De-chlorinators and mineral water

[Monza geckos]

Hi I was just wondering what tap water and its chemicals affect is on reps and phibs. personally i spend quite a bit on bottled water and de-chlorinators as i have to mist my crestie regularly and i was thinking why do they avoid tap water whats the reason that makes reps stand out from mammals who can drink tap water quite happily. please let me know.

[Mentat]

Well, myself don't keep reptiles so answer is limited to amphibian and other aquatic creatures (fish, inverts, etc.). Tap water has added chloramines, fluoride, and other chemicals in ionic form. These chemicals are added to purify water for human use after processing (i.e. recycling) by city. Our digestive system can handle it, even though in many places like my location, it tastes bad. Aquatic creatures cannot handle these chemicals and just the chloramine level is deadly to them. The good thing is that with a bottle of Seachem Prime (or similar multi-action dechlorinator) you can render tap safely in seconds .

Bottled water is another story. Even when labeled as Spring it can have chloramines or be over-filtered (to meet local city or county codes) so it's similar to R/O water and unsuitable to aquatic life without further treatments. You can read more about in this discussion: http://www.frogforum.net/vivarium-te...hing-else.html .