Does anyone know about fog machines - I'd love to have eerie fog around the entrance at halloween but I don't want lights or anything and I don't want anything too complex.... And I have a dog so non toxic etc..... #FogMachine #Halloween
Replies
You can buy one from around €50 and rent one for around €30. (Although for Halloween book it now.) It's not really smoke but a glycol and water steam. Smells like a too hot iron. I doubt it will do any harm to the hound so long as he doesn't drink it or sleep with his nose to the nozzle.
aug 27, 2025, 11:19 am • 1 0 • view
for that price difference I might buy one so I'd have it for other years... maybe
aug 27, 2025, 12:58 pm • 1 0 • view
I don't know. Reliability after storage is an issue with a lot of these cheap bits of kit.
aug 27, 2025, 2:02 pm • 1 0 • view
fair point. Perhaps someone else will know...
aug 27, 2025, 2:48 pm • 1 0 • view
They're pretty much all going to be non-toxic since they're aimed to be used where kids are.
aug 27, 2025, 10:47 am • 1 0 • view
True - though non toxic to kids doesn't always mean non toxic to dogs... But for the same reason, since pets and kids often coexist, it's probably reasonable to assume they should be non toxic to pets in a similar way....
aug 27, 2025, 10:55 am • 0 0 • view
Dogs, at least. And probably cats, but I'd be more cautious with them. And keep it away from chinchillas.
aug 27, 2025, 10:59 am • 1 0 • view
Why chinchillas? (I would have had a pet chinchilla but I couldn't find a place to keep it in the house where it would have a large enough enclosure and not having an enclosure was not recommended)
aug 27, 2025, 12:56 pm • 0 0 • view
Chinchillas evolved at high altitudes, so they are very heat-intolerant, *and* their lungs are super sensitive to impurities.
aug 27, 2025, 12:57 pm • 1 0 • view
Got it. I can see the heat intolerance with all that fur, but they feel SO GOOD
aug 27, 2025, 12:58 pm • 0 0 • view
Yeah, they can't sweat, so will die of heat over about 84°F. Also, they can't get *wet*, because their fur is so thick it won't dry out properly, and it'll get moldy.
aug 27, 2025, 1:00 pm • 1 0 • view
Also: they don't require a large enclosure. They like to climb a bit and run around, but we had a single-storey enclosure, and they were happy. When we moved to Beaverton into a huge house, we got a very large enclosure (about the size of a good parrot cage).
aug 27, 2025, 12:59 pm • 1 0 • view
I thought they needed the VERY large parrot cage size and I didn't have a place (or ability) to have one of those at the time I was looking into pets. I ended up with gerbils. At least Ireland doesn't often get that warm.....
aug 27, 2025, 1:03 pm • 0 0 • view
Our first enclosure was about 1m by .5m by .5m, and they were fine with that. We gave them a spinny wheel, and a couple of houses to hide in, and a wooden pedestal halfway up, and that was for 3 (although soon 2) chinchillas. Oh, also parrot chew blocks.
aug 27, 2025, 1:10 pm • 1 0 • view
If they're in a small enclosure, I *do* recommend letting them out for enrichment. We had a fence that could be set up at about a 1m diameter, and put some toys in there, and they'd run around a bit, but basically just... chill.
aug 27, 2025, 1:10 pm • 1 0 • view
Like kittens, their days are full of brief bouts of running back and forth, and then just sitting and chilling. As I said before, they *loved* sitting in their enclosure and watching us watch TV. They'd just sit at the food dish, grabbing a pellet to chew, while watching us.
aug 27, 2025, 1:10 pm • 1 0 • view
Professional fog is now sugar, so hopefully cheap stuff is fine. You'll need a bit of light for it to show up (a low watt led or just your porch light is fine)
aug 27, 2025, 3:52 pm • 1 0 • view