c&c cage lining......pro's and con's

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PiggyLove

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I'm new to c&c cages - mine is now built and girls love it for space.

If anyone can add any more comments please do?/

I just thought i would weigh up the pro's and con's for cage lining:-

[*]Pro's to Woodchips/shavings[/*]
1) very absorbant
2) Easy to clean and put into bin
3) cheap
4) bio degradable


[*]Cons to Woodchips/shavings[/*]
1) moves around and is slippery when pigs want to run around
2) goes everywhere outside the cage


[*]Pro's to using fleece/towels[/*]
1) comfortabe and soft for piggies feet
2) easy for piggies to run around on
3) warm and snuggly to sleep on


[*]Con's to using fleece/towels[/*]
1) smelly and wet and stays that way in the cage - messy
2) hay sticks to it
3) poo can be squashed under feet - bit messy
4) have to change every 3 days
5) using washing machine to wash them is it hygenic?
6) expense of water and electric to run washing machine

[*]Pro's to using Carefresh[/*]
1) soft of piggies feet
2) bio degradable
3) easy to clean out
4) absorbs wee

[*]Con's to using Carefresh[/*]
1) can stay wet
2) moves around makes a bit slippery for feet to run around on
3) expensive
 
I ordered some fleece the other day off ebay - completely fed up with the amount of Megazorb I've been using ( and shavings don't even last as long as that! ). I've also ordered some Comfort Nights Aborbent pads for beds to go under them ( I was thinking of using puppy pads but couldn't find any in a size that wouldn't require me to use at least 4 or each cage ). I read a review on Amazon, some piggie ownwes are using them and according to them they are brilliant. Whilst they seem quite expensive at first you do in fact get 200 washes out of each and apparently they only need changing once a week as they're stay-dry material, it keeps it all off the top layers and doesn't pong either ( I hope so! ). So all you have to do every day is sweep the poo off the fleece top layer and wash the lot once a week - according to the reviewers anyway. I'm going to make a hay tray and just line the bottom of that with Megazorb which I'll change every day or however often it needs it ( and any hay that gets on the fleece will be brushed off before washing - I'm going to get one of those miracle rubber brushes and see if that works ). Finger's crossed it all works as planned, hopefully everything will arrive next week and I'll try and let you know how it goes!
Hope that helped you with some ideas.:)
 
Cons to using shavings

- Gets kicked outside the cage and is a real pain to hoover out of carpets
- Can be a contributing factor in Fungal Infections
- Isn't ideal for longer haired piggies as it get tangled in their fur
- Daily poop picking is difficult & very time consuming due to piggies kicking it around
- Is hard to dispose of as it cannot be pout in with the household waste

I used shavings when i had my first piggie (mainly because they were recommended by the pet shop) and i found them fairly cheap to use (as i only had 1 cage to fill) - but i did find that i had to do a full change every 4 days and the clean itself was very time consuming and very messy.

With 3 x 150 cages and 1 x 140 cage - it would cost me an absolute fortune to do a twice weekly cleanout.

Pro's to fleece

- Looks clean and is available in a wide variety of colours
- once purchased - can be re-used over and over again
- Is very easy to clean - simply shake off and pop in the washer (i pop my fleece into an old duvet that i tie, so any hay/bits stay inside the duvet and can be emptied afterwards)
- Daily spot cleaning is quick and simple - i use a small cylinder hoover and all 4 of my cages take around 15 mins to clean daily

Con's to fleece

- Initial outlay can be expensive


Pro's to Vetbed

- Like fleece is available in a variety of colours
- Is very thick, so very soft and squishy for piggie feet
- Can be shook and popped in the washer
- Lasts for around a week between full cage changes (provided there is a good absorbant layer underneath - i personally use washable bed pads)
- Is easily cleaned daily using a hoover

Con's to Vetbed

- Can be very pricey


I only have experience in using all of the above 3 bedding types, so cannot comment on any other types - although i do use megazorb in my piggies litter trays - the only con i have about this is that with longer haired piggies it does get dragged around and stuck in their hair.
 
AndreaJane said:
I read a review on Amazon, some piggie ownwes are using them and according to them they are brilliant.

Whilst they seem quite expensive at first you do in fact get 200 washes out of each and apparently they only need changing once a week as they're stay-dry material, it keeps it all off the top layers and doesn't pong either ( I hope so! ).

