advise needed on changing to material bedding

[mummyemily]

after reading some really interesting articles and seeing some fantastic pictures here on the forum I have decided to change from shaving and hemp to vetbed/fleeces as my 12 week old teddy seems to sneeze a lot and currently has a fungle infection.
But am unsure if i should put in their bedroom instead of hay or to put hay on top of the vetbed for them to snuggle into? (they have a hay cube daily) Also i was completing cleaning and removing al paper, shavings and hay every other day is this going to be ok when on vetbed?
Can you tell I'm a novice piggy owner

 

[Modwyn]

May I ask are they living indoor or outdoor?

 

[lovelygirl]

If he is living outdoors i would suggest megazorb or aubiose instead of fleece and vetbed as these type of bedding are not as warm, plus getting hay of fleece and vet bed is tiresome! if they are indoors then i would say fleece or vetbed are the way to go.

 

[mummyemily]

Hi They have a indoor cage for night and bad weather this is where i am thinking of making the change.
There outdoor hutch is on two levels (small run underneath living quaters) that currently has paper base and lots of hay in bedroom and the run has good amount of paper and a little bit of shaving hemp mix they are cuirrently outside from about 9am to 3pm

 

[flips]

Your guinea pigs will still enjoy snuggling in the hay in an indoor run. I have fleece and have a litter tray with megazorb and hay in for them. It would be fine with just newspaper and hay as long as you change it regularly. I find this also helps keep the fleece clean as they tend to wee and poo in the litter tray (I may just be one of the lucky ones though).

 

[mummyemily]

Thanks for that, am going to keep outdooor hutch as it is, have bought fleece, lines bottom of cage with paper then fleece, got litter tray with paper and hay in it, and have put thema container of hay on platform along side food and veggies lets see if they like it

 

[ollie]

Your guinea pigs will still enjoy snuggling in the hay in an indoor run. I have fleece and have a litter tray with megazorb and hay in for them. It would be fine with just newspaper and hay as long as you change it regularly. I find this also helps keep the fleece clean as they tend to wee and poo in the litter tray (I may just be one of the lucky ones though).

4 of my boys just poo where every they want so you are sooooooooo lucky them using a litter tray think my boys would though it at me p
there is only ben out of my 5 who does his little mess in one place & if a stray poo goes in his bedroom he'll tear his room apart till i remover it just how ocd does he sound p

 

[flips]

Thanks for that, am going to keep outdooor hutch as it is, have bought fleece, lines bottom of cage with paper then fleece, got litter tray with paper and hay in it, and have put thema container of hay on platform along side food and veggies lets see if they like it

Make sure you wash the fleece 2-3 times first so that is wicks away the wee properly. NEVER use fabric conditioner as it will seal the fibres and wee will pool on top.
If you find that newspaper under the fleece doesn't soak up the pee well enough, then an old towel should do the trick.
Good luck.

 

[flips]

4 of my boys just poo where every they want so you are sooooooooo lucky them using a litter tray think my boys would though it at me p
there is only ben out of my 5 who does his little mess in one place & if a stray poo goes in his bedroom he'll tear his room apart till i remover it just how ocd does he sound p

I think it's because they were in a cage with megazorb and hay first then when they moved into fleece C & C set up, they've continued with it. They do poo in the corners and a few odd wees but nothing to complain about. So, yes, I think I am lucky.

 

[Wiebke]

I find that having hay on a bit of an absorbent layer helps with keeping the smell down. Hay just on top of newspaper is getting smelly and sludgy VERY quickly.

Best have your hay in a tray with an edge that is at least 3-4 in high, so thepiggies don't spread the hay everywhere so quickly. Some people have started to insert a hayloft into their indoors cages - that might be a project for later!

Make sure that you shake your fleece well before you wash it. If you are liekly to run into trouble with piggy hair and hay clogging your filters, you can always wash your fleeces in an old duvet cover. Never use softener with fleece or your piggies will sit in their own pee!

I have yet to see a piggy that does NOT adore fleece on first contact!

 

[Romily]

I have just put fleece in my guineas cage and after and hour it looks so messy! I can see that this is going to test my patience to the limit and I forsee a lot of time skipping out!