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Passive smoking and how it effects pets?

Tula_Montage

Tula_Montage

It's Jager time!
Me and my partner are both smokers. We have the boa, corns, hognose and scorpion vivs in the living room. As well as the two mice. Occasionally the dog and cat pop in to laze about, but all other animals eg fish tanks and hamsters cages are in a different room.

This is primarily where most of the "air pollution" goes on. Most friends that pop in are also smokers, as is most of my partners family, so the atmosphere can get quite smokey at times.

My question is, could this effect our pets? Could passive smoking have bad effects on the snakes especially? The room is usually quiet, eg. we don't often watch TV or listen to loud music so this is enviromentally the only "annoyance" to them.

Whenever the snakes are out their tanks, i always insist my partner either opens all the windows and sits by them, or goes out the room to smoke. I am cautious about this and am now just starting to be very pernickity about what i do and what goes on in the room when the snakes are out. Am i overreacting?

I would also like to ask about something that is a little controversial. If however "other" substances were being smoked in a room with exotic or other animals, what effects could this have on them? I am not speaking of personal experience, just a general question. Could this have fatal consequesces with pets, as with humans?

Any thoughts or ideas about either subjects would be interesting to hear.
 
Any type of second hand smoke is going to be unhealthy to both humans and their pets. I think that it is very important to ensure that fresh air is readily available to your animals, smoking outside is probably your best bet.
 
Tula_Montage said:
If however "other" substances were being smoked in a room with exotic or other animals, what effects could this have on them? I am not speaking of personal experience, just a general question. Could this have fatal consequesces with pets, as with humans?
Click to expand...


Why Tula -- whatever could you possibly mean :shrugs:

Seriously though, speaking from my own experience (living with a smoker for 15 years) I am of the opinion that second hand smoke affects everyone/everything exposed to it. Besides, if you smoke outside you will increase the longevity of the stuff in your house, right? It's also really good practice for when you decide to have kids :D By second hand smoke, I mean ANY kind of secondhand smoke :grin01:

-Tonya
 
I cant give ya a scientific break down of it, since im not an Indoor Air Specialist, but i would not smoke in the house with reptiles. Due to the ventilation of the enclosure, any smoke that manged to make its way in there would be essentialy trapped in there. Thus resulting in the reptile being forced to breath it it. Not to mention the resin the smoke will leave behind could build up to a toxic amount.
Your snakes has small lungs, and its doubfull they are biologicaly equiped to handle that amount of air polition on a regular basis, even if it is in the other room.

I myself am a smoker, and quit smoking indoors a few years back when i moved out of an apartment that i had lived in for 2 years and attempted to get my damage deposit back. The amount of nicotine that i found caked on my walls and ceiling were amazing. Although it was worse in the places i primarly smoked (living room & bedroom), i could find the build up in virtualy every room of the apartment.



As far as "other" things...

If your refering to what i think your refering to (and i nether confirm nor deny any experince in this area), i think it would be best to move it (the smoke not the pet) to another room... perferably one with fan to direct it away from the pets. THC is considered a mild hallucigen.
 
I am married to a smoker who just recently started going outside to smoke. What a difference! (He even notices it). Do you smoke in the car? A friend of mine routinely smokes in her car with the windows nearly completely closed. When I look at her car, I can see the film of residue left behind...it's disgusting!

I would assume that anything with lungs will be affected by the smoke in the air. If you continue smoking in the house, I would suggest getting constant air circulation (a home air cleaner should do the trick).
 
Several folks have mentioned the residue they see in smoked-in areas. I forget where I heard/read (no flames, please) about the effect of that residue on furry pets. In particular, the fact that cats groom themselves and ingest it, thus introducing the carcinogens into their digestive tract. So, it isn't just lungs that get hit by second-hand smoke.

I applaud your efforts to make your pets' living environments less toxic. :)
 
We've all heard what second hand smoke does to humans, now imagine how it affects a snake with basicly just one working lung who is totally dependant on its enviroment (think about respritory infections). Its even moreso dangerous to them then it is us. For the sake of all the pets and non smokers, I strongly suggest smoking only outside.

As for smoking other things, thats your choice, and not only is the smoke very dangerous for the reptiles, you are also putting them at risk for for an accident caused by an impared mind. It is extremely irresponsible to work with larger snakes, such as an adult boa, under the influence of anything. So please watch yourself and others, its a personal choice to do what one wishes but dont put anything or anyone else at risk because of it.
 
Don't smoke in the house .... it's not fair on the animals.

Not having a go, thats just my take on it. Both myself and my wife, and several of my friends smoke .... but no smoking allowed in the house. All smoking is done out the back door/in the garden (weather allowing).

