Bedding boredom - suggestions? Also - Excel Ultra Absorbant bedding - my review!

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Amanda1801

Amanda1801

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I don't know if I'm just fussy, but I really can't find a bedding that works for me!

Back when the boys lived outside, they were bedded on newspaper and wood shavings. This changed to newspaper and hay.

When they came inside, I gave fleece a go, with newspaper underneath.

I decided I didn't like using fleece, so I switched to vet bed.

I quickly found the whole washing and drying of fleece/vet bed very tedious, they hay never came off of it etc. so I went back to newspaper with hay on top. This seems to be the pigs favourite. Unfortunately for me, I have to have my pigs in my bedroom, and the hay is really taking its toll on my asthma.

I have found that I like using bed pads under their top bedding layer!

I decided to try them on wood shavings again, and have bought a small pack (and will use them when I remember to bring it in from my car!)

I also picked up a 4.5l pack of the Burgess Excel Ultra Absorbant Bedding from work today. I hate to think how expensive this is (I haven't got a price for it yet). I thought I'd give it a try.

I cleaned J & C out tonight, and thought I'd use the excel stuff. Never again. As soon as I opened it, I regretted it. I made a small hole in the top of the pack, and a big cloud of dust wafted in my face. I put it in the cage, and the dust cloud was incredible. I spread it out a bit. The claim that 4.5l expands to 10l is a total joke. I'm not sure who thought that one up, but they deserve some kind of comedy award. The 4.5l bag just about covered half their cage (ferplast 140) with a thin layer. I filled the other half (coughing and spluttering) with hay.

I popped the pig wigs in, and they were very curious. Jeff ran over to it, and had a sniff (and maybe a nibble) and subsequently got it stuck all over his face. Cameo, after just a few steps, is now sporting a nice bedding frill on her long (but very short for a coronet!) hair.

My rating? 0/10. Ugh!



Right, now to my problem!

I don't know about anyone else, but I'm funny about what I bed my pigs on in terms of giving them their food. I don't give my pigs their veg on a plate, nicely chopped up and neatly arranged by colour. I chuck it in the cage and they can go and forage and find it. I really don't like the thought of bedding them on something that I wouldn't want them to eat, but have the above problem with hay and asthma. I'm going to clean D & M tomorrow, so will try the wood shavings again, but I can't think of any other way of getting around the bedding-sticking-to-veg-and-them-eating-it dilemma other than to put an area of hay on the floor, thus solving one problem, but not the other.

Any ideas? mallethead
 
That excel bedding stuff is really expensive for what it is in my opinion, I looked at it in my local pet shop when it was first stocked, looked at the price and immediately put it down! It doesn't help that I'm never convinced by beddings that claim to expand.

I suppose you could use hay trays and just put the veg in with the hay that you feed them. I'm guessing you've tried different hays to see which is the least aggravating to your asthma? I can't see how eating the wood shavings would be a problem though (or are you talking about the excel stuff?), sorry I've got confused. mallethead

I use finacard in my pigs litter trays which is a chopped cardboard bedding, I buy it in bales as I use it for my rats as well (the phenols and dust from pine shavings are damaging to rat's respiratory systems so can't use them) and I really like it as a bedding and the papelit pellets (recycled newspaper) are really good for litter trays. It's also not problematic should the pigs eat it, there are other types (ecobed) which have larger pieces so would be less likely to stick to the veg if it was still a concern.
 
Can't offer any advice as I'm a vetbed fan, but completely agree with you about that silly excel absorbant stuff. I bought a bag a few months ago thinking it would be far more economical and that I'd save myself lots of pennies - what a joke!
 
Hermes said:
That excel bedding stuff is really expensive for what it is in my opinion, I looked at it in my local pet shop when it was first stocked, looked at the price and immediately put it down! It doesn't help that I'm never convinced by beddings that claim to expand.

I suppose you could use hay trays and just put the veg in with the hay that you feed them. I'm guessing you've tried different hays to see which is the least aggravating to your asthma? I can't see how eating the wood shavings would be a problem though (or are you talking about the excel stuff?), sorry I've got confused. mallethead

I use finacard in my pigs litter trays which is a chopped cardboard bedding, I buy it in bales as I use it for my rats as well (the phenols and dust from pine shavings are damaging to rat's respiratory systems so can't use them) and I really like it as a bedding and the papelit pellets (recycled newspaper) are really good for litter trays. It's also not problematic should the pigs eat it, there are other types (ecobed) which have larger pieces so would be less likely to stick to the veg if it was still a concern.
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I tried hay trays for Dave and Maggie previously, and they just didn't get it rolleyes - they just sat and looked at the hay...they couldn't fathom getting in it!

I've tried different hays, different brands, sterilised hay from the US etc. but I react largely the same with it all! I've had to crack out the montelukast tablets, that how I know it's bad!

