Cage cleaning

Guineapigs33

Guineapigs33

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Hi! New piggie owner here! I was wondering how often do you guys clean your enclosures? I’ve seen a lot of different answers on how often you should clean their cages. I’ve been spot cleaning once a day so far.
 
I remove wet hay and bedding once a day (mine live in a shed, so I try to do it twice a day in winter) and then a full clean once a week
 
I deep clean every week, everything out sprayed with pet friendly disinfectant, spot clean every day, wet hay/bedding, poop removed, fresh hay added. Do you have playpen ? Makes easier for you when piggy/piggies not in cage x
 
I spot clean daily. There are a couple of areas that they like to use so that makes it easier to clean. Then a full clean weekly. Mine live in my garage.
 
Ideally you spot clean/poo patrol daily. Guinea pigs often poo everywhere (they have two runs through the gut and eat the poos that contain the digestible fibre after the first run but produce waste poos from both runs) but they have their favourite peeing corners, so you may put a cosy or a little bathroom mat there. You can't toilet train them but you can make extra provision for established toiletting spots.

How often you change the bedding depends not least on how messy your piggies are; there is quite a large variance so there is no firm rule - cage clean can range from twice weekly to once weekly but should not be left longer unless there are exceptional one-off circumstances (like illness).
I have pairs that manage to totally mess up their cage and need changing their mats in the worst areas twice weekly and piggies that are fine with a weekly full clean.

You will find your own rhythm and want to clean a bit more often (especially in the sleeping and toileting areas) in summer in order to keep flies at bay; especially if you live close to or in the countryside.
Hot Weather Management, Heat Strokes and Fly Strike

Getting Started - Essential Information for New Owners
 
It honestly depends on your piggies. I spot clean daily. As for full cleaning, I use fleece, it is as follows:

Boar pair: every 4 days
Lone boar: every day as he's recovering from surgery. Normally every 4 days though.
Trio: every 3 days
Sow pair: every 2-3 days as they are very messy pigs
 
Guineapigs33 said:
Hi! New piggie owner here! I was wondering how often do you guys clean your enclosures? I’ve seen a lot of different answers on how often you should clean their cages. I’ve been spot cleaning once a day so far.
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Poops daily, but I keep my hay contained in their dining area, no problem there except I bought an enclosure from guinea pig cages, at first just the basic set up with kitchen, but turns out one of my pigs likes to sleep in the hay...I got a double level for them and she still went back to that spot, so I had to figure out a different solution, I had extra cage parts so I just put one on an angle and clipped it to the other side, she couldn't figure it out so now she finally uses the hide I got for her
 
Stephlmat19 said:
Poops daily, but I keep my hay contained in their dining area, no problem there except I bought an enclosure from guinea pig cages, at first just the basic set up with kitchen, but turns out one of my pigs likes to sleep in the hay...I got a double level for them and she still went back to that spot, so I had to figure out a different solution, I had extra cage parts so I just put one on an angle and clipped it to the other side, she couldn't figure it out so now she finally uses the hide I got for her
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But I do clean their cage thoroughly including a disinfectant once a week, on top of changing out their hideys and toys
 
Hello, I have two boars who are settling in nicely, they were rescues. I think it's been a week or so now. They are around a year old. I'm finding I'm having to clean quite a lot of bedding and sawdust daily, I use newspaper and the appropriate sawdust. Now when I come into the shed in the mornings the stench is pretty strong. I appreciate they are boys and scent marking and I know if I over clean they will probably do it more. The issue is not knowing If I should be leaving it longer to let their scent marking settle or carry on. I don't want them in anything damp, also my son (asd) can't cope with strong smells so it puts him off going in.
I'm sure I will get into a routine of when to clean and how much new bedding to put in.
For those in the UK I have a small black bin and currently can't keep up with the bin bags with our fortnightly collections. I can see I will be paying for a bigger bin at this rate.
 
