Are essential oils dangerous for snakes?

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

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.

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Not sure steam cleaning is the best idea as that will get the oil hot and potentially turn it into an aerosol as the carpet get hot, and then cools and dries. Future vacuuming will also be a problem - any oil stuck to dust particles too small for the filter to pick up will become airborne.

It might be easier to relocate the reptiles to a different part of the house.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

Not sure steam cleaning is the best idea as that will get the oil hot and potentially turn it into an aerosol as the carpet get hot, and then cools and dries. Future vacuuming will also be a problem - any oil stuck to dust particles too small for the filter to pick up will become airborne.

It might be easier to relocate the reptiles to a different part of the house.

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You're right, & I was thinking about that too. The only reason I said "steam cleaning" is that I was thinking they might be able to remove it altogether- they have some excellent stain-removing products now, but you'd have to mention it's an issue they'd need to "spot clean". You'd surely want the reptiles out of the room during the cleaning, & like you said, depending on what oils were used, even future vacuuming could be an issue. Sorry I wasn't more clear, & glad you mentioned.

Ok...ops didn't realize it's been 5 years!:P

Well it was sprayed a few times on the carpet only and the smell is gone by now so what do you think? Are we in the clear? Also, I'll do anything for our reptiles but there really isn't anywhere else they could comfortably go? Do you think we're in the clear?

Also the reptile people we had over took a look at the ingredients (it's not at all pure essential oil) a lot of it is water with some flower essential oil (it's a spray so it's not pure oils)...the only thing was there was an ingredient called "fragrance" but no citrus or tree oil or anything like that...what do you guys think...if you need it I can send the list of exact stuff in it...just let me know :)

The term "essential oil" generally refers to a concentrated bottle with one ingredient that was distilled from a single plant source & exhibiting characteristics of the plant from which it originated- regardless of whether it's sprayed, dabbed or poured from a container. Apparently that's NOT what you sprayed & since the smell is now "gone"...? :confuzd: Meh. Who knows? but probably okay.

So this is the front and back of the spray bottle…hope this gives more info (trying to upload the picture using Tapatalk so sorry if it takes a sec) :)


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Originally Posted by Kirks_Herps

"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

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I deleted my first two attempts at a sentence...so here's try #3! Just because something is "natural", "pure", or "plant extract" doesn't make it harmless, especially when crossing species.

Cyanide is found in apple seeds.

Aspirin is found in tree bark.

Several chemotherapy drugs, such as doxorubicin and paclitaxel, come from plants and bacteria.

The oils from pine and cedar are potentially toxic to reptiles, although there's some debate about this as I understand it.

Several essential oils are toxic to cats, wintergreen, citrus, and birch among others as I recall; because cats lack certain hepatic enzymes that break these down.

So, no, just because an essential oil is "natural" doesn't mean it's fine for snakes.