Fleece on wood shavings..

[bringustreats]

Ok, we have 2 piggies and the question of cage lining has been bugging us for months now.. I think I've read just about every thread on it so far... :{

Our piggies originally seemed to love wood shavings but when one of them developed a snuffle we tried different options (paper based lining, fleeces with towels/newspaper etc.). It turned out not to be a dust allergy but I know a lot of people don't recommend shavings here. We also order dust free hay online and they've always got plenty in their cage.

We found fleece OK but very high maintenance as whatever we put under it got very damp. We have quite busy lives and only normally have time to clean them out fully once a week. Some people who use fleece/vetbed have said they do some cleaning every day/every other day. Our piggies have a decent size cage and plenty of floor time so their home doesn't seem to get particularly dirty/smelly, but when we tried fleece it did and we found we were constantly cleaning it.

One thing that the shavings have going for them is that they seem very absorbent. So I was wondering - would fleece on top of wood shavings work? ?/ Has anyone tried it or something similar?

 

[Toffeewoffee]

The only problem i see with that is that the woodshavings will stick to the fleece so when it comes to washing it, its going to be a real pain.

We use a thick layer of newpaper, then a thick layer of shavings, then a layer of finely chopped, soft russell bedding straw, this is cleaned out once a week, it doesn't smell and is very low maintenance, I have tried fleece a few times and always reverted back, for a few reasons.

I have never (touch wood) had a ny come bac from the shavings or eye injuries from the straw. We spot clean under the hay rack every other day, as the waste hay gets wee'd, poo'd and stood on and begins to smell, so using a carrier back i pick out the waste hay and replace with fresh straw. Thats it! Easy peasy.

 

[sport_billy]

We use newspaper with dust extracted wood shavings for the our 2 girls. we change this twice a week.

Megan is on fleece with a towel underneath - due to her special needs. She is changed every other day as a rule sometimes makes 3 days.
If you do use fleece make sure you don't wash it with conditioner just powder on it's own as it will help the wee wick away to the towel below and fleece remain dry.

I prefer wood shavings to be honest. I agree with Toffeewoffee I wouldn't put fleece on top of wood shavings.

 

[bringustreats]

Thanks for those responses. Yep we washed the fleeces thoroughly to begin with, they stayed nice and dry but the towels beneath them were always saturated...

With wood shavings we never bothered with newspaper as we didn't find it particularly absorbent with the fleece. We normally wash the bottom of the cage when we clean it out anyway - it doesn't really get damp and smelly.

Our piggies seem to eat anything and everything we give them for bedding (shredded paper, hay etc.).. |)

Just trying to find a balance between an easy-maintenance and piggy-friendly solution at the moment..

 

[Toffeewoffee]

We all have conflicting opinions and preferences, i found fleece quite high maintenance, the main problem was the fine, small bits of hay sticking to the fleece, after 3 full washes it was no different!

You will find something that suits you, its always trial and error to begin with, but i always revert back to the newspaper, shavings and straw no matter what i try, the piggies seem to prefer it too, it always looks clean as the poo's sink to the bottom of the cage under all of the straw.

xx