American Toad Water?

[AlanLynch]

So I've had my female American Toad for a year now, and she's around two inches, she eats readily, is very active during day hours, and she has nice clear eyes. But ever since I've got her I've been using water straight from the sink, I don't dechlorinate it, but it doesn't seem to be affecting her. Is this okay?

[MatthewM1]

No its not, you won't see immediate effects, the chlorine and heavy metals build up slowly in their system toxing them out over time, leading to a slow painful death down the road.

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[AlanLynch]

'.' I've had her for a year using chlorinated water, I don't think it's THAT bad. And I'm pretty sure the water they use in the wild is way worse then sink water.

[Mmfh]

It may not have hurt her yet but why take the chance. De-chlorinator is cheap and easy to get at any pet store. Or if you just don't want to buy it, you can let the water sit for twenty four hours and let the chlorine evaporate. The problem is that chlorammine is often used by cities to make water "safe" and to the best of my knowledge that particular chemical does not evaporate.

[AlanLynch]

But if my toad has been using this water for a year, is she going to die now?

[yoshimi]

But if my toad has been using this water for a year, is she going to die now?

Don't panic, but yeah get a bottle of tap water conditioner as soon as you can, if you're on city water and not well water. Unless your air quality is very bad, I think collecting rain water is ok too, if you can't pick any up soon enough. Water conditioners that remove chlorine, chloramines, and detoxify heavy metals can be had for cheaper when marketed for fish.. but I'd skip anything with added fishy things like a slime coat. Reptisafe is a pretty reliable product: Zoo Med Labs ReptiSafe Terrarium Water Conditioner - Free Shipping if you're a new customer, you can save 20% with promo code "bark". This is where I buy my ecoearth bricks and other toad-centric things. Also cat treats and toys. So much cheaper than at a pet store. And $4.99 flat shipping via UPS or Fedex (forget which) isn't too shabby either. No, I'm not a shill. They caught on to me pretending to be a new customer <shame on me>. Other current coupon codes: 30% off Wag.com Coupon Codes 2013: Promo Codes, Deals and Printable Coupons

[MatthewM1]

Just switch to dechlorinated water asap and hopefully all will be well. And no letting it sit out is not sufficient, while chlorine will evaporate out, trace amounts of heavy metals the water picks up while traveling our pipe systems remain and are just as toxic to amphibians, dechlorinating drops will neutralize them along with chloramins which also do not evaporate out

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[MatthewM1]

How long is a long time? Some frogs and toads are known to hit 20+ years in captivity with good husbandry.

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[AlanLynch]

I dunno... Its cool that the record for the longest living American Toad in captivity was 35 years but it was squished, so no telling how long toads can really live in captivity!

[yoshimi]

I dunno... Its cool that the record for the longest living American Toad in captivity was 35 years but it was squished, so no telling how long toads can really live in captivity!

is that how that toad died? i read it was killed by accident but couldn't find anywhere what that accident was. how sad.

chlorine has been added to our drinking water since before your dad was born, assuming he's under 100yrs old... but levels may have increased. more pollution, more ****, more everything and the effectiveness of chlorine may mean there's more today than when he was a kid. or the build-up could just take years to have a negative effect, dunno. rain water, if you can collect enough of it to keep her in clean soaks, is a great idea.

that said, i've argued with my boyfriend (and won) about what he thinks is just crazy to buy for a "free" toad. but she's little and in my care, and there's not a whole lot she can do about it. so yeah, i end up shaking her food up in awful smelling vitamin and calcium powders, tripping over bottles of treated water, a fridge full of worms and plastic totes of breeding bugs that eat better than i do. a world of soil out there and i buy it by the brick. so she can burrow and ignore me unless she's hungry and frowning at me. but that's just her face, and i love it.

[AlanLynch]

What if my dad is a timelord and lived for over 900 years? Bum Bum BUM!