Could My Biggie Live On Grass/parsley/cilantro Instead Of Bedding?

[Roberta Lockaby]

Has anyone housed their (indoor) piggies on live or growing bedding? My guy is in a 2x3 C&C cage. I've tried fleece flippers (made my own) and recycled paper bedding (like care fresh). I'm wondering it it would be possible to fill a coroplast tray with dirt and grow grass, cilantro, parsley for my boy to live on.

Some of my thoughts/questions:

• I'd have to have it all up and growing maybe to 6 inches or so before transferring him.
• Can I even get that all to grow well indoors?
• Would I need special lighting for the plants and would that be safe for the guinea pig?
• Would his urine kill the plants?
• Would his poop biodegrade fast enough?
• Would he eat the plants faster than they could grow?
• Would mold or fungus grow in the soil and be dangerous to the piggie?

 

[lissie]

I think it would turn into a soggy mess.

Cilantro and parsley are too high in calcium to be fed unlimited.

 

[DM030819]

I love the idea! Bring the outdoors indoors! I'm not much of a gardening expert but I had a few thoughts:

1) the cage would need to be on the floor because the soil, when watered would be really heavy.

2)there would need to be some drainage, possibly?

3) he would eat it quicker than it would grow so there would need to be 2 cages, or 2 amounts of grass, or maybe swapping the trays for rolls of grass and swapping when needed

4) it would need to be just grass, herbs should inly only be given in small doses.

5) i would still clean up the poops as they won't break down quick enough.

I used to grow grass in trays and bring one inside for the pigs when the weather wasn't great so they still had access to some. I'm going to do the same this year too.

I'm sure people with more experience of grass will comment soon.

 

[flowerfairy]

I think damp would be an issue. Its a great idea to grow fresh grass for him which you can oick and herbs but he will need dry bedding and unlimited hay as well.

I have got some trays to grow some grass in for my two. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Roberta Lockaby]

I don't think it would be any soggier that a house plant? Maybe it would because of urine?

Thanks for the info about parsley and cilantro. I did not know they were calcium issues. What about dandelion? Although I'm terribly allergic to dandelion so I probably won't grow that indoors.

 

[Roberta Lockaby]

I live in an extremely dry climate the US desert southwest. Not much stays damp here ;-) My biggie doesn't get any outdoor time. I don't have a lawn. There are loads of predators lurking around my house and much of the year it would be dangerously hot for my biggie. Growing trays outdoors is probably a better option.

I'd just really like it if I could get to a zero-waste (or near zero) system!

 

[Roberta Lockaby]

Good point about the weight of moist soil. For drainage, I could probably use a layer of gravel or small rocks at the base -- like other potted plants. Thanks for the thoughts. Growing trays outdoors and bringing them in is probably a better plan.

 

[lissie]

I don't think it would be any soggier that a house plant? Maybe it would because of urine?

Thanks for the info about parsley and cilantro. I did not know they were calcium issues. What about dandelion? Although I'm terribly allergic to dandelion so I probably won't grow that indoors.

I think it would stay wet because of the urine. Guinea pigs pee a lot. I don't think the grass will have time to dry, and the pee will probably kill all the grass. You could try growing a tray and see how it goes. Worse thing that could happen is that it doesn't work and you'll have to go back to bedding.

Dandelion is also high in calcium.

 

[Freela]

Intriguing idea... I'm not sure how that would work. I can vouch that you still would have to remove poop, though. We let our pigs roam in a run at the cottage to eat the lawn, even after rainstorms and outdoor weather we still find loads of poop mixed in with the grass. It doesn't seem to break down all that quickly, even with rain pouring down.