Advice On Bedding?

[MollysPigs]

Hello everyone, so after doing a lot of bribing, my dad has finally agreed to make me a new cage for the guinea pigs! I was originally thinking of keeping them in our old Ferplast 120 that we used for our previous guinea pigs. However, I now think it is too small to use as a permanent home and they are staying in there temporarily whilst I get the cage all ready! Anyway, I need some advice on what bedding to use for the cage. I need something that is affordable, because it would be ridiculously expensive to fill the entire cage with bedding. I have been thinking of getting Vetbed, has anyone used it? And if so how easy is it to keep clean, and how often will it need changing out. Thanks everyone

 

[Florapig]

Hello everyone, so after doing a lot of bribing, my dad has finally agreed to make me a new cage for the guinea pigs! I was originally thinking of keeping them in our old Ferplast 120 that we used for our previous guinea pigs. However, I now think it is too small to use as a permanent home and they are staying in there temporarily whilst I get the cage all ready! Anyway, I need some advice on what bedding to use for the cage. I need something that is affordable, because it would be ridiculously expensive to fill the entire cage with bedding. I have been thinking of getting Vetbed, has anyone used it? And if so how easy is it to keep clean, and how often will it need changing out. Thanks everyone

Hi,
I use vetbed in the corner where my piggies go to the loo, it's great for soaking up all the wee. The only problem is that it does smell if not cleaned frequently. For my piggies I use cardboard with newspaper on then a layer of hay. This works really well. I wouldn't use sawdust or wood shavings though, people have mixed opinions on these, they can cause breathing problems and a few other things. Good luck on your search for perfect bedding :-)

 

[Guineapigfeet]

I use Aubiose, which is concidered expensive at about £9 per 20kg bale (plus postage if you don't have an equine supplier near by) and I use it in my indoor 5x2 C&C and my 24sq ft outdoor shed. It's very absorbent. I do not change out all of the bedding, even during a 'big clean'. The high traffic areas have trays, which get totally swapped out each week and the rest gets turned over and the wet stuff removed (the wet sinks to the bottom of the bedding layer and is absorbed from there so the top stays dry for longer) I only change about 1/3 of the bedding each change in the shed and 1/2 in the C&C
A single bale lasts me 3 or 4 weeks

 

[Swissgreys]

You might find this thread useful

Bedding For Guinea Pigs - Overview

I am personally a big fan of fleece, but if you buy ready made liners the initial set up costs can be quite high. Having said that once you have the liners the only expense is the cost of washing them which is minimal. Plus I find fleece easier to store than large bales of disposable bedding (but then I also don't have a shed, which would make storage easier).
How often you change depends a lot on how you arrange your cage, and also how many piggies you have in the space.
Good luck deciding - you new cage sounds fantastic.

 

[Nibblestreacle]

A bit of y is really good for them but if you use straw for the bedding it can make them blind xx so I will stay away from that