Convert to fleece ?

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twiams

twiams

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hello !

I know theres probably a million threads like this asking about questions but i'd really appreciate if someone could maybe give advice to fit me in my circumstances if thats okay ? :)

I have two boars, they live in a shop bought cage with an upper level.
IMG_3532.jpg

(Don't worry cage isn't always this boring, this is a picture of before they moved in)

Now, here come the questions...
They currently live on wood shavings but i've always wandered about fleece, is it as simple as it sounds ?
How often would they need to be cleaned out? they currently get cleaned out every saturday so once a week.
How many changes of fleece would i need?
Whats better fleece or fitted cage liners ?
How much does it smell etc?
Is there anything i should do to the fleece first ?
What sorta layers would i need for eg. Towels ?
How much would it cost to convert to fleece ?
Does anyone know anyone who makes cage liners ?
To piggies prefer it ?
Is it suitable for two boars ?

And just any other advice would be great, I'm not certain on wether i wanna go fleece, as i've just bought another big bag of sawdust, but any advice that could help me rather than me just sat here weighing up the options but not really knowing much about fleece, thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply, I'm sorry for all the questions I'm just really unsure atm.

ALSO !

I recently posted this in health and illness but didn't get much of a response so i dunno if converting to fleece could help with this problem http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=78896 ?
 
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Hi shavings are not good for guinea pigs as it causes them to sneeze. It is also very messy. I have mine on a layer of towels and two layers of fleece. Two or three times a day I collect poops and every three days I change the towels and fleece. When I switched to fleece the girls were so happy. It is so nice and cosy for them. I would really recommend you use it. I would suggest you have two changes of fleece but I buy more just in case I cannot get it washed and dried in time. I get mine from Primark. To prepare the fleece you need to wash and dry it three times and make sure you do not use fabric conditioner.

Reading your other post it sounds like the shavings are causing your piggy to have an allergy. I would suggest you stop using them right away as the poor thing is reacting to them.

You can use cage liners but I just use towels and fleece. Many people on here make and sell cage lingers.
 
Hey, thanks for the advice, I'm definitely gonna try to go primark and have a look around, would you recommend that i take Chester to the vets or just try him on fleece and see if it makes a difference ?
I recently bought some soft flannels from primark to line there beds and they seemed to really like it but all the sawdust got on it after a while which wasn't so good :/
I guess fleece is really great in winter for them too :)
My piggies always manage to throw sawdust all over the floor when they popcorn, so i guess fleece would give me less vacuuming to do !
Thanks for the advice I'm sure if this all goes well the piggies will be very grateful ! :)
 
Do you mind me asking what size is your cage? Maybe it's the pic but it looks a little small for 2 piggies, especially boars? Fleece does need changing more than once a week, so if you do convert & the cage is on the small side it will smell quicker unfortunately rolleyes You may need to change the fleece/cage liner every 2-3 days but in bigger cages they stay cleaner for a bit longer as the wee/poops get spread further lol :))
 
I would recommend puppy training pads under the fleece too.

When my pigs are indoors I bed them on towels, then newspaper, puppy pads then fleece. Because the puppy pads hold all the pee in, it saves on washing the towels (which seem to take forever to dry!). I change the fleece every couple of days, but because the towels aren't getting wet, they can stay down for week or two :)
 
I don't know the exact size of my cage, but i know people on here have told me it's small and i should probably get bigger, but i am hoping that once i've moved out i can buy a C&C cage but for now they have this, they get alot of floor time in and outdoor and also get alot of cuddles.
The situation I'm in atm, is kind of weird as my piggies have to live at my boyfriends house (MEGA thanks to his mum) because of my cat and my mum already having a hamster my mum felt we had no room for a guinea pig and at first believed i wouldn't look after them because i apparently don't look after anything, i've proved her wrong now, but unfortunatly a C&C cage has to wait until my cat dies or i move out as horrible as that sounds.
The smell is the one thing I'm really worried about, though as the piggies are in a bedroom and it's not too pleasant, at the moe though even after a week on sawdust they don't seem to smell at all.
Obviously changing to fleece would cut the monthly £8-£10 cost of sawdust so would help me save up quickly for a C&C cage.
 
