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Hard Water vs. Soft Water

mike17l

mike17l

Self-Admitted Duckoholic
Anybody have any opinion on hard vs soft water for snakes? I just moved and have some seriously hard water now, it is hell on the plumbing, but it may add some essential nutrients that maybe snakes need.

Any thoughts?
 
My classroom has pretty hard water . . . at least a fair amount of mineralization shows up after evaporation . . . and I choose to use RO water for my snakes and plants. My concerns are based on the kidneys needing to filter that stuff out, but then again, they don't get pristine water in the wild either. :shrugs: Probably 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other.

D80
 
I've been raising reptiles at my present house for 16 yrs. We are on a well and septic system. The well water is very hard, with a high ferrous content. Although we do not drink the water because of taste, I use it in cooking etc. I've never treated the tap water when using it for reptiles, amphibians or fish. I can honestly say I have never had an animal related health issue caused by the water hardness. Now the iron stains in my bathrooms are an ongoing battle!:angry01:
Terri
 
Drizzt80 said:
...and I choose to use RO water for my snakes and plants. My concerns are based on the kidneys needing to filter that stuff out, but then again, they don't get pristine water in the wild either. :shrugs: Probably 6 of one, 1/2 dozen of the other.

D80
Click to expand...

Plants have kidneys?:shrugs:
 
Drizzt80 said:
And lungs. Haven't you ever heard them scream when you don't water them enough?! Duh!!
Click to expand...

"Angel of the Lord, what are these tortured screams?" And the angel said unto me, "These are the cries of the carrots, the cries of the carrots! You see, Reverend Maynard, tomorrow is harvest day and to them it is the holocaust." -TOOL, Disgustipated
 
I live in one of the hardest water areas of the UK - our tap water supply comes out of chalk boreholes and is minimally processed (due to its purity) before being piped into the domestic supply.

All of my snakes have been raised on unprocessed hard tap water and my 21 year old doesn't seem to have taken any harm from it. I can't really attribute his longevity to his drinking water, but it certainly hasn't caused any problems for him.
 
If you’re talking about using a water softener, it may be a problem. Water softeners us a process of ion exchange where the calcium ions in the hard water are exchanged for sodium ions. The sodium ions don’t react with soap like the calcium does and don’t leave hard water spots.

I would think the calcium ions would be better for the snakes than sodium.

What Brent is doing with the Reverse Osmosis system is filtering things out and not replacing it with anything.

Bottom line, I would think the more natural condition would be for hard water. If normal is to drink from a mud puddle or a stream, normal would be hard water.
 
wade said:
If you’re talking about using a water softener, it may be a problem. Water softeners us a process of ion exchange where the calcium ions in the hard water are exchanged for sodium ions. The sodium ions don’t react with soap like the calcium does and don’t leave hard water spots.

I would think the calcium ions would be better for the snakes than sodium.

What Brent is doing with the Reverse Osmosis system is filtering things out and not replacing it with anything.

Bottom line, I would think the more natural condition would be for hard water. If normal is to drink from a mud puddle or a stream, normal would be hard water.
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking, just seeing what some others thought.

Thanks everyone.
 
Funny thing about processed waters like RO is that it is chemically unbalanced. That's why RO water systems must be plumbed using CPVC pipe. In copper or galvanized pipe it leaches what it needs to rectify the imbalance causing pinholes in the pipes.
Our need for "purity" of things in our daily lives makes me ponder whether we do more harm than good? :laugh:
Terri
 
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