# Scent Diffusers and Essential Oils



## Yuzu_smooshie

Ok. So, I'm new to this forum, and I'm hoping to get some good info- the internet is awash with opinions, so at least here, it'll focus! Yay!

I've heard all the scented candle horror stories....I've stopped burning anything, but I truly miss my scents... Boiling fruits and whatnot is somewhat impractical for me.

My question is this. There's something I can buy in Japan that seems to be essentially a scented humidifier. It sends out scented steam from the body where scent is mixed with the water within. They seem to be oils of a sort. 

I've heard that the thick oiliness, smoke, and occasionally lead are the problems with scented candles; it hangs in the air and then clings inside our loveys. Yet, I've also heard that essential oils, the true essential oils, are actually benificial for birds, and that people use them in safe ways to mist or otherwise treat their birds to some aroma therapy; I've even seen that the oils are used to soothe dry skin or relax tense/ frightened birds. So...were I to mix essential oils into the water....would that be safe? 

Does anyone have any experience with this? Any help would be so appreciated....I've been fretting over this for a while!


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## xcrystalizex

I was actually wondering if Scentsy products would be safe for birds? So thank you for posting this. Lol


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## tielfan

> There's something I can buy in Japan that seems to be essentially a scented humidifier. It sends out scented steam from the body where scent is mixed with the water within. They seem to be oils of a sort.


This sounds like an aromatherapy product, and aromatherapy is not safe for birds. The essential oils are quite powerful.


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## Yuzu_smooshie

tielfan said:


> This sounds like an aromatherapy product, and aromatherapy is not safe for birds. The essential oils are quite powerful.


Not at all? I've read that some people use heavily diluted doses to help stressed birds or soothe their skin when molting/ dry. 

Might I ask what exactly is not safe about the scents? I'm not trying to be contrary I just want to know exactly what is the dangerous part....I'm so confused and worried all the time. For example, what about scented dish soap? If she's on my shoulder while I'm washing dishes (she follows me around the house so it happens a lot) is the smell of dish soap a danger to her? 

Or what about the scent diffusers, like glade plug ins, where the scent inside the gel package is warmed within something to release it? Is it really the scent itself that's dangerous, or the composition of it? I've heard beeswax candles are safe, and possibly soy?


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## MeanneyFids

the scented candles can harm a birds respiratory system. birds are so sensitive it can cause infections and in some extreme cases, pneumonia in birds. scented products such as perfume, scent diffusers, incense, and most likely Scentsy products can all really irritate and even make a bird sick with respiratory distress. its like spraying perfume around a severe asthma victim. it can compromise their breathing. i even have to watch what i am around because i have chronic asthma and certain things make it hard for me to breathe. id imagine birds would be the same or worse. its the chemicals.

a bird safe way to make your home smell nice is to boil a pot of water, with orange slices or cinnamon in the water. this really makes the home smell nice and its safe for birds. we use that here and its great. we have 3 types of pets that have sensitive respiratory systems so we really have to watch too. 
it sucks sometimes because we love scented candles, but we cant burn them. our birds, chinchillas, and hedgehog cant have that stuff around.

its the chemicals that make them scented.


but boiling some orange slices and cinnamon are safe and work very well


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## Yuzu_smooshie

What about unscented 100% natural "clean burning" soy candles, or beeswax? Does anyone know the website "Cockatiel Cottage"? The creator of that site had told me that a few non-scented candles wouldn't be a danger, though she didn't specifically mention soy or beeswax. How about those?

And what about like I said, scented things that aren't candles and whatnot, like the dish soap I mentioned? I'm very truly paranoid, so I'd like to know as much as I can. I always keep her well away from when I clean with any chemicals, like scrubbing bubbles and the like, but as I said, when I was dishes she's usually around, so I've been wondering if that's an issue...


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## MeanneyFids

i would to be safe just in case.

ive heard non scented candles are safe, but im not 100% sure of it myself. i know scented things need to be avoided, thats all i know. if it has a smell, i would keep the stuff away from birds


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## alisonfeldman

I am a scentsy consultant so I have LOTS of scentsy stuff all over my home. I absolutely love it. My cockatiel is in the livingroom and has never acted like any of it bothers him. I dont warm scents near his cage but he is free most of the afternoon and doesnt seem affected. Scentsy uses food grade petroleum based wax, which is warmed at a low temperature to just release the fragrance, and does not evaporate into the air. I dont use any of the room sprays in the livingroom because those would probably cause him problems. My experience may not match someone elses though. May depend on your bird, but I think it depends on the product. I am very careful with my birdie baby.


