Are essential oils dangerous for snakes?

I've been dealing with a bug problem for a little while now, I have been spraying lavender oil on my bed. Is it dangerous to spray in the same room as my snake? Or to have my snake on my bed afterwards? Obviously I wouldn't put her on my bed for awhile I'm just wondering about it. Or if I have to wash my covers first.


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Essential oils should not ever be used for any purpose around reptiles...period.

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"pure" essential oils are made from plant extract and are non toxic it would be the same as if you had a lavender plant in your room. i see no issue here as long as its not sprayed directly on the snake

Tree oils (tea tree, cedar, cinnamon etc.) and citrus oils are toxic to reptiles (regardless of purity). Those oils should be avoided completely and other oils kept out of close proximity to your reptiles. Diffusing/spraying an oil into the air is not at all the same as having a plant in the room. When the oil is diffused you are forced to breathe in the oil particles from the air, which does not happen from simply having a plant in the room.

Essential oils are incredibly dangerous to use around nearly any animal, and I have personally seen several pets of different species brought into my work for emergency treatment after coming into contact with anything from tea tree to eucalyptus to citronella to lavender. The only animal I can think of off the top of my head that is okay with EO's would be a horse. We have had a few different herps come in for treatment after coming into contact with cedar, even diluted. Cedar will sicken or kill just about anything, tea tree will drop your cat dead in under an hour and make your dog vomit itself into a coma, catnip oil will RIP your sugar gliders, and pretty much anything can cause irritation of skin and respiratory system in reptiles and other small animals, which is the reason we don't use aromatic bedding for our herps. I'd need to do some more research as my practice doesn't deal with herps very often but it is possible, just because of the global locations of the plants, that tea tree and eucalyptus may be safe for some reptiles in such diluted quantity as they would encounter in the wild IE brushing up against the leaves of the eucalyptus tree they are climbing, etc. Reptiles are not people. If you sprinkle salt on your skin, it doesn't hurt you. Sprinkle it on your gecko and you will probably kill it. Never liken herps to humans, we are not the same and we do not have the same tolerances for things. When I was a kid, my mom used to put lavender on our pillowcases to help us sleep, and while I never put my snake directly on my pillow, he did live in the same room and he never exhibited any distress from it. I was always very careful with him though because he was extremely expensive (at the time) and always washed my hands before handling him. Him being a LTC/GTP, and me being a small child, he was more of a display animal than a pet, so I didn't take him out much anyway.

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Originally Posted by Calider

I'd need to do some more research as my practice doesn't deal with herps very often but it is possible, just because of the global locations of the plants, that tea tree and eucalyptus may be safe for some reptiles in such diluted quantity as they would encounter in the wild IE brushing up against the leaves of the eucalyptus tree they are climbing, etc.

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Those oils are not safe for reptiles, not even when diluted. They are among the most toxic to reptiles, in fact. Brushing up against the leaf of a whole plant is not the same as coming into contact with a highly concentrated essential oil that may have been processed in a number of ways (making it into a form which would not be found in nature).

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Originally Posted by Medduussa

I've been dealing with a bug problem for a little while now, I have been spraying lavender oil on my bed. Is it dangerous to spray in the same room as my snake? Or to have my snake on my bed afterwards? Obviously I wouldn't put her on my bed for awhile I'm just wondering about it. Or if I have to wash my covers first.


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What kind of bug?

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Originally Posted by mlededee

Those oils are not safe for reptiles, not even when diluted. They are among the most toxic to reptiles, in fact. Brushing up against the leaf of a whole plant is not the same as coming into contact with a highly concentrated essential oil that may have been processed in a number of ways (making it into a form which would not be found in nature).

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;)Okie

My mom sprayed some essential oils down on our carpet (without me knowing) in front of our 3 reptile (one is a ball python) cages last night because she thought it stunk in there and we were having company over that night…I freaked out and made sure it would never happen again but after it getting sprayed once (I cracked open the windows for a bit) do you think that they are ok if it never happens again?

Thankfully the company we had over was some good friends of ours who have TONS of experience with reptiles and have been keeping and studying them for over 16 years…they told us that if it was a one time thing it is fine but if it happened all the time then you have issues.
I also freaked out because I have asthma (so way to go mom) and it bothered me so It maybe bothered the reptiles? Again…one time thing wont happen again, what do you guys think? (Sorry to piggyback off your post :()

Old thread (5 years) but important safety topic- so I won't criticize your post. ;) Just want to point out that essential oils are NOT all the same- there's way too many kinds to generalize as to their potential effects on reptiles & whether or not your pets are safe now. And oils don't evaporate the way other (water-based) things do either, so I think it's time for a good steam-cleaning of the carpet, that would be safer, IMO.