drinking water. Our local water is heavily chlorinated also, and is cloudy and frequently oddly colored, like yellowish, so I generally don't trust it either. I use a PUR brand water filter, which claims to remove chlorine and 99% of cryptosporidia. I don't know about those claims, but the water is clear, and it makes me feel better. I've had excellent hatch percentages and big, healthy neonates using these types of water. Seems like I've heard bad things related to distilled water and herps, but can't remember what it was exactly. Whatever it was, it's enough for me to not use it.

-Toby

Distilled water can leech vital minerals from herps bodies and OUR bodies as well by osmosis. This is what had me thinking about distilled water used in incubation medium on developing embryos.

That is a bunch of BULL. Distilled water is safe to use with snake eggs. It also doesn't leech out minerals from our bodies. All of the minerals that we need can come from the food that we eat. We don't need to get them from the water that we drink. There is also research showing that reptile eggs take in their water in vapor form. (Water vapor is the same as distilled water.)
The effect of incubation media on the water exchange of snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) eggs a

http://www.mercola.com/article/water/distilled_water.htm

.

I have no clue on how safe or unsafe distilled water is to snake eggs. However, as far as a drinking source, I do have some concerns. I'm reading Don Soderberg's new book, and it says in so many words not to use distilled water because there are many essential minerals that are removed from distillation. Also below are some interesting articles on distilled water as a drinking sourse. Safe or unsafe? I've read enough that makes me hesitant on using it as opposed to spring/bottled water.
Steve
http://www.mercola.com/article/water/distilled_water.htm

http://www.miraculewater.com/WaterLibrary/Distilledwater.html

>>That is a bunch of BULL. Distilled water is safe to use with snake eggs. It also doesn't leech out minerals from our bodies. All of the minerals that we need can come from the food that we eat. We don't need to get them from the water that we drink. There is also research showing that reptile eggs take in their water in vapor form. (Water vapor is the same as distilled water.)>That is a bunch of BULL. Distilled water is safe to use with snake eggs. It also doesn't leech out minerals from our bodies. All of the minerals that we need can come from the food that we eat. We don't need to get them from the water that we drink. There is also research showing that reptile eggs take in their water in vapor form. (Water vapor is the same as distilled water.)

sorry I hit submit too early. Thanks for the reply. I guess I just wanted to hear what type of water you guys use. I did buy some "spring water" and used that today for my egg boxes.

>>Is distilled water safe to use in the incubation medium? I am using a vermiculite/perlite mix. I do not want to use tap water because ours has so much stuff in it (floride, chlorine, etc.) When buying bottled water you never know what is actually in it. What have you guys used succesfully? Thanks.

I use tap water I let sit out open for a couple days.
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If lead paint is so deadly why do they make it so delicious?

You could try getting some r.o. water from your local fish shop. Where I work it's only like .50 a gallon. I doubt you would ever need more than 2 gallons.....
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.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1. Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Chunk" (Goonies)
.1 Orange Albino Black Ratsnake "Peaches"
.1 MO Locale Black Ratsnake "Molly" (Flogging Molly)

"Have you ever tried simply turning off the T.V., sitting down with your kids... and hitting them?"

Are we any closer to reaching a consensus? So what's the best water? I'm thinking rain water.

That is, where acid rain isn't a problem.

I've never had a problem with tap water and reptile eggs, but that doesn't mean that it can't be a problem. Since the distilled water issue has been covered, then I guess I'll throw in some other information that is well known to aquarium enthuiasts.

I have forgotten how to apply my highschool chemistry lessons, so I simply remember these simple things, taken from wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloramine:

"Aquarium owners must remove the chloramine from their tap water because it is toxic to fish. Aging the water for a few days removes chlorine but not the more stable chloramine, which can be neutralised using products available at pet stores.

Many animals are sensitive to chloramine and it must be removed from water given to many animals in zoos."

Chlorine was once the norm for municipal water treatment, but now, chloramine has become the standard........therefore, the old rule of letting the water stand before aquarium use doesn't apply to chloramine-treated water. You need to use direct chemical measures to remove chloramine---->>>>> I use "Prime," a Seachem product.

If you want to make sure the water won't kill the eggs, then you should treat it as you would aquarium water.......the pH tolerances of different egg species are completely unknown to me!

Shane
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Lifelist

the pH of the incubation medium would far outweigh the water.

the pH of the incubation medium would far outweigh the water.

Why would fish die in water that is within their pH tolerance?

Shane
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Lifelist

I'm not sure I understand what you are getting at.

All I was saying is that when you mix water with vermiculite/perlite which are full of minerals, or spagnum which is highly acidic, the pH of those materials will by far cancel out whatever the pH is in the water.

Obviously you need to treat water for aquariums for other reasons.

In most places the legal requirements for the cleanliness of tap water far exceed the requirements for bottled water. Many brands of bottled water are literally just tap water from somewhere else. There have also been numerous incidents of bacteria and other trace chemicals getting into bottled water sources, since they are not purified or regulated as carefully. Personally I think its a waste of money.

The only issue I can see with using tap water is if you are concerned about the chlorine. To be honest, I don't think it makes a difference. When you mix the water and incubation media you increase the surface area and imediately expose all of the water to air, so the chloramine will evaporate quickly.

If you are really concerned I would buy a brita before shelling out for bottled water.