[Wolfeh]

On the advice of someone at Pet Smart (others there refer to her him as the expert there), I've always given the little ones filtered water. Recently though, the water filter broke, so now until getting a new one, I've resorted to purified water bought from the store. The question I have is this. Is it safe to give them tap water? Either temporarily or long term? If it's safe to give to them then I don't have to worry as much about trying to get another filter as urgently, but don't want to just say "forget it" and risk their health. After all, they depend on me to take care of them.

There's plenty of purified bottled water, so it's not like I have to go out and buy some right away. Just wondering if I'm being too paranoid or not.

 

[JoJo1970]

i always gave my piggies tap water if there wasn't any filters in the brita..never had any problems..

 

[VanillaRat]

When I had guinea pigs,I always gave them tap water and they were fine. The way I look at it is if tap water is safe for us to drink,then it is safe for the critters.

My rats get tap water now and have for years and are healthy and fine.

 

[Jess]

My pets all get tap water, except for my frog and hermit crabs. They are fine!

 

[Wolfeh]

Thanks for the replies. Is there anything that I should take into consideration for using filtered vs tap? Such as something that may be in the water in our area that wouldn't be good for the little piggies?

Just want to make sure I don't throw caution to the wind and end up poisoning them from being careless.

 

[VanillaRat]

Unless your area has warnings about having to boil the water before drinking,it should be fine. You could contact a mayor or someone "higher up" in your area and ask them if there is anything harmful in the tap water.

The tap water here is safe for humans,dogs and other animals to drink...so I don't worry.

 

[urofan]

I would check your city's water report to see how safe the water is.

 

[Mumble Hedgie]

make sure to wash your bottles every now and then though or else a green film wll start to form were the cap is.

 

[Wolfeh]

I would check your city's water report to see how safe the water is.

Is there anything in particular that I should keep an eye out for?

make sure to wash your bottles every now and then though or else a green film wll start to form were the cap is.

What I do periodically is to fill the bottle up with water and some bleach, let that sit a short while and then thoroughly rinse it out. Gets rid of the green and kills any other germs as well.

 

[VanillaRat]

Honestly I don't like the thought of putting bleach in my pets water bottles...

 

[Wolfeh]

Honestly I don't like the thought of putting bleach in my pets water bottles...

I make sure to rinse it out thoroughly. Not just pouring that water out, but filling it some, shaking it, pouring that our and repeating a couple of more times. That way the bleach is all rinsed out.

 

[Purple-Hops]

Any kind of plastic will hold on to bleach better than you know. Ever get some on your hands? It feels slimy for a bit no matter how long you scrub. I would never use bleach on my pet's food dishes!!
If you want to disinfect the bottle, boil it for 5 minutes in a pot of water. Then scrub it. If I would suggest a better method? Try getting a stainless steel water bowl. I "borrowed" one from my sister nearly 5 years ago (sorry Lisa!!! ) and I still have it, just refills it twice a day in hot weather and wipes it with toilet paper every other day.

 

[VanillaRat]

I wash my water bottles and food dishes with soap and hot water and rinse well and wipe them with paper towels. I would personally never use bleach on food dishes/bottles.

I have used bleach diluted with water to clean cages sometimes,but afterwards I rinse well and then let them soak in hot water for an hour or so. But that is only sometimes. I still mostly use soap/really hot water and paper towels.

LOL Amanda! I totally forgot about that. You can keep it now,tis cool. I just went out and bought a couple new water bottles anyway because I lost the metal hangers on my old ones. So I don't really need it.

 

[urofan]

I always have a back-up water bottle in case the one in use stops working properly.

Something that concerns me is the vitamin c drops that you add to the water bottle. I think that the drops are dangerous, because of the possible build up of bacteria and other germs. It also effects the taste of the water. I use Oxbow vitamin C chewables instead.

 

[Wolfeh]

Something that concerns me is the vitamin c drops that you add to the water bottle. I think that the drops are dangerous, because of the possible build up of bacteria and other germs.

I stopped doing that ever since my other topic.

 

[VanillaRat]

I always have a back-up water bottle in case the one in use stops working properly.

Something that concerns me is the vitamin c drops that you add to the water bottle. I think that the drops are dangerous, because of the possible build up of bacteria and other germs. It also effects the taste of the water. I use Oxbow vitamin C chewables instead.

I never ever used those drops because I was told they were not as beneficial as they say and also most guinea pigs won't drink the water if it tastes funny. When I had guinea pigs,I used to give them the chewable Vitamin C. They loved those.

 

[urofan]

I was only mentioning my concerns about the vitamin c drops, because I didn't know whether or not the person asking for advice had ever owned a guinea pig. Sometimes stores push products that aren't necessarily the best or the safest. My guinea pig loves the vitamin c chewables and has never refused to eat one. I want to be sure that only one vitamin is given per day, because that's what the directions say, and you don't want your guinea pig to be overdosed.

 

[Wolfeh]

I was the OP of this topic and in the past I had used them in the water supply but then after a topic here, I stopped doing that.