Guineapigs33 said:
Hi! New piggie owner here! I was wondering how often do you guys clean your enclosures? I’ve seen a lot of different answers on how often you should clean their cages. I’ve been spot cleaning once a day so far.
Click to expand...
I'm a new piggy owner too so there will be much more experienced replies but I spot clean 2-3 times a day and a full clean and fresh liners/noodle mats every 5 days.
 
binkytofu said:
Hello, I have two boars who are settling in nicely, they were rescues. I think it's been a week or so now. They are around a year old. I'm finding I'm having to clean quite a lot of bedding and sawdust daily, I use newspaper and the appropriate sawdust. Now when I come into the shed in the mornings the stench is pretty strong. I appreciate they are boys and scent marking and I know if I over clean they will probably do it more. The issue is not knowing If I should be leaving it longer to let their scent marking settle or carry on. I don't want them in anything damp, also my son (asd) can't cope with strong smells so it puts him off going in.
I'm sure I will get into a routine of when to clean and how much new bedding to put in.
For those in the UK I have a small black bin and currently can't keep up with the bin bags with our fortnightly collections. I can see I will be paying for a bigger bin at this rate.
Click to expand...
Hello I have 2 boars but mine are indoors so I use fleece. I do clean damp areas most days and I spot clean a couple of times a day. I have a compost bin which takes all the hay and poop and kitchen waste. You can put sawdust in a compost bin. The poops are a great activator for the compost bin. It would help you to reduce your black bin getting full so quickly, and you’d get lovely compost to put on flower beds and pots in your garden. It’s always worth leaving some soiled sawdust in a corner which should stop excess scent marking.
I’m sure more people will give you advice !
 
Roselina said:
Hello I have 2 boars but mine are indoors so I use fleece. I do clean damp areas most days and I spot clean a couple of times a day. I have a compost bin which takes all the hay and poop and kitchen waste. You can put sawdust in a compost bin. The poops are a great activator for the compost bin. It would help you to reduce your black bin getting full so quickly, and you’d get lovely compost to put on flower beds and pots in your garden. It’s always worth leaving some soiled sawdust in a corner which should stop excess scent marking.







I’m sure more people will give you advice !







As a keen gardener I am quite interested in the idea of using a composter. I am in a rental with limited garden space as the huge summerhouse and my son's trampoline take up most of the garden. I have been worried about attracting mice/rats if I have a composter, do you have any issues with this?
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binkytofu said:
Hello, I have two boars who are settling in nicely, they were rescues. I think it's been a week or so now. They are around a year old. I'm finding I'm having to clean quite a lot of bedding and sawdust daily, I use newspaper and the appropriate sawdust. Now when I come into the shed in the mornings the stench is pretty strong. I appreciate they are boys and scent marking and I know if I over clean they will probably do it more. The issue is not knowing If I should be leaving it longer to let their scent marking settle or carry on. I don't want them in anything damp, also my son (asd) can't cope with strong smells so it puts him off going in.
I'm sure I will get into a routine of when to clean and how much new bedding to put in.
For those in the UK I have a small black bin and currently can't keep up with the bin bags with our fortnightly collections. I can see I will be paying for a bigger bin at this rate.
Click to expand...

I have four boys. Patches of Wet hay and bedding is removed daily and a full clean once a week
 
Fleece is not recommended for any outdoors as it can become damp. Just spot clean the worst patches daily.

Teenage/young adulthood is the worst age; the hormone output will settle down very gradually from then on in.
 
Mine are indoor piggies, and they are in charge. They occupy one side of the living room, so it is easy to look after them multiple times a day.
I use paper bedding, puppy pee pads, fleece for their beds, and wood chip bedding, so pretty much everything you can think of, I am using them. Obviously, I clean after them daily and it isn't very difficult to get to their living area in the living room.
 
Guineapigs33 said:
Hi! New piggie owner here! I was wondering how often do you guys clean your enclosures? I’ve seen a lot of different answers on how often you should clean their cages. I’ve been spot cleaning once a day so far.
Click to expand...
i remove wet or pooey straw every time i check them, and i clean my 3 cages out at different times, the biggest cage i clean the least as it takes a while to get gross, the 2 smaller ones i clean almost 3 times a week.
 
depends on how big the cages are,number of piggies,how fanatic you like clean cages !i have 4 cages,one with four piggies....i use hemp bedding,clean out every 5 days.
other 3 cages i spot clean as needed,change all bedding and clean cage every 7 days.
It really has many factors how often to clean cages.
i agree with other comments....minimum full clean out every 7 days.
 
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