Distilled Water

[Nanci]

My question:

Hi Karl, Hi Lulu,

You two are my electrolyte gurus, so I am asking an unusual
question. I keep a variety of reptiles. Many reptile keepers have
heard that it is dangerous to give reptiles distilled water. (Some
reptile and amphibian keepers will not use tap water because of
chlorine/chloramines, and alternately use bottled spring
water. Others use distilled water. There have been some anecdotal
deaths with the common factor of distilled water consumption, which
the vet then claims caused the death of the animal.) Trying to
research this is very confusing, because there are two definite sides
to the argument when looking at human consumption. I was able to
find this quote by a veterinarian:

"Distilled water is basically water with nothing else in it. That
means that there are no dissolved salts and minerals. This is a type
of water that a wild animal would never be exposed to. All water
found in nature has some salt and minerals dissolved in it, and this
is important for something called osmotic regulation. Suffice it to
say that this term means how water passes into and out of cells and
is regulated, in part, by the dissolved solids in the water. Water
routinely passes in and out of cells, which is how the body regulates
almost all bodily functions. So, dissolved minerals and salts are
very important for normal physiological functions. Distilled water,
with no dissolved salts and minerals, cannot support those normal
bodily functions.

Distilled water being demineralized, contains more hydrogen and is
considered an acid, with a pH of less than 7.0. Any time a human or
animal consumes or, in the case of an amphibian, is soaked in
distilled water, the body pulls minerals from teeth (if they have
them) and bones to produce bicarbonate to neutralize the acid. This
can prove dangerous over time. Another problem with distilled water
is that acidic liquids will result in the production of more
free-radicals, which are molecules that can increase the risk for
cancer. There are people who feel that distilled water is safe and
healthful to drink, but the mainstream medical community discourages
the consumption of distilled water. Likewise, providing pet herps
with distilled water is not recommended. Because amphibians respire
through their skin and also absorb water through the skin, distilled
water can be particularly dangerous to them."

So my question of you two experts is: Is it possible for an animal
maintained strictly on distilled water to have health issues related
to the lack of salts/minerals in the distilled water (although they
would be getting these in the solid food diet) or the acidity of the
distilled water?

Thank you,

Nanci LeVake


And here we have the responses.

First, the biochemist:

Nanci,

The paragraph on how distilled water is a dangerous acid with all sorts of side effects is just garbage ( Distilled water being demineralized...). Distilled water is slightly acid because it absorbs carbon dioxide from the air. This is a very weak acid. For humans, it is orders of magnitude weaker than the hydrochloric acid already in the stomach. Note that orange juice is also a far stronger acid. The part on free radical production is also wrong. The source of that paragraph is highly questionable.

Tap water typically has 50 ppm of various minerals dissolved in it ( the quantity varies widly depending on location ), so it is a dietary input. There is concern in cardiac health that reduction of calcium and magnesium input may be a problem with drinking only distilled water. But, you correctly note that one has to look at total input from food and other fluids, not just the drinking water.

Whenever you have an animal penned, it has to rely on the keeper for the diet because it cannot just go get some other food item it needs for proper diet. If the materials put in the pen are deficient, the animal is going to suffer ill health at some point. If the animal's food is marginal for electrolytes, then feeding distilled water may be enough to lead to deficiency.

As for the electrolyte needs of reptiles, I have no information and wouldn't hazard a guess.

Hope this information helps.

Karl

And the physical therapist/hydration expert:

Wow! What fascinating questions Nanci!

I know nothing about snake physiology. I do know that osmotic issues can
arise for all living creatures. Where they arise universally is at cell
membranes which allow water to go through but not other stuff. Osmolality
is determined by the concentration of stuff. You count up all the molecules
of stuff (1 molecule of glucose equals 1 sodium ion; it depends on quantity,
no identity of stuff) per unit volume on both sides of the membrane. Water
flows from where there is less to where there is more. For blood vessels,
water cannot flow across artery walls; it can only flow across capillary
membranes. Therein lies the key to hyponatremia, by the way. You dilute the
blood such that when it gets to the brain, water goes out of blood, across
the capillary membrane, and into brain cells, which as a result swell.

