Hay! Hay! Hay!

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Lou1975

Lou1975

Junior Guinea Pig
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Is there any reason why wood shavings are recommended as floor covering in hutches? Is there any reason why we can't use hay? In the bedding area it seems to get flattened down into a sort of "carpet". The pigs seem to love burrowing in it too! So, could it be used throughout the hutch?
 
Yes, that was a concern....My hutches are going to be lined with lino next week. I currently use newspaper underneath wood shavings & clean out the hutches completely twice weekly. I've found very varying qualities of shavings, whereas the hay seems so clean and fresh and safe....
 
You could have an absorbent layer underneath the hay like aubiose/easibed or paper cat litter with hay on the top?
 
I've just be reading a thread on here all about aubiose. People that love it, REALLY love it; but some people have concerns about it being sharp and splintery...and getting stuck in areas where it shouldn't...!

What are your thoughts?
 
I've used it, never had a problem personally. Easibed is the cheaper option which is also a bit softer. I wouldn't worry if you are using the hay as a main base with the aubiose underneath to soak up urine.
 
Until going onto fleece then vetbed, we had ours on dust free shavings covered with a layer of hay. With the addition of a fresh eating pile of hay twice daily. (they never took to hay racks ) Tried Aubiose but personally thought it was a bit dusty and not worth the extra cash.
We still have a large haybox (2 giant cat litter trays, and one correx box,) on each of our 3 cage floors which has a base layer of shavings under the pile of hay. Soaks up the wee so hay isn't soggy, and easy to tip out and clean daily. So far it works well for us.
 
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