Humidifier with pure eucalyptus/ orange essential oil safe?

[crackerjack]

Hi, I have heard a lot of controversial things about using humidifiers due to bacteria buildup and mainly using any scented products or oils.

My bedroom gets very dry and I got a humidifier which helps with the air. I don’t have a window, just a porch screen. I’ve felt uncomfortable leaving it open at night but I do anyway. Now in Northern California the weather has been really bad due to the fires going on. Thankfully it’s raining and the fire is almost contained.

How risky is it to use a humidifier with pure oils for an hour or so? What would the difference be if I boiled a pot of water and added eaucalyptus leaves or orange peels? Is it because the oils are more potent?

Does anyone have any positive or negative experiences with using humidifiers and non toxic essential oils?

The humidifier is called “ellia”. I got it from Costco and I was think of getting one from “suje” too.

Thank you.

 

[noodles123]

Not a good idea. Birds and essential oils are a very grey area and many additives etc are not safe

 

[mochi.the.ysgcc]

I use essential oils in a diffuser around my birds, but ONLY ALL NATURAL 100% EOS. There's only 3 brands I trust, Plant Therapy being my favorite. Here's the sec most important part...NOT ALL OILS ARE SAFE. Eucalyptus being one of them. It's too strong and can harm your bird. Sweet Orange should be ok, but depends on the brand. Google safe EOs for your parrots and it'll tell you. Again, don't use the eucalyptus around your birds please. I did lots of research and have been diffusing for a year now. Mostly lavender, and citrus fruits. It's helped both me and my fids with hormones. Good luck.

 

[crackerjack]

Would you trust a brand that says “therapeutic grade ... not cut or diluted with fillers”?

Thanks for the info. It makes sense that eucalyptus would be too strong as it is a very heavy scent. Today I used it but took my conures cage out of my room for the day.

 

[crackerjack]

I called an avian vet and the woman who answered said it is recommended not to use diffusers because it can cause the spread of bacteria. So people who use diffusers need to throughly clean the water container after every use.

 

[EllenD]

Guys, you're missing the point when it comes to diffusing "Essential Oils" around your birds...When it comes to diffusing "Essential-Oils" around your birds, the main thing that you need to be aware of and do lots and lots of research on is NOT the brand of Essential-Oil you're using, or even so-much what "grade" the Oil you choose is, but rather WHAT ESSENTIAL OIL YOU'RE USING IS, AND WHETHER OR NOT IT'S TOXIC/POISONOUS FOR BIRDS TO BREATHE-IN!

***There are literally hundreds of different, what do you call them, "scents" or "flavors", lol, of Essential Oils that you can buy to diffuse into the air. And that's what matters, exactly which Essential-Oils you choose to diffuse/burn around your birds, because I'd guess as high as 95% or more of Essential Oil varieties are completely toxic/poisonous for birds to breathe-in! We also need to remember that not all types of wood/branches are safe to make perches/stands/toys out of for your birds...So that in and of itself rules-out a ton of varieties of Essential Oils. The entire reason that you cannot make toys/perches/stands for your birds out of certain types of wood such as Pine, Cedar, Redwood, etc. (there are a lot) is due to the OIL that these specific woods contain which are poisonous/toxic to birds for one reason or another. So just like birds cannot tolerate breathing-in/inhaling/smelling or touching/having physical contact with certain "scents", you always have to consider the SOURCE of those scents, which are typically plants, trees, the fruits of plants and trees, etc. And these are the exact same sources that Essential Oils are made from, and of course that includes the "all-natural" or "Therapeutic Grade" Essential Oils as well.

***The general rule, if you ask any Certified Avian Vet/Avian Specialist Vet, as well as any Ornithologist, is that you should not diffuse/burn anything in the presence of birds that emits either a scent or an oil/smoke/vapor into the air. Of course that would include ALL Essential Oils, just as it includes ALL candles (yes, soy candles too, again it has nothing to do with whether the candle is regular wax or natural soy wax, it's the SCENT it emits and the source of the scent), incense (same thing, they use oils to produce the scents emitted by incense, whether it is all-natural or not), any type of sprays, things you "plug-in" that emit scents/odors, etc. Birds have extremely complex and unique Respiratory Systems, as they all have Air-Sacs that are responsible for their breathing, as well as their ability to fly. Birds do not have diaphragms, nor do their lungs inflate when they breathe. It's all done by their Air-Sacs. So if you introduce any type of poison, toxin, or even IRRITANT into their Air-Sacs, they can't breathe.

And that's forgetting that many all-natural or Therapeutic Grade "Essential Oils" are toxic/poisonous to birds once they reach their blood-streams after they breathe them in. One that comes to mind is Tea Tree Oil, which is almost instantly fatal to birds if they breathe enough of it in...And there are many, many, many other Essential Oils that are just as poisonous/toxic to birds...So again, it has nothing to do with whether an Essential Oil is "all-natural" or "Therapeutic Grade", as being all-natural means it's coming straight from it's natural source (such as a plant, tree, etc.), and these natural sources are also toxic/poisonous to birds...

