burning candles and birds
- Thread starter kandiland
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IcyWolf
New member
- Jul 5, 2011
- 1,542
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- Parrots
- ~Alexandrine Parakeet~2 Red Lored Amazons~Blue Fronted Amazon~Black capped conure~4 Green Cheeks~4 Parrotlets~2 lineolated parakeets~9 American budgies~9 English budgies~ And lots of babies :)
They say some candles are safe but I don't chance it, we just treat them all as if they are harmful and don't light any. Better safe than sorry.
Wulfgeist
New member
Does put a cramp in the rites but better to have a live bird.
if you want to "freshen" up your home you can always simmer orange peels, cinnamon, cloves, essential oils etc.... the bird safe candles are mostly beeswax and are not scented, so if you are going for smell, simmer on the stove- if you're going for ambiance get a beeswax candle
Amber
New member
- Jun 1, 2011
- 408
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Easy answer here, none with paraffin or scents or anything beyond 100% beeswax! Paraffin and similar things release toxic fumes, and if it is capable of harming (and even killing!) your bird it is NOT safe for you either. Ditto Teflon, spray/pressurised deodorant, and all those things we all seem to love having in our houses.
(And thats from a non health freak. Bad for your bird? Bad for you. Get rid of it and do yourselves both a favour
)
Bird safe candles (fume wise, open flames are a danger and your bird should be in its cage at all times when candles are lit!) are 100% beeswax candles with NO scents and NO tabs and a 100% cotton wick. Tabs are the little metal things that sometimes hold the wick in place at the base. You can get tabless, beeswax candles from pretty much any one of those little boutique soap and scent and natural goodies type shops. Online too, as many bee farmers will make and sell them themselves.
As a summary, make sure the wick is 100% cotton, the candle itself is 100% beeswax, their is no tab and no scents. The candle should be nothing but a beeswax cylinder/blob/whatever and a cotton wick.
Beeswax candles naturally smell like honey when burning. They are very pleasant and any fumes released have not been reported to harm anyones bird as of yet. I still recommend burning them a safe distance/in another room however. And of course, birds should be caged and away when candles are out!
I believe others also promote soy candles or something similar, but I have no experience with them so cannot recommend them.
(And thats from a non health freak. Bad for your bird? Bad for you. Get rid of it and do yourselves both a favour
) Bird safe candles (fume wise, open flames are a danger and your bird should be in its cage at all times when candles are lit!) are 100% beeswax candles with NO scents and NO tabs and a 100% cotton wick. Tabs are the little metal things that sometimes hold the wick in place at the base. You can get tabless, beeswax candles from pretty much any one of those little boutique soap and scent and natural goodies type shops. Online too, as many bee farmers will make and sell them themselves.
As a summary, make sure the wick is 100% cotton, the candle itself is 100% beeswax, their is no tab and no scents. The candle should be nothing but a beeswax cylinder/blob/whatever and a cotton wick.
Beeswax candles naturally smell like honey when burning. They are very pleasant and any fumes released have not been reported to harm anyones bird as of yet. I still recommend burning them a safe distance/in another room however. And of course, birds should be caged and away when candles are out!
I believe others also promote soy candles or something similar, but I have no experience with them so cannot recommend them.
KatherineI
New member
That it does! Also makes cleansing a bit of a challenge, but I'd rather have my babies safe.
Amber
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- Jun 1, 2011
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What Spirit posted is what I am on about. 100% beeswax, 100% cotton and no tabs (where the lead can be) etc. These ones are supposed to be particularly good too!
I will sneakily say here though for the fellow uni students and people living on a shoestring (me, lol) that you can get them cheaper elsewhere online from bee farmers on on ebay (or even sometimes in the local health food store) if you are on a budget. Just be sure to be 100% on what is in them!
There is an Australian ebay seller that does bird safe naturally coloured beeswax candles for rites/cleansing if you guys can find her I know a few bird people who use them (not me personally, but they seem quite nice!) when they require beyond the basic white
I will sneakily say here though for the fellow uni students and people living on a shoestring (me, lol) that you can get them cheaper elsewhere online from bee farmers on on ebay (or even sometimes in the local health food store) if you are on a budget. Just be sure to be 100% on what is in them!
