Fleece And Hay - How Do You Deal With The Mess

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RosieMaia

RosieMaia

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Hey!

I've been caring for guinea pigs for a while, and also checking guinea pig forums for some time. It seems just about everybody loves fleece, with it being cheaper and supposedly easier to maintain. My pigs definitely prefer fleece. Now, I've tried that at least three times on separate occasions, and I always run into the same issue: hay gets everywhere, sticks to the fleece, and then my entire washing machine gets covered in hay. It's very time consuming to have to pick hay bits from the fleece, it takes me ages.

With my current setup, I have fleece mattresses in the wooden hidey at the top of the cage, which are changed daily. On the upper floor, I use fleece with puppy pads underneath. This is their sleeping/living area. This is also where they have their veggies and pellets, but no hay on this floor. They avoid toileting on the fleece, which I'm immensely grateful for :D

On the ground floor, I use Fitch paper bedding (similar to Carefresh). I provide them with a hay pile daily, alongside hay in their hay racks. Ideally, I'd like to use fleece on the ground floor as well, but I just can't figure out a way to keep the hay in the hay boxes/racks and off the fleece. And I have the sneaking suspicion that the hay could destroy my sleek new washing machine, which I very much don't want to happen. :(

Just to be able to visualize the setup I just described - here's what Ferplast Cottage looks like (this is the smaller one, I have the XL, but it's still the same floor plan):
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So, how to you keep the hay contained? If you don't, how to you remove it from the fleece? Or if you don't do that, how to you wash the fleece in the washing machine - in some kind of hay-proof bag or...?
 
I use litter trays for the hay. Get a cat litter try and put some absorbent bedding in the base. Then put the hay into there. The odd bit spills out when they jump around but no where near as much as would if you didn't have it.

If you have hay racks you can hang them above where the litter tray is too, so all the odd strands fall into the tray rather than fleece.

This should also keep your fleece fresher for longer as they tend to toilet in the trays a lot.

Hope this helps x
 
I purchased two washing Bags from Amazon, they are great as I can fit two of them in the washing machine with 5 fleeces or 5 large towels in. What I do is when I remove the fleeces from my boys cage I give them a good shake out the window and brush them with a firm brush before putting them into the bags, Once they are washed I shake and brush them again, then when they are dry I shake and brush them once more before I fold them and place them away. In order to avoid getting hay on the fleeces I made my boys a hay area sectioned off with correx and a stick tunnel for access and egress.
 
I use horsewear wash bags to wash my cage liners and I shake them outside all stray
Hay and hairs stays in the bag. Or I think my machine would be ruined as my Hoover is clogged up with hay. :doh:
 
Thanks guys, I will try these suggestions. Fitch isn't bad, but the pigs prefer hanging out on the fleece, and they eat less hay, because the hay is on the Fitch floor. :D
 
I have a cat tray too for the hay, I shake all the excess hair and hay off, then I put it in an old pillowcase tied up up with a bobble or band before it goes in wash x
 
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