Chinchilla Drinking Water

[chinhappy]

What type of water do you give your chinchilla?
Tap water ? Bottled? Spring ? Filtered? Distilled? Well water ?

WHY?

Did you know:
Floride is in most tap water. Floride blocks calcium absorption along with other valuable minerals.
Never use well water with water softeners.

[Becki]

I give my chins bottled drinking water Our water is disgusting!

[Rocheal]

All of our chins drink bottled water as well.

[Sassy]

Our chins drink purified bottled water

[bossanovachin]

I researched and wrote this article for ChinCare, you'll need to go to the page to access all the hyperlinked resources:

(http://www.chincare.com/HealthLifest...tm#usefiltered)

WHY FILTERED WATER (ref- 1, 2, 3) IS BEST
You may have heard this quote, "DO NOT USE distilled water on your animals. The nutrients which have been removed are important in maintaining a healthy animal" however, the truth is, giving ordinary tap water to your pet chinchilla involves serious health risks that are not justifiable:

Tap water is definitely NOT enriched with "nutrients." If trace minerals are meant by this vague reference, that does have relevance, "the mineral content of water reflects the nature of the geologic formation with which the water has been in contact. The most abundant minerals dissolved in water are salts of calcium, magnesium, strontium, ferrous iron, and manganese." > source

But any minerals found in ordinary tap water also come with:
chlorination (ref- 1, 2, 3, 4)
flouridation (ref- 1, 2, 3)
routine presence of contaminants (ref- .pdf, 1, 2, 3, 4, well water) such as arsenic, lead, pesticides
outbreaks (ref- 1, 2, 3) of e. coli (Walkerton), Cryptosporidium (Milwaukee) and Giardia (.pdf)


Any impurities in tap water will have a magnified effect on a chinchilla as compared with a human. Bottled water does not (ref- 1, 2) necessarily guarantee safety and purity any better than tap water, but FILTERED WATER does! Yes, some filters do remove the tap water's minerals in the filtration process, but Chinchilla pellets already contain minerals for chins and if you choose to supplement your chin's diet with additional minerals, you can do so without jeopardizing their health! Chinchilla suppliers offer clean, safe mineral resources: Mineral Fruit Stone, Total Enhancer Pellets, Animax Pellets, Mineral Lick with Calcium, Bone Builder Blocks, Vitamin & Mineral Powder With Calcium
For human mineral supplements, they're available at your local health food store.

[cheshirechin]

My chins get bottled water. I've heard that chins are more sensitive to the buggies in tap water (like giardia) than we are.

Does anyone put apple cider vinegar in their chins water to lower the pH? Apparently, it is supposed to encourage the good intestinal floura and fauna in chins intestines. I used to use apple cider vinegar until it gave one of my chins loose stools. (So Sassy, no vinegar for Mike unless you want to aim him at someone you don't like.) I gave up on it after that, but perhaps I'll start doing it again.

Patti

[bossanovachin]

That is ONE COOL CHESHIRE CAT!! Did you make it yourself?! I haven't seen a graphic that creative in a while! Awesome!

Ok, I read the gist of what you're referring to in Alice Klein's book awhile back... From what I recall, it's meant to be used more as a treatment for a chin that's had an illness or medical condition than a daily regimen. I think that's corroborated by the loose stool when you administered it regularly.

[chinhappy]

A word of caution: Vinegar may contain traces of mold which can cause chins to get sick.
I have great respect for Alice Kline and she was my mentor but the book she has compiled was from 1960's to 1980's. Medicine has advanced greatly since then and there are improved ways of caring for our animals. Be sure to get sound advise from your vet since they are up to date.

[bossanovachin]

Thanks for sharing that!!

[cheshirechin]

The bit about the vinegar is interesting. I had read it in one of my introduction to chin books about 6-7 years ago, and I used it for a while. It's the book with the section on "understanding chinchillas." I can understand why its use is not longer recommended.

Boy, 6-7 years. It's hard to believe that I've had chins that long. I am getting old. And actually, so is my oldest. Maureen turns 6 next week.

Patti

[Pure14K]

WoW.... Chins have to drink bottled water??? How much do ya'll spend on bottled water for them a month???

[chinhappy]

All our pets and us should be on filtered water.
All my animals get it!

[Jade]

I bought a filter for our faucet and we have a filtered pitcher of water in the 'fridge. I pay a bit more for those that catch 99.9% of giardia and cryptosporidia. Between them, they last about 2-3 months per filter so I spend about $50-60 total to replace them but I quit buying bottled water. It was too cumbersome to store it.

[chinhappy]

My husband installed an under the counter filter. It has it's own spicket for the clean water. The filter gets replaced evry other month and filters about 600 gal., it cost $25 for a new filter. When the filter gets changed it is dark yellow,slimmy and smells bad...What are we drinking!!!???
I use to use the same type as you Jade but I am allergic to petrolleum and they are charcoal filter based. The faucet filters are so easy to use and install.

[Pure14K]

Quote: Originally Posted by chinhappy When the filter gets changed it is dark yellow,slimmy and smells bad...What are we drinking!!!???

That's gross... Thankfully we only drink Brita water