****The best thing you can do is not burn ANYTHING around your birds, including any Essential-Oils...However, knowing that not everyone will abide by that rule, then the second-best thing you can do if you absolutely must burn/diffuse Essential-Oils around your birds is to please do thorough research on EACH, INDIVIDUAL ESSENTIAL-OIL VARIETY before you burn/diffuse it around your birds, and make 100% certain that it is not a variety of Essential-Oil that is going to hurt your bird, make your bird sick, or kill your bird. Do a very thorough Google search for each, individual variety of Essential Oil (not the "brand" or "grade", but each, individual variety, for example Peppermint, Orange Oil, etc.)...And look-up each individual variety of Essential Oil with several different sources to verify. And if you can't find any information on an Essential-Oil variety and whether it's safe for your bird, then just don't use it.

There are a lot of websites that have massive lists of Essential-Oil varieties that are NOT SAFE for use around birds, as well as types of wood (trees) plants, etc.

 

[Inger]

Would you trust a brand that says “therapeutic grade ... not cut or diluted with fillers”?

Thanks for the info. It makes sense that eucalyptus would be too strong as it is a very heavy scent. Today I used it but took my conures cage out of my room for the day.

There is no actual therapeutic grade. That’s a term that was made up my the EO company to make you feel safe and justify charging you a LOT more than other EO suppliers.

My two cents on this: WHY RISK IT?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[noodles123]

If lavender calms a human down in small doses (as essential oils, even pure ones, impact the nervous system via lungs and, subsequently, bloodstream) then what is it doing to a much smaller parrot....Toxins aside..
It is really a bad idea. I know people do it, but parrots can live for decades, so if someone has only had a bird for 20 years, and its life-expectancy is 80, their word isn't necessarily solid enough to make a judgement....People do dangerous things and survive, but what if you did the same and the outcome was different? Is it worth it?

 

[Teddscau]

As the others have said, in a perfect world we should be able to use eucalyptus oil or orange oil. There's nothing inherently wrong with either oil. In fact, eucalyptus oil can be very beneficial for birds hailing from Australia. But unfortunately, humans are greedy pieces of garbage who intentionally add harmful compounds to any product they can get their hands on, including baby formula. I use Now essential oils with my birds, and I use their clove oil to euthanize aquatic critters. I trust their products, but 99% of the other oils on the market have probably been adulterated in some way. Heck, remember the Canadian Red Cross scandal? The Red Cross knowingly supplied blood possibly contaminated with HIV or hepatitis C between 1986 and 1990. More than 20,000 Canadians became infected with these (then deadly) diseases as a result of using infected blood products from this organization.

 

[crackerjack]

Yes, I know that I have to find the source first! I wouldn’t trust a therapeutic grade Teflon oil. I was just asking once the oil is deemed safe; such as orange oil how would I know if it has no fillers and such. Thanks for the info though.

 

[noodles123]

It's also a problem because they shouldn't be inhaling oils..even tiny particles...not even pure ones! Also, they get into the blood-stream...they impact the nervous system etc.

 

[crackerjack]

So in that case, I assume that a humidifier that distills oils is just to strong for them; it would be less harmful to have a pot of water boiling with fresh (non toxic) leaves and oils and such ? Because a humidifier is meant to spread oils in the atmosphere of a room? For an example, I use an orange oil spray to get rid of ants because it’s suppsoed to be safe for my parrot rather than using conventional ant spray.

Another side question.. Since you seem to know about plant safety, do you know any indoor trees I could have in my bedroom that is safe for parrots? I wouldn’t have my conure loving in the tree I just don’t want an accident in case he gets to it.

 

[EllenD]

Yes, it's safe to spray Orange Oil in places to kill ants...But the point here is that it's NOT SAFE to purposely "Diffuse" or emit ANY oils into the air because of the unique set-up/structure of a bird's Respiratory System and Air Sacs...along with what the actual plant could do to them neurologically...I'm assuming when you spray Orange Oil for ants that your bird isn't anywhere near that area (since there are ants in the first place)...But if you put any type of oil or plant leaves into a Diffuser, or boil them in water to emit into the air in your house, your bird is breathing them right into their Abdominal Air Sac, along with their bloodstream...they are sensitive, and the bottom-line is that maybe they can take it, maybe they can't, there's no definitive way to know....Do you really want to risk it just so your house can smell good? That's your choice, but there isn't anyone that can tell you "Yes, it's safe to emit this plant/leaf/oil into the air of your house for your bird to breath-in"...

As far as a plant that's safe to put in your house, the best way to go about that is to pick out a plant you want and then research it thoroughly before you buy it...However, if you think about where your bird is innately found in the world, that should give you a good idea what plants/trees are going to potentially in the "safe-group"...For example, there aren't any Fir Trees/Evergreens where your Green Cheek comes from, so they are off-limits...Approach it that way...

 

[noodles123]

Side-note on plants: If you have a bird-safe plant, be very careful about allowing your bird to play with it, as the soil is often quite unsafe (especially those little white balls in potting mixes).

 

[crackerjack]

Well I do use it near my parrot because the ants are coming to his cage! I don’t spray it in the cage though don’t worry!

 

[crackerjack]

Also, I don’t just use these things to “make my house smell good”. It helps me with my health problems.