If you're in a flat (as we were previously) then smoke out a window. We used to use the kitchen.

Haven't smoked in the house for years now .... makes for a much nicer atmos in the house generally. Also has the added bonus of cutting down your intake when the weather is crap. As you're in Scotland too, thats going to be pretty often .... ;)
 
Dont smoke anywhere near your animals, for all the reasons mentioned above. I personally, with two healthy working lungs, cant even go to my granparents house, it's horrible, i cant breath in there..i feel bad because it oprevents me from visiting them:( Do you kiss your snakes? i kiss my snakes..lol Just dont kiss their head, yucky kissing a smoker...lol (that was not meant to offend anyone...) Do what you feel is right...as far as your "other" choices..:(
 
There are debates on this but I've read some medical studies my boss has on the subject and as a vet I take his info seriously, he says he can tell when a animal is around smoke cause the eyes get yellowish and in the studies it says it does pretty much have the same effect on animals as people. Could u imagin being a animal that smells soooo much better the humans and have to smell smoke? it's got to be awful. I am a smoker but I smoke outside, I refuse to smoke around the animals in a small area.

I'm sure u can find info online, but I've noticed the yellow eyes with animals that live in a home where they smoke inside.
 
I used to smoke in the front room, after the boys had gone to bed, now George has a budgie and leopard gecko in there, so it's been outside only from then. The difference is amazing, I can't believe how much 1 person smoking made the room, curtains etc smell, so I hate to imagine how bad it would be for the pets.
 
I would like to thank everyone for the input into this topic, it has been interesting to say the least.

I refuse to smoke around the animals when they are "oot n' aboot". Having to stop outside for a cigg everytime is not practical for where we live (appartment block). However due to the sweltering weather we have had recently, most windows are open fully!

The last thing i want is hundreds of ££ worth of reptiles and furry things dying on me :( And aye jen i kiss my big rtb girl :) Well she does most of the kissing ;)

As i said about the "other" substances, well know whos what goes on here when i'm not about. What can i say, my partner has friends i disaprove of :shrugs:... And you can talk about these things until you are blue in the face :rolleyes:

All i can say is i would never handle the snakes under the influence of ANY drugs, including, actually ESPECIALLY alcohol. Irreplaceable damage can and probably would be done with a slight mistake. Either that or i would be left with a 4ft miffed boa, which i most certainly dont want :sidestep:

All i can say is, i try my best to give ALL my animals the best life possible. And in doing so, *I* don't smoke around them. Every little effort counts in my mind.

OHHH one more question, what about air freshners? And perfume? And scented candles or inscence... is this me just being over paranoid now? :puke01:
 
Probably best assume anything carring enough perfume that we can smell and appreciate it, is going to have the potential to irritate the pets! They have far more sesitive scenting abilities than us, after all. People can be allergic to heavy perfumes, so it could be logical to expect that constant exposure could irritate the respiratory systems of the pets too. Just keep those widows open! Blazing hot here today, Tula, how's it there?
J9
 
Aye i get so parinoid about them! I have a bit of an OCD about how everything smells lmao.

Scortcher today lil!! Really lovely weather so i may take the boa a walk later lol :grin01:
 
My plans for this day, noodle around until sun in right position, then out on the sun lounger and read a book! Have been wearing my favorite green hat so I look like enough of a looney for my nosy neighbours to leave me in peace. I live in an apartment too, so I understand what you said about not being easy to get outside to smoke, luckily most of my neighbours know the hours I work and have the sense to leave me be, and Ellie growls at the random strangers from the pub next door if I'm sitting on the doorstep (Good dog Ellie!)
 
LOL aye good Ellie :p My Red tail girl has the same sorta effects on screaming annoying kids out the back ;)

I dont mind the kids playing, but its communal gardens and i dont want it to get ruined because they are too lazy to put their litter into a bin, and the mush up all the nice grass when playing football :(

Our snakes demand walkies in the garden and the dont exactly appreciate mud or litter! lol
 
I don't mind the kids at all, and Ellie is ok with anyone younger than about 12, but I do get fed up with retired busybodies telling me 'it's alright for some' when I've worked 4 nights in a row and I'm reading a book in the sunshine chilling with my dog! gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! sorry Tula, anyways, probably moderation with the smoke 'n' smells best policy imo
 
LOL aye thanks lil... inscense and candles are generally kept to the bedroom anyhoo ;)

And all windows will be open when smoking from now on!! Well except when its a freezing cold winters night :( Ill just buy an air purifier then lol.
 
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