Candle fumes

[rmorche]

How far away from my gouldians should my scented candles by in order to be safe? Or should I not burn them at all? My house is two story with open floor plan. The birds are in a front sitting room in my house away from the kitchen. I would like to burn the candle in my kitchen area.

[hilljack13]

You raise a good question. My wife and I burn candles a lot. Only my birds are in one of the spare rooms with doors closed. I would like to know b/c sometimes I can smell the birds even after a cage cleaning..

[Hilary]

I wouldn't burn a candle where the wax particles could possibly contaminate the airspace of the birds. If you can smell it where you keep the birds, I wouldn't be burning it. That's my opinion, at least. Of course, I'm facing the same issue with Sterno - safe to burn or not?

[FeatherHarp]

The only bird safe candle that I know of is Soy candles. They don't leave any soot.

[Fancie Flight]

I wont burn candles in my home period for the birds sake as well as mine, I dont like the idea of what they put off and better safe than sorry, I have gone over to the flameless candlesm they look real but no worries.

[Jelena18]

Lot of scented candles also have therapeutic effects. They relax the mind and relieve stress and tension. That is why they are useful to the bathroom while taking a long bubble bath and luxurious. You can also light around your house at night with the same purpose. You could get special aromatherapy candles that could be useful in providing aromatherapy treatment through perfumes. Talk to people who specialize in aromatherapy and what type of candle that you should buy and how to take before diving in candles.

Luxury Fragranced Candles

[cindy]

The lungs of a bird/finch are much smaller the insides of their lungs are more sensitive than ours and slower....our avian vet recommends no candles or no perfume sprayed in the house. I out weigh what is more imprtant, their litle lives or a pretty smell in the house. My birds win hands down. If you burn them in one room and run central air or heat the scent and whatever is burning off is going through the whole house. The particles float through the air as Sally said and are deposited on walls, furniture and inhales. The article below explains.

Also the Glade room scents with the little fans, oil plug ins, sprays, automatic air freshners...big no no.

http://www.anapsid.org/cnd/mcs/candles.html

This article explains it from a bird's perspective including the fact that they have to complete two inhalations for one respiratory cycle, which means they hold the toxins in their lungs longer.

http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/dangerou ... taminates/

Birds may not die suddenly but it could happen or it could happen over time, it is a painful death. Kind of like lung cancer in a human. It could possibly shorten their lives. Anything you inhale, including the burn off from candles and air freshners effects both humans and aninmals, bird's systems just show signs of it before humans do. You figure if it is burning off into the air it has to go somewhere, organic or not...those deposits are inhaled on on surfaces within the home and cages.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Keep-Your-Par ... n&id=95747

The above article suggests beeswax but the particles are still airborn...also one trick we did when selling our home take a pan of water and heat it on the stove add a few cinnamon sticks or vanilla extract to the water boil, for a few minutes, the smell is like warm cookies...this is also mentioned above in this article.

Just bear in mind the scents from candles linger and stay inbedded in clothing, furniture, the smell alone could be an irritant.

[cindy]

If still not sure contact an avian vet office, I am sure they would be glad to help you find a safe alternative to scent your home and keep the birds healthy at the same time.