Unhealthy?

[burritothechinchilla]

I have a question and was wondering what you guys thought about it.

Is it harmefull to a human's lungs to be in the same room as a chinchilla?

I mean like a bedroom. I am in my bedroom 90% of the time I am home sleeping, studying or doing stuff on my laptop.

My mom says that she want me to take the chins out of my room because she says that their hair is going into my lungs.

What do you guys think about this issue?

 

[Easterpiggy]

I would have to say that your mom is wrong. also you breathe in a lot worse than chin hair on a regular basis. you are fine around the chins

 

[Essentia]

I had my chinchillas in my bedroom for at least 2 years and I was fine. Never got sick or anything. My pets are still located in my bedroom at my new home, and still doing fine.

I did vacuum often to keep the dust at bay. Now I have hardwood floors, so I just sweep up the mess daily. Still haven't gotten sick or had any lung problems.

 

[Brittney]

My 4 chins are in my room. Only problem I have found is more dried boogers in the morning

I don't have any health problems or anything because of them. But I do have to dust more often because everything seems to get caked in dust.

 

[AZChins]

I have 250 chins or so in my house. I spend about 16 hours a day in the same rooms with them...and I dust twice a week. I've never had any health problems at all. I do have to blow my nose more after I dust or give out hay, but that's probably pretty normal with the particulate getting in there. The dust can get in other parts of the house, but it isn't THAT bad...we live on a dirt road that I believe contributes to the dustiness of my house just as much as the chins do.

 

[addictedtochins]

Are you having problems? Yes I'm sure some people have problems with the chin fur, dust and hay. The chins don't bother me but I have other triggers that cause breathing problems for me such as gasoline and cigs.

 

[aznmexaggie]

I used to have my chins in my room and I would occasionally wake up with tightness of my chest/lungs and coughing/sneezing... I have asthma so I can sometimes be sensitive to the dust, shavings, and hay. The chins now have their own room in our modified/insulated garage. I also wear a mask now when I clean cages and dust. It can't be good for anyone's lungs to be breathing in dust all the time.

If you use fleece liners and dust in a separate room, it would probably be a lot better for you.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

I agree with Sumiko. I have to use an inhaler because of allergies and I think the dust from the chins as well as their hay contribute at least in part to my allergy attacks. I have never found fur to be an issue but dust, definitely. Wouldn't trade them for anything though ). An air purifier may ease your mom's mind but I would also dust the chin elsewhere if you can.

 

[Olallie]

I had my three chins in my room for about 3 yrs, only problem is not ventalating enough to get rid of the pee smell on the shelves. Other than that I am perfectly fine, that I know of.

 

[Kawaii_Hedgie_Chin_Love]

I have at least 3 chins in my room at all times of the year, through winter, I have at least 5 or 6, and I've never had any sort of problems with it. I usually don't notice any hair floating around unless I've been handling them in there. Things do get quite dusty, but I don't find it a problem. I've never noticed any kind of smell either, unless I was away for a weekend. My hedgehogs usually contribute to most of that though. I don't think it's unhealthy at all unless you have specific allergies to dust/hay/etc. and even then, it doesn't usually bother people unless they have multiple chins.

 

[caiti]

If you were to inhale a intact hair, it would most likely stick to any moisture in your mouth, nose, esophagus. It's virtually impossible for a single hair to make it all the way to your lungs without touching anything in your body on its way. It's what mucus membranes are for yay!!

But you could be reacting to something chemically, not just physically irritating. The only real way to figure it out is it pay attention to your symptoms. You could probably have an allergy test for chinchillas but I would try to narrow down what you're reacting to first.

I havr my chin in my room and I only get allergies when I clean out her cage or give her a dust bath. I am a very allergic person, by the way, but I don't react to my chinchilla just the dust for her bath.