There is an Australian ebay seller that does bird safe naturally coloured beeswax candles for rites/cleansing if you guys can find her
I know a few bird people who use them (not me personally, but they seem quite nice!) when they require beyond the basic white Karyns
New member
After some Google searching, I came across Mia Bella Candles (sold thru Scent Sations) and they have some testimonies from people with birds saying that they are the only candles they will use around their birds. The candles are 100% vegetable wax with Cotton wicks. I am awaiting some more literature on these candles. I have 6 dogs in addition to my 2 birds and do not want my house to smell like a zoo so for me it's worth looking into....even if I move the birds to a different room and burn the candles in the main part of the house where people come into!
- Jul 19, 2012
- 633
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- Parrots
- Scooter -- male Green Cheek Conure "Normal" but that's a matter of opinion! Hatched in March 2010
Scotty -- Male Cape Parrot hatched somewhere between 2007-2009 we think
Caballo Blanco -- male C
This is not well researched as far as I can tell. I've heard natural essential oils implicated as well. Anything with a strong odor is potentially going to irritate their respiratory systems. On the other hand, it does not seem to be like PTFE fumes where the entire house can be affected without you noticing anything with immediately fatal results. Ventilation and proximity seem to be key with scented candles and air fresheners. And I think you would probably notice some discomfort, if you were observant, long before there was any real damage done. But I am not a vet, so I am just saying how I view it, not how anyone else should view it. I have no verified facts and I hate that!
My personal approach is that I don't use anything with a strong scent in the room where the birds live. No candles, no air fresheners, no cleaning products beyond poop-off and mild soap and water, and if there is any kind of work being done on the house I am very careful, close off their room, and open the window wide for ventilation.
On the other hand, our house is fairly large and I do use scented candles and even plug in air fresheners in other parts of the house. I try to keep any strong scents away from the birds and vice versa, but I was using Yankee Candle Company products before I had any idea they might be harmful and as there were no adverse effects up to that point, I further restricted my use, but did not completely stop. I stick to fairly mild scents like vanilla and lavender in the main part of the house, and mostly burn scented candles in either the bedroom or my studio, which has potentially worse things in the air than candle scent, so it is located relatively far from the bird's room and I open windows and close doors appropriately depending on what I'm doing. The birds are not allowed in the studio area if I've been doing any work in there.
We also have a good vent fan in the kitchen and we use it religiously. Strong odors or smoke from cooking food are also potentially problematic! Zataran's boil makes my husband sneeze and his eyes water if we don't use the fan, and that strikes me as more likely to bother the birds than a vanilla scent which has no such irritant effect. You pays your money and you takes your chances IMO.
YMMV and I hate to operate in a veil of ignorance, but we just don't know what components are potentially harmful. I avoid things like Febreeze that suggest they permeate the air and "clean" it, but I think this is one of those areas where you either take a very extreme standpoint or else you take a small amount of risk and make your own choice as to what you are comfortable with. No one really knows for sure what is OK and what isn't, only what hasn't caused them, personally, problems yet or what has! And as has been said famously "The plural of anecdote is not proof". There is no proof here. Frustrating.
My personal approach is that I don't use anything with a strong scent in the room where the birds live. No candles, no air fresheners, no cleaning products beyond poop-off and mild soap and water, and if there is any kind of work being done on the house I am very careful, close off their room, and open the window wide for ventilation.
On the other hand, our house is fairly large and I do use scented candles and even plug in air fresheners in other parts of the house. I try to keep any strong scents away from the birds and vice versa, but I was using Yankee Candle Company products before I had any idea they might be harmful and as there were no adverse effects up to that point, I further restricted my use, but did not completely stop. I stick to fairly mild scents like vanilla and lavender in the main part of the house, and mostly burn scented candles in either the bedroom or my studio, which has potentially worse things in the air than candle scent, so it is located relatively far from the bird's room and I open windows and close doors appropriately depending on what I'm doing. The birds are not allowed in the studio area if I've been doing any work in there.
