Fleece Liners For Outdoor Hutch

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Lady Kelly

Lady Kelly

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Hi all, I know a few people have made fleece liners for their hutches and I'm considering doing this too. At the moment I use wood shavings which a) uses a ton of wood shavings every week, b) is not very stable for Issy (not used to having youngsters torpedo-ing around) and c) is not ideal for bedding piggies.

My plan is that on the top layer were most of their hay, sleeping and weeing is done I will keep the wood shavings/hay covering combo but downstairs would have fleece and then I can have more fleece beds that my piggies love but usually get covered in sawdust straight away. What I want to know is any tips for making it and keeping it in place. My ramp will lift ever so slightly about a cm or so, so I know I can get the fleece under it but what do you use around the edges to stop mischievous piggies from lifting it? Would some velcro strips do the job?

Also what are people using for their liners these days? When I had indoor cages I used fleece on top of a mattress topper although I'm considering adding an old towel under this for extra absorbancy.

Thanks in advance for anyone who shares info
 
I use bricks as weights in the places I know my piggies like the burrow. They don't bother with the edges but do burrow down the centre.
 
I used fleece downstairs in the hutch before, the little monkeys keep lifting up the ramp, or either lift up the fleece meaning they lift up the ramp too!

I gave up in the end trying to get them to keep it still. So I just removed the ramp incase it hurt them.

You could make a cut out around the fleece just so it leaves a little gap for the slot?
 
Chief Guinea Pig said:
I used fleece downstairs in the hutch before, the little monkeys keep lifting up the ramp, or either lift up the fleece meaning they lift up the ramp too!

I gave up in the end trying to get them to keep it still. So I just removed the ramp incase it hurt them.

You could make a cut out around the fleece just so it leaves a little gap for the slot?
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The ramp isn't designed to lift and is hard to lift a cm, basically with the fleece there none of my piggies are going to be able to lift it and not cutting round it will be easiest for me and my sewing machine.

@Flutterby I like the brick idea, I was thinkin of using some stone to hopefully keep their nails trimmed so that would make sense and double up for holding the fleece in place. I didn't really want to do the Velcro idea if necessary incase I change my mind and struggle to get it off the hutch again lol!
 
Lady Kelly said:
The ramp isn't designed to lift and is hard to lift a cm, basically with the fleece there none of my piggies are going to be able to lift it and not cutting round it will be easiest for me and my sewing machine.

@Flutterby I like the brick idea, I was thinkin of using some stone to hopefully keep their nails trimmed so that would make sense and double up for holding the fleece in place. I didn't really want to do the Velcro idea if necessary incase I change my mind and struggle to get it off the hutch again lol!
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Most pigs burrow around the fleece to be honest. And in my experience there is no getting away from it.
 
Chief Guinea Pig said:
Most pigs burrow around the fleece to be honest. And in my experience there is no getting away from it.
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Yes I understand that as I said, I have kept them on fleece before when they were indoors. I just wanted to know if anyone has any tips for me as my concern is them getting under all the layers and then sitting in their own wee & poop on a hard none absorbant surface
 
Lady Kelly said:
Yes I understand that as I said, I have kept them on fleece before when they were indoors. I just wanted to know if anyone has any tips for me as my concern is them getting under all the layers and then sitting in their own wee & poop on a hard none absorbant surface
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I have my girls in an outdoor hutch on fleece. They're on fleece cage liners though that were custom made. They work brilliantly! No burrowing and literally just lift them out, and replace them with a different one after sweeping up each week.

Id never go back to shavings now. I think the liners work better in terms of burrowing. They burrowed on normal fleece but touch wood haven't so far on the liners :)
 
ayemee said:
I have my girls in an outdoor hutch on fleece. They're on fleece cage liners though that were custom made. They work brilliantly! No burrowing and literally just lift them out, and replace them with a different one after sweeping up each week.

Id never go back to shavings now. I think the liners work better in terms of burrowing. They burrowed on normal fleece but touch wood haven't so far on the liners :)
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Fab thanks, did you make them yourself? Are they just fleece and mattress topper sewn together? Still have left overs from the cage liners I made for their C&C so might give it a go tomorrow :)
 
I use fleece in my outdoor hutches. I bought a massive roll of vetbed and cut pieces to size to fit inside the hutch. I then wrap fleece around the vetbed and secure underneath with duct tape. It works really well. The pigs don't try to get underneath because it fits so snuggly into the hutch.
 
Lady Kelly said:
Fab thanks, did you make them yourself? Are they just fleece and mattress topper sewn together? Still have left overs from the cage liners I made for their C&C so might give it a go tomorrow :)
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I didn't make them myself no :( but yeah I presume it's fleece then absorbant layer, then fleece again.

Good luck! :) I'm terrible with sewing and stuff.
 
Lady Kelly said:
Thanks but the idea is I'll be making my own
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I understand that ;) it was in correspondence to ayemee because she gets her liners from there.
To make your own I think you need a fleece layer, zorb in the centre, and towels at the bottom, and another fleece layer to close it up.
 
Yes I recommend fleece with terry towelling inside in a sandwich (fleece, terry fleece) as for burrowing it's hard to prevent, but lots of fleece beds and toys so they aren't bored is a good start. What I also do is cut my left over fleece into small shreds (approx 2inch x 1/2 inch) and pile it into all my animals cages. My dwarf hamster loves it for his nest (he never puts it in his cheeks, I'm not sure I would use it for a Syrian due to loose fibres) my rats love playing in it and having it in bed, and my piggies especially nemmy who loves nothing more than hiding under a mound of hay recreates that with mounds of shredded fleece. (again just be aware of fibres or dust and be careful) as for weighing the edges down id use food bowels, and rocks too. My boys has a brick in their indoor cage to keep their nails blunt. Good luck with however you do it I hope we get to see photos :)
 
ayemee said:
I have my girls in an outdoor hutch on fleece. They're on fleece cage liners though that were custom made. They work brilliantly! No burrowing and literally just lift them out, and replace them with a different one after sweeping up each week.

Id never go back to shavings now. I think the liners work better in terms of burrowing. They burrowed on normal fleece but touch wood haven't so far on the liners :)
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Where did you get them from?
 
Using fabric with hamsters is a big no no
MyGuineaPigPals said:
Yes I recommend fleece with terry towelling inside in a sandwich (fleece, terry fleece) as for burrowing it's hard to prevent, but lots of fleece beds and toys so they aren't bored is a good start. What I also do is cut my left over fleece into small shreds (approx 2inch x 1/2 inch) and pile it into all my animals cages. My dwarf hamster loves it for his nest (he never puts it in his cheeks, I'm not sure I would use it for a Syrian due to loose fibres) my rats love playing in it and having it in bed, and my piggies especially nemmy who loves nothing more than hiding under a mound of hay recreates that with mounds of shredded fleece. (again just be aware of fibres or dust and be careful) as for weighing the edges down id use food bowels, and rocks too. My boys has a brick in their indoor cage to keep their nails blunt. Good luck with however you do it I hope we get to see photos :)
Click to expand...
 
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