Smoking - and do your animals have a choice?

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

EVERYONE:

I was thinking about this since its a big topic in our province and thought to relate it to herps and animals in general as being taken care of by you. Smoking - yeap that' s right lets discuss this and its relation to our animals in our care. I myself don' t smoke the legal or non-legal stuff. For me its a choice on something I do not need in my life. I do not want this thread to became about hating smokers or war on both sides.

My question for discussion is,

Do you or does anyone smoke (cigarettes, cigars, funny stuff :D, and etc) around your animals (reptiles, and any other pets) or in the area of the cages?

I myself am very anal (against) about this around me during a meal when I am eating but also I do not allow smoking in my house let alone around my animals. I believe as it affects us as humans and we can avoid the atmosphere, the animals are not so furtunate though.

Lets here everyone' s comments and views on this subject and answers to the above question.

:D

Tony

[beanersmysav]

I don't allow smoking in my house let alone around my animals. I know reptile keepers before I got into the hobby when I was in my funny stuff days that used to give their reptiles a little sample if ya know what I mean. Even when I still did that although haven't in years I never would subject any of animals to that. But I always wondered if any smoke at all caused damage to animals as I'm sure it does. If I ever caught anyone smoking in my house let alone around animals there'd be issues.

[HeatherRose]

I was surfing on the BOI yesterday and saw a picture of someone with a monitor on a couch, one hand on the monitor and one hand holding a cigarette and I was appalled...

My and everyone elses personal choices are our own, but I would never ever subject my animals or anyone else to it. My friends and anyone else who comes over have to smoke outside as well.

Cigarrette smoke is just not part of a reptile's or cat's (in my case) cat's natural environment, and hearing or seeing people subject their animals to it gets to me.

I don't smoke, but for a while that seemed to change on a weekly basis...my current status is that I've quit, one big reason is for my friends who worry about me too much, and another reason is that I can't buy all the herps I REALLY want if I'm dead can I? :D

[theweezel]

I myself do smoke (only the legal stuff) but not in the same room as my reptiles. I dont want to fill up their rubbermaids with bad air. The closest one to the smoke is my rat who is across the room usually.

[clint545]

I just quit 2 days ago, hopefully I'll last at the quitting thing. Last time I quit for 3 months, and was stupid enough to start again.

As far as when I did smoke, it wasn't in the same room as the herps.

[Siretsap]

Wasn't there an article where they talked that snake couln't get cancer??? If this were true, then I guess it wouln't change anything if you smoked around your snakes...

But no one smokes in our house, only in the garage and it keeps the air inside clean.

[Ryan23]

Even when it was -50C a little while ago it was outside only at my house. I personally don't smoke but many of my friends do which doesn't bother me since they are all considerate enough to not smoke if we're out eating somewhere or something like that. My opinion, if I don't think it's good for me (that applies to anything) then the same goes for my animals.

[beanersmysav]

Sirestap even if they can't get cancer there's still many more lung issues they can have, and I won't even bother going into all the possibilities.

[Manitoban Herps]

Nope, no one smokes in my place around me or my herps. :)

[Invictus]

I quit smoking a year and 8 months ago, a fact I'm very proud of. However, even when I was a smoker, there was no smoking in my house, and even if there was, I would have banished it to the outside when I got into herps.

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by HeatherRose
I was surfing on the BOI yesterday and saw a picture of someone with a monitor on a couch, one hand on the monitor and one hand holding a cigarette and I was appalled...
There was a photo from a user here on the general forum (about two weeks ago) holding a snake with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, I too was appalled...
Ryan
P.S. Good for you Ken!

[Shad0w]

Good on all you Ladies and Gents that have kicked the habit...

I for one am not a smoker, never have been and never will be.

My home is a smoke free enviroment... nevermind my herps... I have two kids and cannot imagine subjecting them to the nasty stuff.

