Hi! I'm planing to get a crestie!

[NewbieLover]

I was wondering about the type of water I would give my crestie. I've found websites talking about distilled or deionized water, but it's just so confusing! Does anyone know what I should give my future crestie?

If anyone can give me tips it would be great!

 

[Amanda1]

I only use distilled/deionized water. I like it because when you mist the walls, it doesn't leave water spots (which are caused by the salts and metals in tap and drinking water), so the walls stay clearer. Easier to see your lovely gecko that way. Alternatively you could use bottled drinking water, or let the tap water sit for a few days so all the chlorine and bad stuff evaporates. Or use ZooMed Reptisafe in tap water, which does pretty much the same thing, only faster.

 

[NewbieLover]

Thank you!

 

[Jetfire]

I've used plain old city tap water for years,with no adverse effects (besides the aforementioned water spots). same with my turtles. I do use spring water for the girlfriend's amphibians,though.

 

[kayla.h]

Just a note on deionized water. It is not good for any animal to drink. I forget the exact science behind it, but deionized water "wants" ions. It's a chemical process that pulls ions out of your body that are needed for the nervous system. That's why athletes drink Gatorade. It replaces the ions lost in the salt you sweat out, which would eventually lead to a nervous system issue.

Any chemistry people know what I'm talking about that can back me up on this?

Anyway, I'm sure it's fine for spraying the walls, but I'd be careful letting geckos drink it.

 

[Amanda1]

Reptiles don't sweat though, so they don't lose ions like we do. And deionized water isn't completely ion free, as that is nearly impossible to do. Based on the principles of osmosis, DI water should be better at hydrating animals. The low-salt DI water would move into the animal's system (a higher-salt environment). It isn't the ions that move, it's the water. As long as the animals are fed properly, they should be getting enough salts from their diet, so they shouldn't need more from the water. If they are too hydrated, they can just excrete the excess water with their urates.

Just my thoughts. I was trained as a chemist, but that was long ago so I may be wrong.

 

[Josh2]

I would stick to spring water or treated tap water. DI water isn't bad but it also isn't natural. There is some truth behind the DI water taking ions out of a system. And it is why athletes drink gatorade and such.

 

[xGILGODx]

I give my crested geckos filtered water

 

[Pugwinkle]

I use distilled water in my spray bottle but I just use plain tap water that has been boiled when I'm making up their CGD. And their drinking water is Spring Water.

 

[NewbieLover]

Thank you so much guys!

 

[Amanda1]

I would stick to spring water or treated tap water. DI water isn't bad but it also isn't natural. There is some truth behind the DI water taking ions out of a system. And it is why athletes drink gatorade and such.

Athletes drink gatorade to replace the ions lost by sweating so much. Geckos don't sweat or have any equivalent process through which they lost ions, except maybe through urates, but I'm not 100% sure how much salt they excrete through that. Ion trafficking is pretty tightly regulated because they are so essential, so I don't think DI water can remove them from a system. Even if it did, the ions would move into the stomach where the water is and then be reabsorbed in the intestine.

Sorry, not trying to argue, and I think the discussion was over anyway, but I'm genuinely enjoying thinking about this question; how nerdy is that?

 

[kayla.h]

Reptiles lose salts through excretion and breathing. I remember from herpetology (like 5 years ago) that some birds and reptiles in marine environments will actually "shoot out" salt from their nares in order to try to balance their systems. Point being, reptiles still lose salts which equates to ions. I'm not saying it's significant enough in crested geckos that we should be worried about force - feeding them Gatorade. I'm just saying that I wouldn't take the chance that something like that could happen. I may be a paranoid, overprotective mom, but filtered or spring water for my geckos thanks.