Another Bedding Question...

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LydiaMinx

LydiaMinx

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I've been debating with myself over which bedding to try as I currently use newspaper, shavings and hay but find the shavings expensive for my cage size.

My cage is 4x3 C&C and have considered Aubiose but have heard of it getting lodged in boars willy's and mine have enough of that already! So I'm not very keen on that for now :xd: I've heard of finacard being good from some people but heard very bad things from others, in regards to the absorbency.

I'm leaning towards fitch the most but I'm really worried about it working out more expensive then shavings. (£2.50 per week), so does anyone with large cages know how long a 20kg bale lasts them? I'm pretty sure I've asked this before but I'm literally going to be buying something this evening so want to collect some final views!

Any helps is appreciated :)
 
I find a bale of fitch lasts me about 4/5 full cage cleans but doing the maths my cage is almost twice the size of yours all tolled so I imagine it might end up about the same price for you. However, you'll probably find you don't need to do a full change as frequently as you would with shavings, it of course depends on your pigs but if they generally wee in certain places and you do regular spot cleans of those areas you may not need to change it as often. I find some areas of my cage are never used more than just for running through or occasionally hiding from me in and so when it comes to cage clean it's still fresh and clean so I just pull out the random poos and shuffle it about to make sure I'm not missing any wee'd on areas and leave it in there.
 
Have you considered trying fleece? Worked out a lot cheaper for me and they don't get anything caught in their willies or bums :).
My OH used carefresh for the rats cage as they tend to kick up a whiff, and that works great. A bit expensive for what it is, so it's probably not what you're looking for. Just thought I'd throw it in there.
 
I tried fleece and I absolutely loathed it, within minutes my boars had stunk it up to high heaven! I wish I did like it but I really did not get on with it :P @Nicola_ does that mean you think it would work out the same as shavings for me or am I being dumb and reading that wrong? My brain isn't working recently!
 
I change from wood shaving to Fitch. I find Fitch is cheaper then wood as with shaving I had to change bedding twice a week with Fitch I only change once a week. Fitch is cheaper, cleaner, easeyer to clear. all round a lot better
 
LydiaMinx said:
I tried fleece and I absolutely loathed it, within minutes my boars had stunk it up to high heaven! I wish I did like it but I really did not get on with it :P @Nicola_ does that mean you think it would work out the same as shavings for me or am I being dumb and reading that wrong? My brain isn't working recently!
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I think it depends, I imagine it would be cheaper in terms of not needing to change as often but would probably cost the same per change, if that makes sense? That's if your quote of £2.50 is per one change a week?
 
Nicola_ said:
I think it depends, I imagine it would be cheaper in terms of not needing to change as often but would probably cost the same per change, if that makes sense? That's if your quote of £2.50 is per one change a week?
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That does make sense now, I'm hoping to primarily do spot changes instead of full changes but I'm going to see how it goes, I love the look of it and how soft it is! How thick of a layer do you use? I don't want to go nuts the first time and use too much :P
 
Haha! I definitely went overboard the first time I used it! It's hard to say, maybe half an inch to an inch - I just go by sight and feel if that makes sense? I often find that it gets kicked up to little piles towards corners and the ramp etc so when I do spot clean I often don't need to replace the fitch that's come out because I just spread it all back out from the little piles :)
 
Fitch arrived while I was at work today, cleaned them out as soon as I got home and they don't really seem to notice there's anything different! They've spent almost the whole time in their hay trays since!
 
What does fitch look / feel like? I bought a paper bale recently and it was like long steands of tissue like hamster nest stuff. Is this the same? I want to try it if not as the other stuff is useless
 
Fitch is softer a bit like broken bits of tissues that have been through the washing machine. But obviously it's not as manky as that sounds! It's really lovely stuff!
 
Nicolacoming npost: 1543665 said:
Fitch is softer a bit like broken bits of tissues that have been through the washing machine. But obviously it's not as manky as that sounds! It's really lovely stuff!
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Feel an order coming on....
 
Briony_S said:
Feel an order coming on....
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It really is soft, I can imagine it feels nice on the boys feet compared to hay :) I've also found it really handy with spot cleaning and checking my bladder pigs wee colour, can also tell it would be a really nice warm bedding in winter :) So far I'd recomment it also, you should give it a go!
 
Can you get trial packs anywhere? it sounds great but looking on the web i can only find 20+ kg packs which is LOADS if i dont get on with it.... x
 
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