Smoking and shipping animals/supplies

Smokers, please don't smoke around your animals/products or shipping supplies. I won't get into how unhealthy it is, as I used to be hooked myself.

I had to toss out a package of supplies, unopened, because I couldn't get past the reek of cigarette smoke clinging to the outer box. As in, making me gag it was so strong. Airing it outside for the day didn't even put a dent in it. If it was making me that sick, I sure didn't want it around my animals.

Just asking that those who smoke please be mindful of those who don't. We sure appreciate it. Thank you!

I agree. I've gotten a couple of animals that I could smell the cigarette smoke from the unopened box in my truck...and when I opened the box
I also did a trade for a non reptile item, and experienced the same thing...I left the case - open - on the front porch for days, and still couldn't stand the smell when I brought it in the house. It took a few more days of spraying it with Oust and Febreeze to knock that stench down to a tolerable level.

I put a book up for the FC auctions thread and Deb purchased it. I smoke like a chimney and it didn't take Deb long to find that out .

I never smoked around my animals, but any materials I sell from now on will be in storage till they're ready to be shipped.

(again, sorry Deb )

I had the same thing happen, but in my case it involved a poor animal.

When I received the box, my eyes practically teared up (another reason I have reduced my time of going to shows...having to stand in line with all the smokers just puffing away).

I had to go get the googles (I told Harald when I got the animal how bad it was) and gloves because lots of people tend to forget that smoking smell is also the residue of ciggy smoke and comes off on your hands..etc even if it is not visible. I opened the box outside and tossed it immediately.

However, the animal was another issue. That poor thing reeked so bad, the smell was even coming from the mouth (I opened the mouth to check for R.I). The smell was coming off the whole animal (which could only mean that the animal was coated with the residue. I didn't want to give it a bath immediately as I had just received her and didn't want to further stress her out. So, I decided to give her time to shed normally and see if this rid the animal of the smell.

Two sheds and two tub cleanings later, still and my house.. I was so angry. for the animal and myself. Anyway, after two sheds, I broke down and put her in some Chlorhexidine/water mixture and let her swim around and get underwater too. Took the whole rack outside and left it and put another rack in the quarantine area, fresh substrate and the whole process of ridding her of the smell started again. By the forth shed, the smell had dissapated enough that it wasn't an issue for me anymore..but I didn't want to ever put the animal under the stress of breeding, and I don't have space to keep animals for "pets," so I sold her for considerably less than I purchased her for after I got her cleaned up and eating regularly.

Originally Posted by polasian

I put a book up for the FC auctions thread and Deb purchased it. I smoke like a chimney and it didn't take Deb long to find that out .

I never smoked around my animals, but any materials I sell from now on will be in storage till they're ready to be shipped.

(again, sorry Deb )

I hadn't even remembered that! You weren't defensive and in denial when I brought up the subject and the item wasn't an animal or anything that would come in contact with my animals..plus it was such a small item that I could easily leave it somewhere else.

So..as far as I was concerned we settled that. The book is almost ready to be read (I keep it at work).

It's one thing to not know, Nick. And at least you're willing to work on that. That's pretty darn commendable in a world where a lot of those who still smoke are getting ruder by the day. And no, I'm not going to get all anti smoker and say don't smoke and blah blah blah, just please be mindful of the habit when it comes to others is all most of us ask. I was chatting with a smoker pal a while back about stuff coming in stinking and she admitted that she never smoked around her kids and the animals, but it had never occurred to her that the smell might linger when exposed to other stuff she was shipping out. She thanked me for the viewpoint and changed her practices.

Harald, that smiley. That pretty much sums up the feeling, too. I think they forget just how gross that actually smells.

Deb, that's just disgusting and inexcusable. These animals can't get away from the smoke, they have no choice but to lie there and breathe it in. There's no telling what kind of damage that did internally. If you can't fight the urge to light up long enough to get away from those who don't have a choice in the matter, maybe you ought not have them. I hope that seller has changed their husbandry habits. I know if I got something in like that, it'd be here on the BOI. You're way too kind. (Wait, what? Did I just say Deb was kind?)

I don't regret for a minute my decision to kick that nasty habit. I picked up snakes in its place.

Originally Posted by MagickalMorphs

It's one thing to not know, Nick. And at least you're willing to work on that. That's pretty darn commendable in a world where a lot of those who still smoke are getting ruder by the day. And no, I'm not going to get all anti smoker and say don't smoke and blah blah blah, just please be mindful of the habit when it comes to others is all most of us ask. I was chatting with a smoker pal a while back about stuff coming in stinking and she admitted that she never smoked around her kids and the animals, but it had never occurred to her that the smell might linger when exposed to other stuff she was shipping out. She thanked me for the viewpoint and changed her practices.

Harald, that smiley. That pretty much sums up the feeling, too. I think they forget just how gross that actually smells.

Deb, that's just disgusting and inexcusable. These animals can't get away from the smoke, they have no choice but to lie there and breathe it in. There's no telling what kind of damage that did internally. If you can't fight the urge to light up long enough to get away from those who don't have a choice in the matter, maybe you ought not have them. I hope that seller has changed their husbandry habits. I know if I got something in like that, it'd be here on the BOI. You're way too kind. (Wait, what? Did I just say Deb was kind?)

I don't regret for a minute my decision to kick that nasty habit. I picked up snakes in its place.

When I first contacted her about the issue, she was in denial and defensive, so I asked Harald about options on dealing with it. I would have went all hard-a$$ but, I felt sorry for her. This is a occasion that only happens twice a year, so everyone else is out of luck!

I am starting to realize there are entirely too many sympathy marketing ploys and, because of this have changed my tactic; I will no longer be kind when I receive animals in that condition, and in fact, when I have seen an animal that I may like, I have asked the seller if they smoke, and if the answer was affirmative, I have passed on the sale.

I just can't abide cigarette smoke..

I openly admit that I am a smoker. I used to smoke anywhere in the house including my room (where the snakes are) but as soon as the collection got to more then 4 animals I moved my smoking to outside. The snakes seem much happier