# Tea Tree Oil & Eucalyptus Oil



## HedgieGirl519 (Oct 21, 2011)

*I know that you never use tea tree oil on a hedgehog.*

I have chronic lung infections, literally every month I have a lung infection. Until I got hedgehogs I always used tea tree oil and eucalyptus oils in a vaporizer, and it has been the only thing that helped me. Since getting hedgehogs I've removed everything with tea tree oil in my apartment. The lung infections are getting really bad and I'd love to be able to use the tea tree oil again. So my questions:

Is it okay to use tea tree oil in a vaporizer? The vaporizer is in my bedroom (turned on most of the day) and the hedgehogs are in the living room. 
Is it just toxic when it is absorbed into their skin, or is it also bad if they smell it? 
Is eucalyptus oil toxic?

When the vaporizer is on (in my bedroom) I can't smell it in the living room, but that doesn't mean they can't.


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## LizardGirl (Aug 25, 2008)

I have no idea, but figured I'd bump this to see if anyone else has any insight.


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## raerysdyk (Oct 21, 2011)

There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer. From what I've understood, the tea tree oil is absorbed through the skin and causes renal/ liver failure. 

So, if this is true, the oils pass through membranes and absorb into the blood stream where they become toxic. Thus, if a hedgehog were to inhale tea tree oil vapors, the process would be accelerated, since the mucous membranes of the lung provide a direct route to the blood stream. 

Even if you can't smell the tea tree oil from another room, does not mean it isn't there. Even if one particle was making into the room, and your hedgie happened to inhale it, an accumulation over a week or so could be deadly.  

I wouldn't use tea tree oil anywhere in your home. Eucalyptus oil...I don't know. :? I would question it, though, since eucalyptus oil and tea tree oil both are cyclic carbon chains and both contain the chemical eucalyptol (eucalyptol is toxic if ingested at higher than normal doses)...in lay-mans terms, they have similar structure and chemical properties. However, I don't think it is known exactly what is so toxic in tea tree oil...I would steer clear of both oils with your hedgie.


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## silvercat (Oct 24, 2008)

I've removed tea tree oil from my place too. Instead I used Oregano oil for anything I would have used tea tree. You could try that.


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## HedgieGirl519 (Oct 21, 2011)

silvercat said:


> I've removed tea tree oil from my place too. Instead I used Oregano oil for anything I would have used tea tree. You could try that.


Thanks, I'll give that a go


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