But back to our legless reptile friends. I just don't know where this
becomes an issue. Also, the osmolality of tap water varies, but I can't
imagine that it is all that high compared to that of distilled water.

As to the pH. The reason that distilled water has a pH less than 7 is that
carbon dioxide from the air gets in it and reacts with the water to form
carbonic acid (I got this from Wikipedia ... I am embarrassed to admit that
I was initially skeptical of its acidity because I had forgotten some
chemistry). Some people drink distilled water. To me it tastes awful.

How much really do any of us know about snakes? Can't some snakes live in
salt water? That is *very* concentrated, about 3X as concentrated as human plasma. Can't many snakes do just fine in 'fresh' water of varying
osmolality? How about mud?

Apologies that I can't be of more help,
Lulu

PS ... Cycling once ... I once had a snake wriggle between my front and back
wheel unharmed as I was climbing a very steep hill very slowly. I saw the
poor fellow too late, couldn't think what to do, was afraid to stop.
Miracle that he made it through.

***************

Hmmm. I guess the answer is maybe. Possibly.

Nanci

 

[doovoo]

I have ALWAYS used distilled water with my herps, and have NEVER had one single animal die or suffer from adverse health defects resultant thereof. All of my animals remain robust, alert, perfect sheds, etc., all the while consuming nothing but distilled H2O.

For me, I prefer distilled water for the very reason that there IS nothing 'hiding' in it (chemicals, bacterium, etc.).

To expect that your herps need to derive any substantive nutritional benefit solely from their drinking water is (again, to me) absurd. Fed a proper diet of QUALITY rodents, I don't see that anything would be lacking. Particularly true in CB animals that were never exposed to water in it's more 'natural' (read: polluted) forms.

One example to bolster my own view/opinions, is thus;

We have a few aquatic turtles here, and they have spent their entire lives in distilled water, the oldest being nearly six years on. He has a perfect shell (no deformities) and is quite intelligent and active - NO issues whatsoever. He is fed a balanced diet (Repto-Min, etc.) and this has apparently served him well these years.

But the 'case study' that I had alluded to...

I acquired a rather unique snapping turtle hatchling a few years ago (white skin and a caramel colored shell) that was captive born. Though I can't be certain in what sort of water he had spent the initial few weeks of his life, I had him in distilled from the day I received him.

About a year later, I needed to 'cull the collection' a bit, and decided to pass him along to a friend who had successfully kept many snappers over the years (solely as pets, never for breeding).

Anyway, I figured that the little guy would be in as good of hands as any, and my friend was thrilled to have such a unique animal as this.

He called less than a month later to inform me that the turtle was dead, and that he had no idea what had gone wrong...

The set-up was perfect; basic aquatic filter, proper lighting, proper diet, etc. (I had provided him with everything) but he had switched the little guy to city water right from the tap. Therein lay the only difference.

Just one to think on. I do realize that other factors may have contributed, but to me it seems fairly clear that water content did play a role in this turtle's demise.

I've even provided (misted/moistened) frogs with distilled water with NO ill effects. If any animal were going to succumb to the factors mentioned in prior posts, it would certainly be these - no?.

Again and as always, just my $.02

 

[ilikefish92]

I use distilled water, BUT i always add mineral drops to it. distilled waters really handy for spraying though as it never leaves and calcium deposits on glass etc. Reverse osmosis water is what i use to top up fish water But i always add a ph 6 additive to it as reverse osmosis water has a ph of 5 which is acidic, the osmosis water basically contains nothing...i dont reccomend drinking it..though i guess if it isnt used regularly theres not much wrong with it, maybe just makes you thirsty