Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Tap water, RO, or that fancy French stuff?
I've given my snakes RO water for years and they all have strong bones and teeth, drop great eggs, and seem generally healthy.

It's possible they miss out on minerals but eliminates chlorine, ammonia, etc and the massive mineral build up on the water bowls over time.
But health wise, if a snake is stressed and develops inflammatory bowl disease (IBD)will the RO water aggravate the condition or not? I don't see it being a cause of IBD since my snakes would have died long ago but what do y'all give to your priceless animals? Does the chlorine in tap water actually serve to kill micro-organisms in that culture dish we call a water bowl?
You can contact me directly at Jis97@aol.com or post a response and brave the flames.
Thanx everyone, Jeff

Hmmm, I've always given mine bottled "Drinking Water" (the kind in those big plastic containers from the store) and never had anything but healthy, growing snakes. And I've never given much thought to any mineral content the snakes might possibly be missing out on. Tap water just doesn't strike me as "natural" water, at least not here in a high population area where it's probably heavily treated (and also includes traces of cryptosporidium).

If you're worried about vitamin/mineral deficiencies you could always dust food items occasionally with products like Herpitivite and/or Repcal.

Todd

I give my snakes water from the tap, our well is spring fed though. what does RO stand for? thanks
wayne

In my 20 years of snake keeping and that includes some zoo time, I've never used anything but tap water and have always had good luck.

The only critters I've ever used store bought water for are amphibians...

or at least I think that is what it means. Distilled water is another word for it.
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sue

We have well water and that is what I give my snakes. Every couple of days I dump the water bowls out, clean them out, and replace with fresh water. Have done this for years and all of my snakes are healthy. But we do have a UV filter system that filters the water, and it is coliform free, as we have it tested once a year.

As far as calcium and vitamins/minerals, the snakes should get all they need from the mice/rats that are fed to them. Unless your feeding them Ethiopian mice!! LOL
Brian

>>Tap water, RO, or that fancy French stuff?
>>I've given my snakes RO water for years and they all have strong bones and teeth, drop great eggs, and seem generally healthy.
>>
>>It's possible they miss out on minerals but eliminates chlorine, ammonia, etc and the massive mineral build up on the water bowls over time.
>>But health wise, if a snake is stressed and develops inflammatory bowl disease (IBD)will the RO water aggravate the condition or not? I don't see it being a cause of IBD since my snakes would have died long ago but what do y'all give to your priceless animals? Does the chlorine in tap water actually serve to kill micro-organisms in that culture dish we call a water bowl?
>>You can contact me directly at Jis97@aol.com or post a response and brave the flames.
>>Thanx everyone, Jeff
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RATS
1.0 Corn snake "Warpath" (KY locale)
0.0.1 Corn snake (KY locale)
1.0 Black rat snake "Havok" (KY locale)
1.1 Black rat snakes "Reaper and Mystique" (MO locale)
1.0 Albino Black rat snake "Malakai" (Dwight Good stock)
1.0 Everglades rat snake "Deadpool" (Dwight Good stock)
0.1 Greenish rat snake "Rogue" (Dwight Good stock)
0.0.1 Great plains rat snake (TX locale)
1.0 Grey rat snake "Punisher" (White oak phase)(Dwight Good stock)

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Like palemilk, I use "Arrowhead Drinking Water". I have a nice collection of Rosy Boa's and don't want to take any chances with Crypto. I live in an area south of some major oil refineries, and I don't rarely drink the tap water myself. I also believe that this water "Arrowhead Drinkin Water"contains some calcium and sodium which is beneficial too. I supplement every second or third feeding with a dusting of Repcal or Herptivite. I do know some people around here that still use tap water and have had no problems whatsoever.

So the Perrier water got no votes and we're about evenly split between tap and bottled drinking water. Hadn't given any thought to areas where the water is just plain nasty and I suggest you write your congressman guys.
I have another water question and will post it separately but thanx everyone for the input....Jeff

I have used both bottled water and tap water. I have not noticed any differences in health with either in my collection. The relative chance of snakes acquiring cryptosporidium from tap water should be considered insignificant. Cryptosporidium parvum infects humans and is from human waste. Cryptosporidium serpensis is the species which can infect reptiles. Perhaps snakes ingest nearly all their mineral needs with their food. This may bolster the importance of healthy, well fed rodents.
Josh

Good info Josh, thanks for the enlightenment. Very nice Hondo also.

You have given your snakes RO water without adding anything to it?
I use reg tap water if left overnight in open container the chlorine evaporates. I use RO water for my saltwater fish tank as it doesnt have phosphates,etc but would have thought it unhealthy for a reptile or mammal as its striped of essential things.

I might be able to add some insight since I happen to work in the water industry as a regulator.

First JMartin was right crypto from municipal tap water should not generally be a concern. This doesn’t however mean that you automatically assume the water is good no matter how it looks. All kinds of crap can happen to your water reroute from the treatment facility to your taps. In all things it pays to be aware. Make it a habit to observe the quality of your water.

There are two types of bottled water, distilled and the rest. Of the “rest” they can be spring water to plain old municipal water. In both cases they contain minerals but have generally be run through some extra filtering (to remove chlorine) and further disinfected with ozone which leave no residual behind.

Personally I like to use regular tap water. We have good quality water and the chlorine (disinfectant) in the water helps to preserve its quality for a period of time IF the bowl is clean. Tap water will not disinfect a dirty bowl however.

That said I have one growing concern and that is the use of chloraMINES over chlorine. Chloramines are a combination of chlorine and ammonia (and yes I know you aren’t supposed to mix the two). Chloramines are supposed to be less reactive to organic compounds in water such that “disinfection by-product” compounds that some worry cause cancer do not form as readily.

My worry stems from the fact that once exposed to certain bacteria, the ammonia in the water is freed up such that nitrites then nitrates are formed (follow the link for a summary of the nitrogen cycle ).

In small quantities ammonia, nitrite nor nitrates are harmful. Still the EPA lists nitrite as an acute contaminant with an MCL of 1 part per millionor or 1 mg/L. Acute contaminants are those that can make you sick from a single exposure. Nitrite specifically affects the ability of infants to process O2 so any concern over giving chloraminated water to neonates might be reasonable!

Another factor of chloramines is that IF the ammonia frees up it can gas off into the cage. Though I keep my cages as clean as time allows, on occasion I’ve notices an ammonia smell even though there was no fecal matter in the cage. That can’t be good and though it doesn’t happen often at all it has me thinking of going to bottled water for the adults too. Given that my animals are those I’ve either collected myself or paid dearly for from breeders who know how to produce hardy stock and spent years raising any doing what I can to keep healthy, a few extra dollars a month for bottled water doesn’t sound to extreme.

All in all though the single best thing anyone can do is clean and sterilze water bowls regularly!!!!
nitrogen cycle