Essential Oils

[jacattack]

I've heard that essential oils are toxic to birds, but are there some that are okay? My cleaning spray for the bird room has a strong vinegar smell and it would be nice to add something like orange essential oil or something... If not, are there any natural alternatives I can use in the spray? Thanks

 

[kme3388]

When I was adopting one of my parrots the individual who did a walk through of my house had me remove my essential oil diffusers. I was informed parrots have sensitive upper respiratory systems, and anything with a scent is a bad idea. I was told to open a window for a “fresh scent”. I was told to not use cleaning products with scent as well.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Why not squeeze some lemons into the vinegar and water solution?

 

[Jcas]

My homemade cleaning spray has peppermint or citrus essential oils but I never use enough to make it smell too strong. I also don’t use this spray on the actual cages but just to wipe down furniture, floors, baseboards etc in the bird room. The scent of the spray dissipates quickly unlike a diffuser ( which I don’t use around the birds). I do think a squeeze of lemon or splash of lemon juice could also work!

 

[jacattack]

Thanks guys! I'll use lemon juice-- some reason thought that might be harmful because its too similar to essential oil

 

[rheashard2]

Essential oils are very concentrated. A few drops on our skin can cause ulcers. They are harmful to birds due to their sensitive respiratory system and high metabolic rate. Some 'common' oils are toxic; cinnamon, eucalyptus, peppermint, and pine to name a few. These are among the most common scents added to cleansing products too. Even oils generally considered 'bird safe' must be used with caution. I enjoy some scents. If I want a particular smell, I put a drop on tissue, paper towel etc.

 

[onamom]

You could do simmer pots on the stove if you wanted. (With the birds caged of course.). I would recommend completely avoiding oils, wax melts, candles, etc.

 

[chris-md]

I’ve gotten into oils recently. Here’s the tea:

No, no oils are safe. But there are safe ways to use them. No, you cannot use them to fragrance a room. That’s a no go. Anything atomizing or highly concentrated is a big no-no.

However, there are ways around it. linen sprays are a good example. You can make blends intended for use on your bed pillow. I created a fantastic one that I spray on my pillow every night before bed The mix dilution is significantly weaker than most any essential oil blends of any kind will make - 2% compared to burning the 100% pure oil or an atomizing room diffuser, or even read diffusers at 30 to 40% concentration.. If your birds rarely go in your room, you are perfectly safe with this here. But again, don’t use it to fragrance the entire room because smelling it alone is not the criteria for safety with our birds. Keep it to the pillow.

Also, on reed diffusers, you can have these,. But purpose is important: to keep it contained. My use case: a diffuser at my home desk (I work from home) I can smell, but can’t be smelled more than a couple feet away. The key is keeping it sufficiently weak concentration and using 2 reeds instead of 5+. This keeps my bird, in a cage 10 feet away from my desk, safe. The room is also very open, and I have to run a fan just to keep myself cool so there’s a lot of ventilation going on.

You cannot use oil burners, or atomizer.s. But if you’re making your own blends in weak enough concentrations with a sufficient space and ventilation buffer between you and a bird, that should be sufficient risk mitigation.

That’s the important thing here. Risk mitigation. You can go the route of absolute abstention, something you’ll often get on forums like this. but often if you have the capability, risk management gets you pretty darn close to what abstention gets you.

Keep it contained to a small area. Well, ventilated and only fragrance within a couple feet of the fragrance source.