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## mishkaroni

I have Cockatiel Cottage bookmarked in my favorites. I used to refer to it whenever I had questions before finding this forum. I've burned candles in my home, but only in my living room and with my swamp cooler on. I make sure in my room, where my birds are, that the door is always closed and the window open a crack. I never want to have an incident where I am responsible for the death of my birds. Unfortunately, a few years ago, I lost a tiel and 9 parakeets to teflon poisoning when my sis in law was cooking. A 10th parakeet also came down sick, but it survived, and luckily the rest of my tiels and parakeets weren't affected at all. It was the largest loss I've suffered and since, I've become quite strict on scents and cooking.

Like one person's siggy says on here "when in doubt...don't" are words to follow.


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## MeanneyFids

i had someone have a scentsy party here, i was told by them that it could harm my birds and so they were considerate enough to exclude me for that reason  so if i was warned it could harm my birds, i am staying well away from that stuff. its the SCENT of the stuff that can harm a birds respiratory system


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## alisonfeldman

DallyTsuka, sounds like it was the person having the party rather than the consultant that said it could harm your bird? Either way I have done lots of research on the product being a consultant myself. I dont believe that there is anything in there to harm the bird as nothing actually becomes airborne. You can hang a white sheet of paper on the wall directly behind the warmer and no matter how long you warm the wax nothing accumulates on the paper. You cant say that about the heated oils or candles that are on the market. We all have to do what we believe is best for our babies so I dont blame you for not risking it.


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## green parakeet

I know scents are bad for animals... Like someone in my school is going to be getting a hedgehog and her plan is to freshbreeze her room like crazy so it doesn't smell  Poor little hedgehog is going to have to suffer


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## LeopardPrintBee

alisonfeldman said:


> Either way I have done lots of research on the product being a consultant myself. I dont believe that there is anything in there to harm the bird as nothing actually becomes airborne.


Just out of interest, if it doesn't become airborne, how can you smell it? I may be wrong but I thought you smelled things by breathing in and the molecules of the thing you are smelling enter your nose? How do they enter your nose if they're not airborne??


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## alisonfeldman

I am not at home so I dont have access to more information right now, but I am not even sure how it works 'scientifically'. I do know that after being told about the white paper trick I tried it myself. Nothing collected on the paper and I left it up for over a week. My bird is not affected by my Scentsy warmers or my childrens Scentsy Buddies. But as I said earlier someone else may have a different experience. Also good to note is that I dont constantly have the warmers on, I really only use the ones in the main areas of the house for a short time randomly when I want a burst of some nice fragrance. It is not necessary to have them running all day to have a fresh smelling house if it is clean and fresh anyway. I leave the plug in that is in the bathroom on, but that is a bathroom... I am not telling anyone to run out and purchase Scentsy and that it wont hurt your bird. I was noting that I sell Scentsy - just so you can imagine the amount of product in my home, and that it doesnt bother my bird.


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## LeopardPrintBee

Yeah I realise you're not condoning it  nor am I having a dig!  

I just don't understand how it works. Or how paper would collect "smells" (oils, waxes, smoke fumes I can but not smells  ) I know that scentsy say there's no flame, smoke or soot but I thought they just melt tarts like all other electric tart melters? And they DO release (airborne) smells... Hence confusion  

But like I said, I'm not having a dig


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## alisonfeldman

I guess something else I should have added is that everything you can smell is a molecule. The clean clothes that came out of the dryer have a smell that fills the air. Your sons shoes that he wore that day to school, any kind of flowers or plants you have in the home, food that is cooking on the stove, etc. All these things have a scent that is trapped in the air, but does not affect our birds. I cant scientifically tell you what happens, but I know that there is a huge difference between warming essential oils that evaporate into the air that we breath and warming a Scentsy bar. When I get home I will look through the things I have from Scentsy Customer Support to see if I can explain better. 

The biggest thing for you all to understand is that I am not trying to convince any of you to use Scentsy, or sell it to you. I was giving my personal experience with a product I use frequently.


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## LeopardPrintBee

Yeah I understand how smells work lol  ALL smells we breath in...flowers, washing, fresh cut grass, lavender oil, candles, melts... it all works by breathing in. And I think the whole point of the thread is when do smells start becoming harmful to birds, like the washing up liquid question.

I checked the Scentsy website... They claim it is "highly fragranced" and "releases fragrances in to the air". They also claim to use "fragrance oils", which can be synthetic as opposed to the natural essential oils. They also claim to occasionally use essential oils. 

I think it's wonderful your cockatiels are happy and healthy  but I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone with a cockatiel. Some people use non-stick-cookware with their cockatiels and nothing seems to go wrong, but it's still poisonous 

Kat  x

P.S please please please don't see this as me arguing! I'm really not, just ensuring everyone who reads this thread and contemplates scentsy items (even though you don't recommend them) knows what's in them, and that the smells are airborne! But I'm honestly not being bitchy, I promise!  x

http://scentsy.net/en-gb/about-scentsy/faq.aspx#136
http://scentsy.net/en-gb/about-scentsy/faq.aspx#146
http://scentsy.net/en-gb/about-scentsy/faq.aspx#150


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