We also have a good vent fan in the kitchen and we use it religiously. Strong odors or smoke from cooking food are also potentially problematic! Zataran's boil makes my husband sneeze and his eyes water if we don't use the fan, and that strikes me as more likely to bother the birds than a vanilla scent which has no such irritant effect. You pays your money and you takes your chances IMO.
YMMV and I hate to operate in a veil of ignorance, but we just don't know what components are potentially harmful. I avoid things like Febreeze that suggest they permeate the air and "clean" it, but I think this is one of those areas where you either take a very extreme standpoint or else you take a small amount of risk and make your own choice as to what you are comfortable with. No one really knows for sure what is OK and what isn't, only what hasn't caused them, personally, problems yet or what has! And as has been said famously "The plural of anecdote is not proof". There is no proof here. Frustrating.
Is there anything that would *not* be safe to simmer in this way?
And what about perfumes or scented lotions/oils, is it OK to wear these around a bird?
I love burning sandalwood or vanilla scented candles, but it suddenly occurred to me it may not be safe
Glad I found this thread.
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Kalidasa
Active member
I like to simmer a cinnamon/clove mix on the stove sometimes (especially holidays). It's just scented steam, but it smells delicious. Or bake cookies. Nothing smells better than cookies!
JadeC
New member
You could make your own candles from beeswax and cotton wicks. Making candles is super fun and easy!!! Then you can put a small amount of scent in the candle (natural scents only).
JadeC
New member
Also, what about those glad plug in things that use the heated oil? Those are bad?
I'm a crafty-type person, but making candles doesn't appeal to me much (I'm more of a gift tags and birthday cards kind of girl).
What about scented sprays, like Febreze?
I found a blog post made by Scentsy about their products (it's OK to post outside links to bird related articles, right?). In the questions below someone asks about bird safety, and while they do say many customers have reported no adverse effects on birds, Scentsy won't guarantee it.
Fragrance Safety: Clearing up the Confusion
What about scented sprays, like Febreze?
I found a blog post made by Scentsy about their products (it's OK to post outside links to bird related articles, right?). In the questions below someone asks about bird safety, and while they do say many customers have reported no adverse effects on birds, Scentsy won't guarantee it.
Fragrance Safety: Clearing up the Confusion
baron1282
New member
- Oct 20, 2012
- 346
- 2
I burn candles in my other room away from the Bird. I also cook with the pans they say not too, but my bird is on the other side of the house. My bird is not allowed in the Kitchen when we cook, and not aloud in any other part of the house when we have guest over and we spray air freshener and burn our candles.
You don't have to run your whole home like some kind of bird sanctuary, but you need to be smart and not have your bird present in any rooms or even near the rooms when you decide to cook or burn a candle. In the summer time, make sure a window is open in the bird room.
You don't have to run your whole home like some kind of bird sanctuary, but you need to be smart and not have your bird present in any rooms or even near the rooms when you decide to cook or burn a candle. In the summer time, make sure a window is open in the bird room.
I live in the southern part of Texas. Right now, as i type this, the heat index is 106F and it's not even the hottest part of the day yet, much less the hottest part of the year. Leaving a window open in my area for most of the year is simply not an option. Plus Rudy is in the den, which is open to my kitchen, so i have to be careful.
Typed with my phone so please excuse any typos.
Typed with my phone so please excuse any typos.
baron1282
New member
- Oct 20, 2012
- 346
- 2
Mommajack
Exactly what I said, you got to be smart about what you do. So if your bird is next to everything than you can't do it. My bird is not so I can. Also you don't need to have a window open, but when it's nice out I do. I have burned candles and sprayed air freshener without the window open in the bird room and never had a problem.
Exactly what I said, you got to be smart about what you do. So if your bird is next to everything than you can't do it. My bird is not so I can. Also you don't need to have a window open, but when it's nice out I do. I have burned candles and sprayed air freshener without the window open in the bird room and never had a problem.
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