i read somewhere that you MUST use spring water and not tap water for the suggies... true or false?

i was told to use spring water because of the chlorine content in tap water. So I only use spring water.

ok cool thanks

I use tap water

I just buy those gallon jugs at Walmart ... ozarka spring water...$1.19. Last quite awhile. But i am new to this also.

The water in the small town I live in is very bad. It even has an unpleasant odor. So -we dont drink it and neither do our animals.

We also purchase bottled water.

Another thing to think about is if you travel with your suggies (or any animals) be SURE to give them bottled water while on the trip. They can get tummy troubles from drinking water they arent used to. Better to be safe.

I use fiji spring water, but sometimes Ice Mountain. Tap water has chemicals that are dangerous for animal consumption, but safe for humans. I would buy a spring water. Look on the bottle for the letters PWS which means public water source like Dasani. Don't use that any reputable provider for spring water will work:)

I use filtered water.

I use bottled water for 2 main reasons....


1) Chemical treatment to tap water that could harm small animals!!!

2) Filtered bottled store brand water is simple purified drinking water that remains ok to drink for quite some time in thier water bottle... Think for example of a glass of tap water left overnight on your bedside table....doesn't it taste odd to you the next day? That is due to the crap in the water settling... it;s get worse at the bottom. Now... think about a small animal water bottle... the bottom gets drank first, so that means they get all the settament... and most people don't change the water daily. $3.99 for a 24 pack of 16oz bottles, a bottle can fill suggie water bottles for a 1.5 to 2 weeks and no worry about settament or crap... it's not much to pay to be re-assured your suggies have safe water in my opinion. One final example... I like a sip of water when I wake up, I keep a bottle of the same water on my bedside table... and I drink from it for 2-3 weeks often enough and never notice a funny taste from sitting water in it.

I use filtered water. If I use tap water then there is a nasty build up in their water containers that I can't get rid of. That means they are drinking that nasty stuff. We don't even drink the water here..we filter it.

Ohh my tap water is filtered with a brita filter. I guess I should have added that.

i'm so glad i found this web site. you guys are so much help! thanks a bunch!

I drink tap water and I do so deliberately for the trace minerals. Filtered and bottled water removes things that are beneficial, such as trace amounts of fluoride and magnesium. Another thing to consider is that tap water has higher standards for quality than bottled water due to loop holes in FDA regulations. Some bottled water is nothing more than just tap water. I personally prefer the taste of tap water over bottled water.

I also use tap water. I think maybe in Colorado we have a small advantage with minerals in water but I do know it's especially low in chlorine and flouride too.

The chlorine is good to have in water, as it kills most nasty germs. By using water with no chlorine in a sugar glider cage, the water bottle might become a breeding ground for those germs that would be killed otherwise. Sugar glider cages aren't the most sterile things in the world.

I've personally had bottled water go "bad" on me. All I did was drink from a freshly opened bottle of water, screwed the lid back on, and placed it on my desk, and then the next day I picked it up to take a sip and I gagged all the way to the bathroom. The water had soured over night, as I must have contaminated it with something when drinking from it. So when it comes to water, I definitely want the chlorine in it.

what about purified bottled water that has a little chlorine. We are on a county water supply and you can smell the chlorine in it at times and I won't even drink it. I was changing the water bottle every morning in the cage, and washing it with very hot water.

I would use spring and just change it daily, its what I do:)

I use tap, and I change it almost constanly...wow, I never realized so many people use bottled water!

I cant believe that the bottle water co. are admiting to using tap water as well!!!

We use tap water but it goes through a reverse osmosis filter at the tap in the sink (at the "point of use"). We wash out suggie water cups every morning, rinse thoroughly and put new "filtered tap" water in every morning.

Reverse osmosis does takes out chlorine and other chemicals "at the point of use," - but it is not meant to be stored for long periods of time but rather generally consumed within hours. If we were going to store water for a camping trip or a survival bunker, well then we'd use the tap in the laundry room that's deeper for big jugs and with plenty of chlorine.

Reverse osmosis also takes a whack at microbes that pass through the reverse osmosis membrane, too. So by reducing both the microbes and the chemicals at the same time, you end up with something a little closer to... water.

If you use this reverse osmosis "filtered tap water" for your pets, so long as you refreshen it each morning the liklihood of microbe build-up that is hurtful (overnight) is a small risk. They are more likely to contract something from your hands for lack of washing or from containimated food than from freshly filtered water.

But if you do not have this type of system, chlorinated tap water is probably a better choice than generic bottled water.

Unless you pull water from a private well, you can contact your local water authority and it is typical that they publish an annual "water quality report" that lists all the wee beasties, toxic chemicals and metals that are in your water. The EPAs guidelines on what is "acceptable" is usually a main topic of discussion in these documents. But not on the labels of Fiji.

sigh.... now I get to be paranoid about the water too... Happy happy joy joy! All I know is the tap water here taste odd right out of the tap and if you let it sit in a glass for a few hours it tastes down right awefull, but the Kroger brand filtered drinking water always seems fine, and I have kept bottles on my bedside table for weeks at a time that I take a sip out of whenever I wake up and they never get an odd taste too them or anything of that nature.

i'm so torn... lol the tap water her tastes fine... just a little different. i guess i will use spring water to be safe