[bistrobob85]

Hey Ken, you've stopped smoking right when i started going out with my girlfriend :)!! As for the smoking thing, i sometimes smoke cigars or funny stuff but ALWAYS outside and never near my herps. I am a non-smoker who enjoys a cigar or funny thing once in a while...

phil.

[beanersmysav]

funny thing as in candy cigarettes right ;) haha yeaaaa

[ATBlover]

I live with my mum and im only 15...my mom just quit 3 weeks ago and she hasn't touched a cigarette yet...Im proud of her but when she was smoking, it was in the house but i have all of my reptiles in my room...I was wondering if snakes can be effected by smoke?...also NO i dont smoke..LOL....Connor

[marisa]

Three people at my house smoke.....we have no smoking in the house and definitly no smoking around the snakes.

Marisa

[Mystic Lizzards]

i keep my houes smoke free(both kinds lol) but i do smoke outside only

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

CONNER:

In simple I believe smoking affects everything, be it small or large, be it livinging or not. Smoke alone penetrates just about anything and can layer itself on anything as well. Anything from clothing - walls in a room - furniture - our lungs and that means animals as well will be affected. Actual damage is alot of people' s concern now with health issues on themselves and people around them. So thinking any different about animals is not really an option they are living, they breath, they inhale and some damage is done no matter how you look at it.

Tony

EDIT:

If a simple brush fire in nature can cause smoke problems if breathed in, think about all those chemicals in cigarettes as well, and our (everyone' s) animals where never ready to be put in that situation.

[wizbit13]

Me and my better half both smoke, and yes we do smoke in the same rooms as our snakes. I have 2 in the living room and one in the room I am sat in now typing this, where I spend most of my time. I have never really thought about this 'smoking around reptiles' thing until now. Is there any known disadvantages of doing it? Maybe I will try to smoke outside a little more from now on.

Adam

[ravensgait]

Yeah smoking is bad for ya !yada yada yada, Man you can't even visit reptile forums now without some yahoo's going on about it as they eat their junk food and sit their overweight selves in front of their computers sucking down a soft drink.
I think our little captive friends have more things to worry about then some second hand smoke.

Someone said something about their cats and reptiles not having cig smoke in their natural environments IE their house??? Um hate to mention this to ya but a house isn't a natural environment to them.

Have a BCI with a two pack a day habit and a ETB who smokes like a chimney, going broke just trying to feed their habits!

[beanersmysav]

Originally posted by ravensgait
Yeah smoking is bad for ya !yada yada yada, Man you can't even visit reptile forums now without some yahoo's going on about it as they eat their junk food and sit their overweight selves in front of their computers sucking down a soft drink.


Way to stereotype :) I exercise 3 times a day everday but Sunday, eat healthy, and drink tea. Someones offended eh? But you're right smoking great for you, I mean who care if they have to smoke cigarettes through a hole in their throat some day.

[Shad0w]

beanersmysav,

Im with you... excercise regularly, eat healthy and love green tea :)

What I find misleading about ravensgait is that even if someone was eating poorly or sucking back on a softdrink.. that doesnt mean that everyone around that person including herps are forced to do the same... unfortunately, with second hand smoke.. everyone including herps in the near vicinity are FORCED to become smokers...

Im sorry... why do SOME (not all) smokers think that their right to smoke is more important than other people's right not to? I mean what about common courtesy ? :) Its easy... take it outside :)

[HeatherRose]

Someone said something about their cats and reptiles not having cig smoke in their natural environments IE their house??? Um hate to mention this to ya but a house isn't a natural environment to them.

Hate to mention this to you but I never said my house was my cats' or herps' natural environment... :rolleyes:

[Bartman]

The only thing I smoke in my room, which is the herp room, is my nargila. For those of you who dont know what this is, its a middle eastern thing where you smoke flavoured tabacco out of a hooka. Anyways, I leave the windows open anyway as well as the door, so I wouldnt see this is being a problem for the rep's.

