Lighting up candles can be a great way to add some touch to the overall ambiance of a home because of how candles can help improve the scent of a room. However, the problem when it comes to paraffin candles is that they are not always the safest option for pets such as birds. That’s why those who own birds don’t light paraffin candles near birds. So, if that is the case, are soy candles safe alternatives for your birds?
As long as you are using soy candles that are 100% soy and are free of artificial chemicals, then these candles are safer for your birds but not entirely safe to the point that they won’t have any harm on birds. That’s why most avian experts advise avoiding burning anything near your birds.
Due to how birds have hypersensitive respiratory systems, they will never do well around anything that is burning especially if the smoke contains fumes that come from chemicals or anything that is artificial. That said, there are still alternatives that we can use if we want to light candles or improve the scent of a home. This is where a soy candle can come in handy.
Why are paraffin candles unsafe for birds?
When you are burning scented paraffin candles in case you want to improve the overall scent of your living room or if you are simply looking to have a nice candlelight dinner with a special someone, the effects of lighting such candles tend to be minimal to you. However, we can’t say the same when it comes to pets, especially birds.
Unlike humans, birds have respiratory systems that are so sensitive that they will easily get sick or die whenever they inhale something that is harmful to their respiration but has minimal damage to humans and other animals. That’s why, in the past, birds were often used by miners to tell whether the carbon dioxide levels in mines were too dangerous as the birds would instantly die when the CO2 concentration in the air becomes too high.
As such, it is never a good idea to light candles near your birds especially if we are talking about the regular and more affordable paraffin candles. No matter how the scents that such candles produce may be alluring and appealing to us humans, we should never try to light the candles near our pet birds precisely because they have respiratory systems that are a lot more sensitive than hours. What seems to be safe for us and causes little to no threats to our systems are quite unsafe to birds.
And, aside from how sensitive a bird’s respiratory system is, you also have to account for the fact that paraffin candles are almost always chemical-based. Artificial chemicals that produce fumes are usually used to make paraffin candles. Again, while such chemicals are harmless to us in small amounts, the same cannot be said when it comes to our pet birds as the chemicals found in a paraffin candle’s fumes will be more than enough to cause damage to a bird’s respiratory system.
Are soy candles safe for birds?
So, now that you know that paraffin candles are unsafe for birds and why we shouldn’t light them whenever we have pet birds, you are probably looking for an alternative. In that regard, are soy candles safe alternatives when it comes to birds?
For starters, soy candles are made from soy wax, which comes from soybeans that are all-natural and organic in comparison to the artificial chemical-based paraffin candles. But the problem here is that not all soy candles are actually pure soy since some soy candles still have paraffin in them. The reason why some soy candles have paraffin is that pure soy wax won’t be able to hold its shape very well and can only be used to make container candles.
So, if you are going to buy a soy candle with paraffin, the harmful effects of paraffin will still be there when you light the candle. Moreover, not all soy candles contain essential oils that are natural as well because some soy candles may have been mixed with artificial scents that come from chemicals. As a result, you will still end up burning chemicals that will cause harmful fumes.
As such, the only possible way for soy candles to be safer alternatives compared to paraffin candles if they are purely organic and natural in the sense that they contain no paraffin or chemicals whatsoever. Scented soy candles are only safe when the scents come from natural essential oils of flowers and plants and are not artificially created using chemicals.
Nevertheless, even if you are using a pure all-natural soy candle, we still cannot say for certain that the soy candle is completely safe for birds. That’s because these candles will still produce soot, which will have high concentrations of carbon. As we have mentioned, high concentrations of carbon can be deadly to any organism. And because birds have respiratory systems that are more sensitive, the carbon found in the soot that came from burning the organic material found in a soy candle can still be harmful to your birds.
That is why we are calling soy candles “safer” alternatives and not “safe” alternatives because not even soy candles are completely free of harmful substances that can end up killing a bird when you light the candles near your pet bird. This is also the reason why most avian experts suggest that you never try to light anything near a bird no matter how natural or organic the candle might be.
What are the other alternatives to candles?
If soy candles are not completely safe for birds, what are some of the alternatives that you can use if you want to improve the fragrance of your home? Here are some good ideas that are a lot safer than burning candles:
- Boiling orange peels in water
- Boiling cinnamon in water
- Putting fresh flowers inside a home
- Adding potted plants in a room
- Simmer lemon peels
- Using an air purifier