So all you have to do every day is sweep the poo off the fleece top layer and wash the lot once a week - according to the reviewers anyway. I'm going to make a hay tray and just line the bottom of that with Megazorb which I'll change every day or however often it needs it ( and any hay that gets on the fleece will be brushed off before washing - I'm going to get one of those miracle rubber brushes and see if that works ). Finger's crossed it all works as planned, hopefully everything will arrive next week and I'll try and let you know how it goes!
Hope that helped you with some ideas.:)
Click to expand...

Where can i buy these pleeeasey :)) the absorbant pads from amazon - do you know name or weblink??

Mezazorb is similar to carefresh i think - i agree they are not very good :(
 
There's LOADS on Ebay. I was going to get some but as I have two large C & C cages and would need to get 4 lots ( 2 for use, 2 for washing ) decided I couldn't afford it in the end. Hope you find some that isn't too pricey! :)

Loads of vetbed that is!
 
sorry, we're crossposting! Will post a link for the Bed pads, hang on a mo...
 
[ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Washable-Absorbent-Bed-Pad-90cms/dp/B000MES1W8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1312761474&sr=8-3"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Washable-Absorbent-Bed-Pad-90cms/dp/B000MES1W8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1312761474&sr=8-3[/ame]
 
Sodapops said:


i personally use washable bed pads) and Vetbeds
Click to expand...


I found vetbed [ame]http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_6?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=vetbed+roll&sprefix=vetbed[/ame]

Do you know how long this lasts after washing etc?/:))
 
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AndreaJane said:
There's LOADS on Ebay. I was going to get some but as I have two large C & C cages and would need to get 4 lots ( 2 for use, 2 for washing ) decided I couldn't afford it in the end. Hope you find some that isn't too pricey! :)

Loads of vetbed that is!
Click to expand...

May I ask roughly how long does a Vetbed last??
 
PiggyLove said:
May I ask roughly how long does a Vetbed last??
Click to expand...

Personally i think the answer to that all depends on your piggies - for instance - i have two girls that will do most of their mess in their litter tray - so their vetbed can easily last 6-7 days - however my two long haired boys do their mess wherever they feel like it and so theirs starts to get smelly after around 4-5 days (plus they love to drag their hay everywhere).
 
They sell vetbed in my petshop ive just looked at it on amazon and I remember seeing it in large rolls in the petshop and its cheaper than on amazon

:))

This is my next venture.........I'm going to save up and buy a vetbed :))

THANK YOU I thought all was lost!!

Do you know how often to change a vetbed? every 3 days?
 
Sodapops said:
Personally i think the answer to that all depends on your piggies - for instance - i have two girls that will do most of their mess in their litter tray - so their vetbed can easily last 6-7 days - however my two long haired boys do their mess wherever they feel like it and so theirs starts to get smelly after around 4-5 days (plus they love to drag their hay everywhere).
Click to expand...

Litter tray? how do you litter tray your piggies?

during floortime my girlies always do their wees and poops on newspaper ?/
 
My first male guinea pig (Homer) used to be litter trained :)) Basically when i first got him he was on shavings and so did his mess everywhere. When we moved him to a bigger cage he was bedded on fleece but we gave him a litter tray fill;ed with shavings - so i guess he just automatically associated shavings with going to the toilet - he used to get really excited when his tray was cleaned out. When he used to have floor time he'd run back in to his cage and jump in to his litter tray to do his mess.

This was short lived though when we got him a friend (we bought a male that actually turned out to be a female) - when i built them a C&C they used to just go toilet anywhere.

My sow (who was bought as a male) when we found out he was a she and was pregnant had her own 120 cage lined with fleece - she had a litter tray filled with shavings and for the remaining 4wks of her pregnancy she only did her mess in the litter tray - although we cleaned her out ever 5 days the fleece and towels underneath we always bone dry.

She now lives with her daughter and she still does the majority of her toileting in their litter tray (her daughter does 50% of her mess in the tray) - so daily cleaning takes seconds with my girls. I think the secret is the fact that i have their hey in hay racks sitting above the litter trays - piggies are notorious for going to the toilet when eating rolleyes
 
PiggyLove said:
[*]Con's to using fleece/towels[/*]
1) smelly and wet and stays that way in the cage - messy
Click to expand...

Did you prepare your fleece before putting in the cage? Do you have the right type of fleece? How many layers of towels do you have under the fleece?