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by ravensgait
Man you can't even visit reptile forums now without some yahoo's going on about it as they eat their junk food and sit their overweight selves in front of their computers sucking down a soft drink.
I assume you're describing yourself, and to you this must mean we're all obese computer-jockeys, right? If you don't like the discussion, don't participate.

Originally posted by ravensgait
I think our little captive friends have more things to worry about then some second hand smoke.
Provided all of their husbandry requirements are being met, what else is there to worry about? Second hand smoke is a legitimate concern for any respiring organism.

Originally posted by ravensgait
Someone said something about their cats and reptiles not having cig smoke in their natural environments IE their house??? Um hate to mention this to ya but a house isn't a natural environment to them.
We still try to replicate their natural environments as close as possible. I wouldn't subject an Eastern Box turtle to a completely aquatic captive environment (as this would not replicate their natural environment), nor would I subject it to a disgusting, smoke-filled, carcinogenic captive environment.

Ryan

[ohh_kristina]

No smoking in the house! I have come close to head butting someone who walked into my house with a cigarette. Enter with cigarette and death is imminent!! :D

[latazyo]

cigarette smoking has been proven to hurt dogs and cause problems with them...I'm guessing it could also affect any air breathing speciest similarly

[beanersmysav]

Especially air breathing species with such a small lung!(I believe most if not all snakes have one lung? Is that correct?)

[Andy_G]

Don't smoke around your animals...harmful or not, they shouldn't have to breathe in that crap. Snakes have two lungs, but one is a vestigial(sp?) organ which basically means that it has no use. It is much smaller then the other, in some species it is used a little bit, but in most it's not used at all.

[beanersmysav]

Oh ok maybe that's what I read was one useful lung but one useless lung is just as good as not having one IMO. But I agree with people saying people who smoke think it's ultimately their right to smoke but no one else has the right now to inhalf their smoke.

[lakeridgekennel]

3 people in my house and we all smoke And where some of my reptiles are is the basement/the spot me and my friends all hang out down there and most of us smoke. I have really never thought about it, when all my friends are down ther i put a fan on but i know that does almost nothing. I think we might start smoking up stairs no alot more.

sean

[Katt]

One rule of the house, NO SMOKING.

I think my animals have a right to not be exposed to potentially harming substances.

I have bad asthma as well and cigarette smoke just makes me want to curl up and die. I can handle a bit, but too much and I get an attack, which can last for days.

That and cigarette smoke leaves such a stink. I regurge smells better.

[thunder]

no one has mentioned this yet, but reptiles, whether they can get lung cancer or not (i know they can get other types of cancer, at least lizards can), have an extremely low tolerance for smoke inhalation. even small amounts of smoke in their lungs can be deadly. this is why, if you have a fire in your herp room, animals that were not affected directly can just drop dead. i myself am a smoker, the only one in my house, which does not allow smoking. if i do smoke in the house (bad me) it is far, far away from the herps, and with the window open.

[hudson]

I quit smoking six weeks ago, not because I wanted to (I enjoyed smoking), but because my daughter wanted me to. Although when I did smoke, I smoked outside out of courtesy for my child, my husband, and my animals.

Kate

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

EVERYONE:

Very good input from everyone and great to see everything is civil and informative as well. Like I said in the beginning this is really just a topic for discussion about smoking around animals. I am one that believes freedom of rights, and if your a smoker you have the right to smoke but I also believe in your freedom that it should not affect another' s freedom. Years back I worked in construction and some manufacturing plants. Both situations smoking was accepted as long as it did not affect the work production. So being a non-smoker was rather hard. I had to be creative to find places on my breaks and lunch hour to find fresh air. Even in those situations alot of my co-workers smoked and decided it was fine while I was on my time at work. Dead wrong those few minutes a day I needed the fresh air.

