Water

[taza]

I have been using Reverse osmosis water to bath them in and for their water dish. I live in town so I figured tap water would not be good for them to drink. Just wondering if what I am doing is OK.
Thanks for your advice its appreciated.

Sandy

 

[Yvonne G]

Personally, I like to have all the minerals in the water for the animals. Unless your water is terribly unhealthy, I think its ok to give to the tortoises.

 

[wellington]

I agree. If you can drink your water so can your torts. I'm sure they drink
worse in the wild then our tap water

 

[Elohi]

I used to give mine RO water but generally now I just give them tap water. But I still worry about the awful stuff that's in my cities water. I won't let my children drink it unless we are out and it's their only choice. It's fluorinated and a lot of cities have trace amounts of a ton of prescription drugs. That worries me.


Elohi(Earth)[TURTLE]

 

[Tom]

I use tap water too. I also drink it, cook with it, wash the dishes in it, bathe in it, and brush my teeth with it.

RO would be good for spraying down the tortoises and the enclosures since it won't leave hard water stains.

 

[T33's Torts]

I give them all tap water.

If you're really concerned, you can go online and look at the mineral count in your area's water, and compare it to averages. If anything is SUPER high (I doubt anything would be) then opt for bottled or filtered water.

In my rabbit's water bottle, though, I use filtered water, to minimize calcium build-up.

 

[taza]

Thanks everyone

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

My adult torts get tap water but the baby's get only bottled water !

 

[dds7155]

I could see giving them bottle water if you lived in southern Florida,, a friend raise's parrots on their farm and when they had to be out of the country we would stay and watch over everything for them a few times and the water was so bad smelling i couldn't think of drinking it they have to bring in all their drinking water,,thankful where i live we get artesian well water ,,,

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

In AZ our water has what they say is safe levels of arsenic . That's why I choose to give the baby's bottled water . So remember you don't always see or smell the problems !

 

[Peyalice]

I use reverse osmosis water too. I like it WAY better. I don't like tap water and I don't drink it. So why should our tortoises have to? That's how I feel. It's proven that reverse osmosis water is better. I asked the vet as well and they said reverse osmosis is better because it doesn't have as much fluoride and chlorine and garbage in it. So I'd say just keep doing what your doing!

 

[KimC90]

I have access to alkaline ionized water. Its got a high ph and its negatively charged. It is extremely beneficial to humans. About 6X more hydrating, more antioxidants them OJ, and because of its molecular structure it gets into the system much faster and easier. Personally it saved me after a trip to the ER for severe dehydration and I switched to this water and my world turned around. I have access to the machine that changes tap water to alkaline ionized water. Do you think this would benefit for tortoises? Would there be any negative to trying this water out?

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I have access to alkaline ionized water. Its got a high ph and its negatively charged. It is extremely beneficial to humans. About 6X more hydrating, more antioxidants them OJ, and because of its molecular structure it gets into the system much faster and easier. Personally it saved me after a trip to the ER for severe dehydration and I switched to this water and my world turned around. I have access to the machine that changes tap water to alkaline ionized water. Do you think this would benefit for tortoises? Would there be any negative to trying this water out?

 

[taza]

Thanks for the replies, I don't drink tap water here because I can smell the chemicals in it, so I think I'll stick to the RO water. I guess my main concern is mineral content of the water, I'm not sure RO water has any?
I get concerned at this time of year as well with all the snow finally starting to melt. I don't know what the city does at the water treatment, but even doing a water change in my fish tanks can be fatal to the fish.
Anyways thank you all for your advise, it means alot to know that there is support and a wealth of knowledge out there for us that are new tortoise mommy's and daddy's.

 

[Tom]

Everyone's tap water will kill their fish without treatment. That is because the fish are BREATHING the water and its a different thing entirely than drinking the same water. Does your tap water make you or other mammals (like a dog) sick? If not, then it will be fine for your tortoise. If yes, then I would use bottled "spring water" for drinking and soaking your tortoise. You are correct the RO water is lacking minerals, and the tortoises need those minerals in my opinion.

 

[Elohi]

Everyone's tap water will kill their fish without treatment. That is because the fish are BREATHING the water and its a different thing entirely than drinking the same water. Does your tap water make you or other mammals (like a dog) sick? If not, then it will be fine for your tortoise. If yes, then I would use bottled "spring water" for drinking and soaking your tortoise. You are correct the RO water is lacking minerals, and the tortoises need those minerals in my opinion.

Well maybe not immediately sick but my friend and I both lost 3 yr old dogs to lymphoma just recently. City water is full of trace toxins and prescription drugs. Kind of scary.


Elohi(Earth)[TURTLE]

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I say "trace" but sometimes it's more than trace and varies.


Elohi(Earth)[TURTLE]

 

[taza]

Everyone's tap water will kill their fish without treatment. That is because the fish are BREATHING the water and its a different thing entirely than drinking the same water. Does your tap water make you or other mammals (like a dog) sick? If not, then it will be fine for your tortoise. If yes, then I would use bottled "spring water" for drinking and soaking your tortoise. You are correct the RO water is lacking minerals, and the tortoises need those minerals in my opinion.

Yes I know the water needs to be treated for fish, I've kept cichlids for twenty years, my point I was trying to make that in the spring here something happens to the water that really affects the tanks in a bad way. But I will take your advise and use mineral water.

 

[taza]

Everyone's tap water will kill their fish without treatment. That is because the fish are BREATHING the water and its a different thing entirely than drinking the same water. Does your tap water make you or other mammals (like a dog) sick? If not, then it will be fine for your tortoise. If yes, then I would use bottled "spring water" for drinking and soaking your tortoise. You are correct the RO water is lacking minerals, and the tortoises need those minerals in my opinion.

Yes I know the water needs to be treated for fish, I've kept cichlids for twenty years, my point I was trying to make that in the spring here something happens to the water that really affects the tanks in a bad way. But I will take your advise and use mineral water.