Bedding and hay cleaning

Spaniel

Spaniel

Teenage Guinea Pig
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If you use bedding with a layer of hay on top..

- how often do you spot clean?
- do you spot clean just the top hay layer or both?
- how often do you do a full change?

Thanks :)
 
My four live outside in my shed and are on bedding with hay on top.

I spot clean daily, and spot clean both the bedding and hay. I remove any wet areas of both daily ( I aim to do it twice a day in winter and definitely before they are tucked in at night). Hay then topped back up

I also remove some poops if they are on top of the hay and easy to get, if not they fall through the hay and are removed at full cage clean day.

Full clean is once a week (every 5-7 days usually - just depends on my plans for the day/work schedule)
 
I’m not sure what we’re doing wrong but our bedding and hay area is drenched after one day and all needs changing.

It’s a 2x2 c&c grid area with newspaper, small pet select paper bedding with hay on top.

By the time the wet hay and paper has been removed there’s barely anything left and we may as well have just taken the lot out.
The rest of the cage is newspaper, incontinence bed pads and then either vet bed or bath mats on top. This needs changing every other day.

It’s just a lot to do everyday.
 
For my hay, I have a large square gravel tray which I line with a puppy pad and then shavings/Aubiose on top, then the hay. The pigs (4 pairs) spend most of their time in the tray foraging etc and I don’t spot clean it but fully clean it out every three days. This works really well for me and my pigs - each pair varies in how dirty/clean they are as some drink more than others and some are just plain messy! The rest of their cage is fleece which is spot cleaned every day and fully cleaned once per week.
 
I use newspaper (a good layer) wood shavings then hay on the top. I don’t spot clean, the poops fall into the thick layer which is topped up 3-4 times a day. I clean out totally every 3 days. One pair are very clean using one small area for toileting, the other pair are very messy, such a difference yet they have exactly the same bedding set up
 
I use two layers of full newspapers so that should be enough.

The paper bedding about 1-2 inches deep. Is that enough?

Lots of hay topped up 3-4x a day.
 
I use rewashable puppy pads and spot clean daily which usually involves cleaning all their poops up and switching any mats which are wet (usually the ones where they eat hay at the rack).

Full change of mats probably every 3 days.

They also have two towels I put on top at various areas of the cage.

When I first got them we had sawdust and hay and it smelt like a farm which I hated.
 

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How big is your cage and how many pigs do you have?
A lot will depend on the space - the bigger the cage the less cleaning needed, but if you have a lot of pigs, or they are in a smaller space it will get dirtier faster.
 
Swissgreys said:
How big is your cage and how many pigs do you have?
A lot will depend on the space - the bigger the cage the less cleaning needed, but if you have a lot of pigs, or they are in a smaller space it will get dirtier faster.
Click to expand...
6x2 c&c cage for two piggies. Our boar Perry and his new friend Lola. They are so playful which is lovely but they trash the cage in the process lol.
 
Tried a thicker layer of bedding but no difference. Still needed a full change on the second day.

The vet bed is doing one day, the bath mats two days and the incontinence bed pad two days.

Had the heating higher hoping it would dry out more but nope.

Partner half laughed, half cried about it which is not a good sign lol.

Plus there’s no way of being able to dry that much bedding or afford the disposable bedding that often.

Send help! :eek:
 
Just to say - obviously we don’t mind cleaning the pigs out everyday if that’s what they need. It’s just very difficult with my partners health, drying the washing and the cost etc. Also the fact that not many other people seem to be needing to do this so it makes us feel like we’re doing something wrong. The pigs are low down near the floor though in an open plan area so maybe that isn’t helping.
 
Hi have you tried putting a litter tray with paper and some hay in it itbwont stop it completely put it helps
 
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