Not sure if everywhere but our province is pushing the smoking laws. I can finally go out to a restaurant with my fiancée or family and enjoy a meal with it tasting like mint or vanilla or just standard cigarette smell. All my friends and family know my no smoking rule. Not saying they have to stop, just saying stop around me. So this way they have there rights I have mine. Spend 2 hours free smoke with me you still got 22 hours to smoke in that day :D

OK, lets hear more on the smoking near your animals and thoughts on it from all members. I believe this is a good topic by its relationship and consequences involving animals.

Continue....:D

Tony

[beanersmysav]

Yea here in NY you can't smoke in bars, resturants, public places etc thank god :) nothing worse than holding your breath while eating.

[latazyo]

we recently passed a ban of smoking in all workplaces except bars....which stinks because the ballot was pretty confusing and a lot of people voted for more than one choice,but ultimately the smoking in only bars won over the all out smoking ban

[munchy]

i NEVER smoke anywhere in the house, nevermind near my herps. its obviously horrible for us humans (i know lots of people who have had relatives DIE from it) so i can only imagine what kind of damage it could do to my little snakes or my precious precious kitties for that matter. if its too cold for you outside then QUIT.

[Linds]

I used to be a heavy smoker (sometimes even exceeding two packs a day :eek: ). I admit when I was a lot younger (and dumber) I did sometimes smoke around my pets. It was very selfish and I feel awful that I did that. I feel bad for everyone I subjected that filthy, harmful habit to. I've quit (over 3 years now) and actually adopted a super healthy lifestyle. I actually can't stand even being anywhere around smoke anymore. Shad0w's comments were right on the nose, and I agree with everyone that chooses to keep their herps smoke-free :)

Originally posted by ravensgait
Yeah smoking is bad for ya !yada yada yada, Man you can't even visit reptile forums now without some yahoo's going on about it as they eat their junk food and sit their overweight selves in front of their computers sucking down a soft drink.

Speak for yourself. There is no need to talk down to those of us who do not wish to poison ourselves, or at the very least, our herps. It also does not make us hypocrites, as you seem to think. You may sit around pumping yourself full of junk, but as has been stated already by several members, some of us DO enjoy a healthy lifestyle. I myself am near the end of my personal trainer certification, and generally avoid highly processed foods, artificial additives, preservatives, etc. and mostly enjoy a holistic, active (as possible) lifestyle.


Someone said something about their cats and reptiles not having cig smoke in their natural environments IE their house??? Um hate to mention this to ya but a house isn't a natural environment to them.


Captivity may not be 'natural', but at the same time, we aren't poisoning them either.

[ATBlover]

TONY, I was just asking a question...and it seems you came down hard on me.....all i said is that my mum quit smoking about a month ago and that she never smoked in my room...i don't think thats a bad thing......I wouldn't want to hurt my snakes or lizards..but atleast i took the time getting my mom off of cig's....and now i guess my snakes won't SUFFER anymore...Thanks...Connor

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

ATBLOVER:

Originally posted by ATBlover
I was wondering if snakes can be effected by smoke?

Originally posted by BOAS_N_PYTHONS

In simple I believe smoking affects everything, be it small or large, be it livinging or not. Smoke alone penetrates just about anything and can layer itself on anything as well. Anything from clothing - walls in a room - furniture - our lungs and that means animals as well will be affected. Actual damage is alot of people' s concern now with health issues on themselves and people around them. So thinking any different about animals is not really an option they are living, they breath, they inhale and some damage is done no matter how you look at it.


I think you misunderstood me.
I was just answering your reply is all, nothing direct at you.
Hope all is fine.

:D

Tony

[ATBlover]

sorry tony
i didnt mean to react like that....No hard feelings man!...Connor

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

CONNER:

;) no problemo ;)

Tony

[ATBlover]

kool....tony do you have any JCP's?

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

ATBLOVER:

Originally posted by ATBlover
kool....tony do you have any JCP's?

Had a few now only have 1 pair left.

Tony