If prepared correctly, it should stay dry on top and let all the wetness go through to the absorbent layer underneath.
 
i use cat litter trays rolleyes and have done so for the last 12 months.....

I use the cheap litter trays - i have blue for the boys and pink for the girls :) (i think they cost about £1.60 each) - ive just measured them and they are around 10cm tall - my pigs climb in to them with no problems (i had the same type litter trays when my sow had her two babies and the youngsters had no problems getting in and out of them either)
 
WOW sodapops thank you thats a great idea - i would be concerned about my mummy Jemma climbing into them she is heavily preggers - i can do so when babies are here though :))

Thank you xxxxxxxxxxxx
 
lissie said:
Did you prepare your fleece before putting in the cage? Do you have the right type of fleece? How many layers of towels do you have under the fleece?

If prepared correctly, it should stay dry on top and let all the wetness go through to the absorbent layer underneath.
Click to expand...

Prepare fleece before putting into cage? How do i do that?

1 towel underneath i use

mmmmm ok maybe I'm doing wrong :(
 
With new fleece the general advice is to wash it 3-4 times with regular washing power/liquid (that doesn't contain fabric conditioner) - this will allow the urine to wick through on to the absorbent layers beneath.

Whenever washing your fleece avoid fabric conditioner as this will put a layer on the fleece that will stop the wee from soaking through - the urine will always sit on top - hence the reason why you had problems with your fleece. {:|

Before i started using washable bed pads - i used towels - i used 2-3 layers of towels underneath the fleece
 
Great litter in try is EcoBedding by FiberCore.

*Eco Bedding*
Pros
*springy and soft
*Eco friendly (Can compost)
*Light weight
*Top stays dry (pee goes to bottom)
* Available on Amazon
Cons
* Expensive (15.99 for 4.5lbs)

Other
*Comes in pink blue and regular brown
 
Fleece

I think fleece is very good! I haven't used vetbeds but I do love fleece and I think it stays pretty dry. Definitely better than carefresh, at least, and I've only heard bad things about wood chips/shavings so I've never tried that. My youngest pig was sneezing a lot with the carefresh so that's why we switched to fleece. I have to admit its very expensive at first, unless you already have fleece and old towels lying around.

When you get the fleece you need to cut it so it fits the cage and tucks under properly. We just put down a few absorbent towels (old ones we already had around) first, then the fleece on top and tuck it under. We change it once per week and that works well. My pigs never seem wet or smelly at all. The cage doesn't smell. I think the fleece wicks the pee away too, and then the towels just absorb it.

Fleece is definitely easy to clean because you can easily scoop the poops and then wash it in the machine. The only annoying part about fleece is that the hay does stick to it, you just have to take it outside and shake the fleece out before you wash it so that you don't get hay in your machine :)

Good luck!
 
I bought a log ramp for my piggies so they could get into the litter tray - they ignored it completely and just jumped in :)) The log ramp is now a tunnel :))

I use a rubber bristled brush on the fleece before taking it up for washing. It lifts the hair and the hay and I brush it into one place when I then pick off by hand. Lord Bernie is very long haired so the hay is everywhere rolleyes

I find the fleece very dry to touch - the towels underneath get wet, but don't smell, however I change them twice a week.

Lord Bernie's skin has massively improved since being on fleece :)
 
i tried vet bed it shrunk and underneath was soaking plus poo got stuck in the deep pile, i make cage liner's with mattress topper's and they are great i just pick the liner up shake in the bin and put in the washing machine, the tray stay's clean too easy to 'poover'

this is what i use but you can get them cheaper, just make sure the top cover is 100%cotton,
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1274574/Trail/searchtext>MATTRESS+TOPPER.htm

i sew fleece to them and side's
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Misty is on fleece and I love it - white/pale fleece was also a godsend to pick up Storm's UTI quickly. I have a 'poop vac' and hoover her cage when she is not in it! When it comes to changing it I shake it off outside, beat it over the fence (few strange looks from neighbours!) and then pop it into machine with the towels I use underneath. I have tried putting fleece in a duvet to wash it to protect machine but I now clean the filter out weekly (yuk!) and do a hot wash after guinea stuff every couple of times.

I did not get on at all with vetbed in comparison - just couldn't get the poo out of the fluff and was wet and smelly underneath. However, I know each person will have different experiences.

Hope this helps, love to Jemma and Abby!

xx
 
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