Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know you can't use distilled water for amphibians, who may soak in it, but is it safe to use it for misting cresties & their enclosures? I'm trying to avoid all the water spots that're building up on the walls of my enclosures...
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Robins Critters
2.1 Corn snakes Snake Plissken, Jack Skellington & Abby
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
0.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snake Jasmine
1.3 Leopard Geckos Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
0.1.1 Crested Geckos Peek & Boo
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo
0.1 Pacman Frog Buffy the Cricket Slayer
0.0.1 Sulawesi Red Toad Mr. Toad
1.1.3 Firebelly Newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Olivia Newton John & Thandie Newton
1.1 Cats Gus & Mena

This question came up before and the general response was don't use distilled. It has no nutritional value and someone may have mentioned that it might even take nutrition from the crested. If I find the link I will post it, but as I said most people said don't use it. -Joe

Any suggestions to avoid water spots from misting?
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Robins Critters
2.1 Corn snakes Snake Plissken, Jack Skellington & Abby
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
0.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snake Jasmine
1.3 Leopard Geckos Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
0.1.1 Crested Geckos Peek & Boo
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo
0.1 Pacman Frog Buffy the Cricket Slayer
0.0.1 Sulawesi Red Toad Mr. Toad
1.1.3 Firebelly Newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Olivia Newton John & Thandie Newton
1.1 Cats Gus & Mena

Try to spray the cage bottom and furniture and avoid spraying the glass if possible. Other than that I never thought about it. -Joe

I have always used distilled because I was afraid of the chlorine.

Many hobbyists that keep water-loving herps or freshwater fish, recommend de-chlorinated tap water. There are quite a few products you can buy for dechlor, Prime dechlorinator being one of the best. Or you can simply fill an uncovered bucket and wait for about 48 hrs. The chlorine will dissipate naturally.
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2.1.0 water dragons, 2.2 crested geckos, 0.0.3 turtles, 1.0.0 5-line skink, 2.0.0 anoles, 0.0.1 giant millipede, 1.0.0 uromastyx, 1.0.0 armadillo lizard, 1.0.0 veiled chameleon, 1.1.0 bearded dragons, 1.0.0 pictus gecko, 1.1.0 CA banded gecko, 1.0.0 Hondo, 1.1.0 corns, 1.0.0 dog, 1.1.0 cats, 0.1.0 wife, 2 SW tanks - 20H, 55

Keep in mind many cities are using not just regular chlorine, but a mix of chlorine and ammonia, called chloramine. Not sure if I'm spelling that correctly.

Chloramine doesn't dissipate out of the water. So if this is your choice of methods, you may want to look further into that.

Personally, I've always used chlorinated water for all my pets and never had any issues. The herps drink it, it's mixed in the crestie's CGC, and I mist them with it. All happy and healthy.
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1.0.0 Thoroughbred
0.0.1 Mali Uromastyx
0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 Crested Geckos
1.2.0 German Shepherds
1.2.0 Cats
0.1.1 Birds (Conure and Cockatiel)
1.1.0 Rabbits
0.0.2 Yellow bellied sliders
3 Fish tanks (SW and FW)

i've never had any issues with it for drinking water. however if you're using it for turles or anything that is going to be submerged in the water you will see dramatic color " bleaching" of your animals in the chlorinated water.
i would still highly suggest just purchasing drinking water for your animals. at 25 cents a gallon you can't really go wrong. i'm constantly spraying about 50 reptiles and go through about 5 gallons every week.

You can buy bottled water but around here bottled water is not regulated by the FDA in regards to purity. It could be boiled tap water for all I know. I have always used tap water with calcimizing liquid, seems to work just fine and all of my animals are healthy. -Joe

Good point about the chloramine. Don't know about other products, but Prime removes that also.
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2.1.0 water dragons, 2.2 crested geckos, 0.0.3 turtles, 1.0.0 5-line skink, 2.0.0 anoles, 0.0.1 giant millipede, 1.0.0 uromastyx, 1.0.0 armadillo lizard, 1.0.0 veiled chameleon, 1.1.0 bearded dragons, 1.0.0 pictus gecko, 1.1.0 CA banded gecko, 1.0.0 Hondo, 1.1.0 corns, 1.0.0 dog, 1.1.0 cats, 0.1.0 wife, 2 SW tanks - 20H, 55

I bought a water distiller from Sears and distill at least 5 gallons per week for my cresteds. I mist the sides of the enclosures and plants, and adult cresteds. I have no scale or water spots on my glass. For misting hatchlings and for all the water dishes however, I use our very heavily mineraled well water with Reptisafe mixed in. I feed T-Rex Sandfire CGD mixed with Bolthouse Farms Berry Booster or Strawberry Banana, and everyone's egg quality is quite good. Of course my kritter keepers are pretty well scaled up, but it's a small price to pay.
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Terri
6:10:21 crested geckos: Bear, Goldfish, Kermit, Brimstone, WildSpatter-Spots-to-Spare, White Lips, Big Red, Olive, Smudge, Belle, Brilliant, Tina, Brick, Toni, Beauty, Shine, Randy, Squeak, Bling, Squeaker, Stripe, Redhead, Speckles, Harrys, Penny, BonusBaby, Fudgefire & BlackCherryMarble, and AAAaaaggghhhh 9 new babies since Weds, 7/20.

Thanks for that. It's what I was hoping to hear. I can't really imagine that there'd be a big issue with using distilled for misting, since they'll be drinking so little of it, but I wanted to check anyway, because of the issues w/ distilled water with amphibians. I just want my enclosure to look pretty & not all spotted up w/ hard water stains...
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Robins Critters
2.1 Corn snakes Snake Plissken, Jack Skellington & Abby
1.1 Hog Island Boas Harley & Isaboa
0.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher Snake Jasmine
1.3 Leopard Geckos Yoda, Geo, Tang, Ginger
0.1.1 Crested Geckos Peek & Boo
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink Indigo
0.1 Pacman Frog Buffy the Cricket Slayer
0.0.1 Sulawesi Red Toad Mr. Toad
1.1.3 Firebelly Newts Wayne Newton, Isaac Newton, Fig Newton, Olivia Newton John & Thandie Newton
1.1 Cats Gus & Mena

Yes, the adults lick it but since I see them sitting in their water dishes so often (I think it's their favorite place to poop!) , I figure that they aren't using the mist as their primary water source, unlike the hatchlings which I have never seen using their water dishes. The hatchlings seem to anticipate me misting them and that's why I use the well water for them. It absolutlely works wonders to use distilled water to keep the glass clear. Obviously chlorine isn't a problem way out here in the country, but the minerals are amazing! We had to invest in an iron filter because the tap water tasted like blood and left the sinks stained orange!
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Terri
6:10:21 crested geckos: Bear, Goldfish, Kermit, Brimstone, WildSpatter-Spots-to-Spare, White Lips, Big Red, Olive, Smudge, Belle, Brilliant, Tina, Brick, Toni, Beauty, Shine, Randy, Squeak, Bling, Squeaker, Stripe, Redhead, Speckles, Harrys, Penny, BonusBaby, Fudgefire & BlackCherryMarble, and AAAaaaggghhhh 9 new babies since Weds, 7/20.