American Toad Water?

[yoshimi]

It's definitely not silly... go to walmart or petco/petsmart and pick some up for a couple bucks and they never need to know. get a friend to go with you if you don't drive. a little goes a long way. i pre-make toad water in empty poland spring bottles (just easier). of all the secrets people keep from their parents, it's a pretty benign one. or just explain to them that it's better safe than sorry... (tho i don't think she's necessarily doomed, either). when you're out there watching the skies and collecting rain water for lola, maybe they'll catch on that this is important to you. remember to collect that rain water and bring it in rather than letting it sit outside. Only because standing water attracts mosquitoes. We had a mosquito-borne illness outbreak last year and those things love me so I've never used rain water. Dunno how Gail does it, but that lady never ceases to amaze and inspire me.

I have no idea what the water quality in lake michigan is. I googled, but i can't make too much sense of it... too early in the morning. sometimes home depot has those little bottles and envelopes available to get your tap water tested/analyzed. might just cost the price of mailing, but i've never done it. my town's water is some of the best in my state, but for people, not amphibian safe, and i still filter my drinking water anyway (old house, old pipes)... i'm sure the water analysis is just to try to get you to buy filtering systems, but it's worth running by your folks. they might realize that the price of a bottle of tap water conditioner is better than getting soliciting phone calls..

Good luck with rain and if you still can't get your hands on tap water conditioner, someone might be willing to donate some for lola. (like me)

[AlanLynch]

They know my toad is important to me, but I kinda see what they're saying. When my dad was a kid he used to keep american toads too. He always used sink water, he had them in just a sand exhibit, and they lived a long time... i'll still try to get rainwater, it seems like a good idea.