Confused about how to set up cage for 2 girl piggies.

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Daisypig

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Hi, have just looked at all the pics of all the cages and hutches your piggies live in. To be honest it has sent me into a panic! I am hoping to pick up 2 sows in a couple of weeks and want to get it right. It all looks different to how we did it when I was a kid, some wood shavings and a bed area stuffed with hay!
We have an outdoor hutch which can go in shed in winter. It is a 2 tier hutch, the bottom goes straight on to the patio/grass. It seems a little small upstairs to me so my husband is going to build a kind of extension by joining another cage to the upper level.
Some of your cages seem to have just newspaper and no shavings, is that ok? I am fancying using vet bed, would I use shavings as well as that? Would it be ok to have vet bed all through and then one of the snugly bed things in the bedroom (the ones that look like cat beds)? And a couple of the snuggle sack things? Is it enough to just have hay in a couple of those hang on the wall hay feeder things or do they need hay all around?
Sorry for so many questions. Ooh, while I'm on, I was told I need vitamin stuff to put in water, is that true?
Any advice would be massively appreciated.
 
Just using vet bed for the whole floor is perfectly fine, piggies don't need hay for sleeping on, and in fact i think they prefer cosy beds, (the cat like ones) so it's fine to just hay hay in a rack.
Vitamin stuff in water is NOT necessary and can actually put piggies of drinking, i was recommended it when i got my piggies but they drank much more without it in.
 
Thanks for the reply, if I used one of those cat bed things would I take out the bedroom divide thing or leave it and put cat bed in bedroom area?
 
The vitamins in the drink is not a good idea. It makes the water taste different so may stop them from drinking. Also the vitamin actually wear off after a little while so you're essentially giving them bad tasting water that does nothing for them! As for the housing, I would say it's best to use something on top of newspaper, depending on how often you can change it. I use fleece with a waterproof layer underneath. It's all in one so the whole lot can be washed which I do every 3-5 days depending on how bad it smells :p
 
You need towels or something absorbent like puppy pads underneath the fleece. After you wash fleece a few times, fleece lets liquids go through it and something will absorb the pee underneath the fleece. The will keep the piggies dry. The vitiman drops do not work. Guinea pigs get all the vitiman C they need with a good diet. When a piggie is under stress, it needs more vitiman C than usual. You can give that piggie red bell pepper or give the piggie vitiman C tablets that oxbow sells. I use a hay box because hay sticks to fleece and the fleece looks a lot nicer without all the hay everywhere. I use newspaper in the hay box and change it once or twice a day. Good luck with your piggies!
 
I used to put my indoor girls on fleece but because they kept burrowing under it I started using a thick layer of newspaper and hay. I have to say I would never go back to fleece. They LOVE being bedded on hay it's natural to them. I love to watch them forage and I would miss that if I went back to fleece.

When I clean them out it couldn't be easier-I roll all the paper up with the hay in one go. I can't say i miss having to shake hay off the fleece and washing them either. They have snuggle sacks and they do sleep in them.
 
Daisypig said:
Is the waterproof layer attached to the fleece? Can you buy it like that or does it come separate?
Click to expand...

You can buy them either way. Cage liners can be made yourself if you google it. Also Cosy Cavies do them. Or you can get a sheet of fleece and put something waterproof underneath, like towels or puppy pads
 
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