Type of water

[pitbullgirl]

I read that you could give Chinchillas Purified water. Iv been giving mine purified water. At first i was going to giver her distilled cus i read u could give them that but then researched more and found not to. Is purified the same thing? Should i change the water? if so what to?

 

[tunes]

Purified and distilled are not the same. I prefer reverse osmosis rather than either of those two.

 

[cmor1031]

I've been using tap filtered with a Brita for my chin for the past 5 years with no problems.

 

[jess32247]

I've been using tap filtered with a Brita for my chin for the past 5 years with no problems.

Same!

 

[Airyn]

Last I checked, Brita didn't filter out microbial cysts, so unless they've upgraded their filters I wouldn't recommend it. I use a PUR3 on the tap and with four chins, I only have to change it every 3-4 months. You can also buy bottled water as long as it says that it's filtered by reverse osmosis on the bottle.

 

[tcraighenry]

I still haven't gotten around to buying a PUR filter (though I buy plenty of other things! LOL)

But after doing some research we buy Aquafina.

http://www.aquafina.com/help.php

Reverse osmosis!

 

[GorillaJTA]

Most stores that have gallons (or more) of water labelled "Drinking water" is RO filtered.

 

[Daina91880]

I'm completely confused about the water thing. So bottled water isn't ok unless it's filtered the right way? Shouldn't anything we drink be good enough for them to drink? I've been using Poland Springs water, but now I wonder if it's not good enough... but I drink tons of it myself... and what do wild chinchillas drink? I want to do the right thing, but man, is this confusing.

 

[GorillaJTA]

I'm completely confused about the water thing. So bottled water isn't ok unless it's filtered the right way? Shouldn't anything we drink be good enough for them to drink? I've been using Poland Springs water, but now I wonder if it's not good enough... but I drink tons of it myself... and what do wild chinchillas drink? I want to do the right thing, but man, is this confusing.

Our chinchillas are not wild. It is not a viable comparison.

Water needs to be filtered because a few giardia cysts might give us a stomach ache, it can kill a chinchilla (mass to infection ratio, immune responses, etc.) Spring water is not filtered the same way as reverse osmosis (so that it keeps its minerals) so it may still contain a few cysts.

 

[starrynight0621]

I give my chinchillas distilled water. I tried giving them spring water and they got giardia. I can't find reverse osmosis water.

 

[AZChins]

Yeah, I'd make sure that you get reverse osmosis. You can buy it very cheaply in a gallon jug...just a generic Walmart brand or even bottle it yourself.

My herd is on reverse osmosis water here. Every two weeks I go and fill up my waterbottles at the R/O machine. It's worth every penny and any time it takes to do that because it means that I never have to deal with any waterborne illnesses or parasites. The water is extremely important to a chin. They are very sensitive to bacteria and parasites...many municipal water systems only make sure that the water is safe for people, chins are much more sensitive than people. Like GorillaJTA says above, it may just give a human a tummy ache for a few hours but it could infect and sicken and possibly kill a chinchilla.

 

[tcraighenry]

I'm completely confused about the water thing. So bottled water isn't ok unless it's filtered the right way? Shouldn't anything we drink be good enough for them to drink? I've been using Poland Springs water, but now I wonder if it's not good enough... but I drink tons of it myself... and what do wild chinchillas drink? I want to do the right thing, but man, is this confusing.

Our stomachs and bodies are different than theirs. They have very delicate little tummies!

I found the water vendors usually have documentation about how they filter their water on their sites.

 

[Lynn & The Chins]

Dasani is reverse osmosis, and some store brands are, too. You have to look at and read all the fine print to find it.

 

[BenD188]

So RO is recommended, but is distilled bad? I'm using distilled right now, is it going to be alright to keep using it? Or should I make the switch to reverse osmosis.

 

[pitbullgirl]

so anything that is reverse osmosis is ok? cus my purified water gallon says revers osmosis. Its my local grocery stores brand. so is that okay?

 

[tunes]

Ben - Distilled has basically had everything removed from it. It's wet, but that's it. The RO has the impurities filtered out, but not the "good stuff."

 

[Daina91880]

So dasani and aquafina are ok... If anyone else knows of ok brands, especially those hat come in gallon bottles, please let us know I'll get out to the store ASAP to switch them over.

 

[GorillaJTA]

So RO is recommended, but is distilled bad? I'm using distilled right now, is it going to be alright to keep using it? Or should I make the switch to reverse osmosis.

Distilled water does not taste good (try it and some mineralized water and you will notice a definite difference), and some have suggested it can leech minerals out of the system as the body attempts to make it isotonic.