I'm going to try half wood shavings and half hay in Dave and Maggies cage tomorrow, and see what happens. I may just have to increase my medication for the pigs happiness (they go mad over a cage full of hay!)
 
For our guineas and chickens we use comfy bed which is a wood based very soft bedding. Our guineas haven't eaten it and its super absorbent. A bag costs £8.50 for a huge bale from equestrian suppliers. I have to say I think comfy bed is great and very soft under their little paws. If you give me your address I'll send you a small sample so you can see if you like the feel and smell of it so it gives you an idea of what it's like.
 
Mizzpigz said:
For our guineas and chickens we use comfy bed which is a wood based very soft bedding. Our guineas haven't eaten it and its super absorbent. A bag costs £8.50 for a huge bale from equestrian suppliers. I have to say I think comfy bed is great and very soft under their little paws. If you give me your address I'll send you a small sample so you can see if you like the feel and smell of it so it gives you an idea of what it's like.
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Is that like small wood chips? I think it's what my landlady uses for her chickens/ducks/geese
 
can i suggest fleece strips? this massively reduces hay sticking etc.

I went to homebargains and bought 2 of those large fleece blanket things. cut 1 in half as half is the virtually the same size as my cage and the other a shredded into fleece strips about 2 inch wide and 6 inch long.

this gave me effectively 2 lots of bedding as i separated the shreds into 2 piles.

i have a basic standard small bath towel in the base, fleece layer on top and half of the fleece strips in his bed.

I keep his hay in a hay rack with a try underneath to catch loose bits if I am really fussy or just hay in a corner litter tray.

when I change there is minimal hay on the fleece so I just go out into the street and shake the remaining bits off.

Job done

I wash towel fleece and fleece shreds in washer at 40deg with 1500 spin. fleece comes out virtually dry but i put the towel on the radiator fold the fleece up and lay it on the floor under the radiator and pile the fleece scraps on the floor under the radiator.

fleece is dry in about 20 mins towel 2 hrs. put it in a carrier bag and in garage ready for the change over next week
 
Hi Amanda, yes it's like wood chip but not like cat litter compressed into that pellet shape. A lot of chicken keepers use it
 
I know some people use readigrass on newspaper - it would save on the amount of hay and it;s edible! Best to buy by the bale rather than the small bags.

x
 
Update: It's all in the food bowl and Jeff is still walking around with it stuck on his face! Ugh!
 
Pebble said:
I know some people use readigrass on newspaper - it would save on the amount of hay and it;s edible! Best to buy by the bale rather than the small bags.

x
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I fear that in a few hours after cleaning out, I'd have pigs the size of houses!

Readigrass is also 10x worse for my allergies - they can only have it in the morning when I'm leaving the house!
 
mine make so much mess. They wont use hay racks. they just look at them as if to say "Mum you got to be kidding us!" The girls have paper on the floor of their cage and then a cat litter tray with paper in and hay. They start off eating the hay from outside their tray but then get in and munch and wee etc! I now limit their hay to morning and night (couple of handfuls) as I have to clean the tray out morning and night. It only takes a minute and I have a sealed waste paper basket to put the muck in and empty that every other day. Bert is a terror he plays with his water bottle, I have watched him. So he gets cleaned out morning and night! I would get bales of hay but I have had bags that smell musty so I just get small bags. Keep meaning to see how long they last me but I daren't.
 
suem said:
mine make so much mess. They wont use hay racks. they just look at them as if to say "Mum you got to be kidding us!" The girls have paper on the floor of their cage and then a cat litter tray with paper in and hay. They start off eating the hay from outside their tray but then get in and munch and wee etc! I now limit their hay to morning and night (couple of handfuls) as I have to clean the tray out morning and night. It only takes a minute and I have a sealed waste paper basket to put the muck in and empty that every other day. Bert is a terror he plays with his water bottle, I have watched him. So he gets cleaned out morning and night! I would get bales of hay but I have had bags that smell musty so I just get small bags. Keep meaning to see how long they last me but I daren't.
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I reckon J&C could cope with a litter tray of hay. Their hay has to be on the floor as hay from a rack causes Jeff respiratory problems.

I was thinking of maybe getting a litter tray and cutting off one of the long sides for Dave and Maggie, so they can just walk in and out...they don't undertand jumping!
 
explain to Dave and Maggie they dont have to jump! tried a tray with Bertie and he just put his paws on the side and it tips up and the hay falls out so that is what he did, until I confiscated it!
 
suem said:
explain to Dave and Maggie they dont have to jump! tried a tray with Bertie and he just put his paws on the side and it tips up and the hay falls out so that is what he did, until I confiscated it!
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:Ayociexp119:

They aren't even active enough to manage that rolleyes
 
they do make me chuckle. Hubby went to bed an hour ago, not a sound from the girls in the spare bedroom. I will go up in a minute and all hell will let loose. I shall have to take something up with me..:aJFBQ00147070110B:
 
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