Hi,

I would totally recommend fleece for these reasons;

fleece is not dusty like woodshavings so better all round, it's less messy and cuts costs of buying other bedding and look great as you can buy exciting colours and patterns.

The piggies love it because it is warm and soft, and if you change any wet towels/fleece every two- three days and provide a tray with carefresh in as a littertray they shouldn't smell either!:)
 
Fleece are really good and cheap too. Lots of places stock them in nice colours i.e Primark, Asda, Tesco.
Personally, I used them for a time then converted to vet bed cut to size to fit the bases of the pens and the piggies all love it:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/jmpetbeds...53470396&_trksid=p5197.m7&_trksid=p4340.l2562
Have just ordered two more 300cm pieces and with p+p, has worked out cheaper than my usual supplier :))
 
Fleece is really good for my indoors, we use newspaper underneath and change the fleece every 2/3 days, and poop pick everyday. Buying a darker fleece is better though as the poops aren't as visible :)

As for wood shavings, our outdoor piggies live on it, and we have had previous animals which have all lived to a good age. So i think wood shavings is ok. Although it does make alot of mess!
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies it's really helped, I'm gonna try to change over to fleece and give it a week or so trial, see if it helps Chester with his weird noises as obviously i have his best interests to put first, but thank you for all the advice :)
 
I changed to fleece a couple of weeks ago and its the best thing I did. I use newspaper and towels under the fleece and change the whole lot every 3-4 days. I poo pick a couple of times a day aswell. I got my fleeces from Pound Stretcher - at the minute they have packs of 2 for £4.99. Make sure you wash them first though as the pee just sits on the fleece if you don't!
 
Guinea pig slave said:
Fleece are really good and cheap too. Lots of places stock them in nice colours i.e Primark, Asda, Tesco.
Personally, I used them for a time then converted to vet bed cut to size to fit the bases of the pens and the piggies all love it:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/jmpetbeds...53470396&_trksid=p5197.m7&_trksid=p4340.l2562
Have just ordered two more 300cm pieces and with p+p, has worked out cheaper than my usual supplier :))
Click to expand...

Guinea pig slave, do you put anything under the vet bed and do you find it better than fleece?
 
twiams said:
but unfortunatly a C&C cage has to wait until my cat dies or i move out as horrible as that sounds.
Click to expand...

Why can't you have C&C cage and your cat? C&C can be covered/cat-proof.

Fleece will not work in small cage. You would probably need to change/wash it daily.
 
My mum just said not until the cat's gone, even in there standard cage now fully covered etc. my mum won't let them stay, i think she was just hoping it would put me off buying them in the beginning, but i've put alot of things up on eBay with the hope that if i provide the cash my OH will consdier a slight room move around to allow us to have a C&C cage sooner, but we've already had to buy new furniture to accommodate are cage so don't know how he'll warm to the suggestion...
But for a little update, we're going out today to buy, or at lease price up, some fleece, ready for a weeks trial, i've asked a couple of people and most have said Chester's noises etc. are probably because of an alergy because he has watery eyes as well...
I'm gonna give it a try and see how it goes in my small cage, considering putting extra padding where they wee most does anyone know if that helps, as my piggies pee always at the end of there ramp for some weird reason !
Thanks for everyone who has taken the time to comment, anymore advice would be warmly welcomed as I'm a newbie for fleece so still appreciate suggestions etc. :)
 
Putting extra pads where they wee most is going to help. You can change those out daily. I do that too. My boys wee where they sleep.
Another thing with fleece is hay sticks to it. You'd have to remove all the hay bits everyday. Peed on hay really stinks. If you could make a feeding area where you don't use fleece, that would cut down the smell.
 
My piggies cage has an upper level all with the water bottle, food and hay rack, it's always been like that so that if there bottle leeks it just wipes away :) so we won't be putting fleece up there, bought 2 fleeces today, just gotta wash them a couple of times and i'll put them in !
There so cute bought one that's duck egg blue with little paw prints, i can see myself becoming addicted to buying fleece :3
Thanks for all the help :)
 
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