Help! Cleaning Out And Bedding

Leonie1777

Leonie1777

New Born Pup
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Hi, I've been reading the forum for a few months now, since I got my gp's in September, but I've not posted before. I have four gp's in a 3' x 4' shed, plus a loft area made with c&c panels and a covered outside area, which they have access to 12 hours per day. They are beded on puppy pads, newspaper, aubiose and hay. They have aubiose, vet bed and hay in the loft.

I clean them out everyday, I put in clean puppy pads and newspaper everyday, I remove and put clean aubiose in every other day. I do this because the newspaper is always sodden and I dont' feel comfortable leaving it. I change the aubiose every other day as the amount the of droppings seems too much to leave. However, I am concerned about the amount of rubbish I'm creating, I have to take two black bags of rubbish to the tip every week. Is there are more environmentally friendly way to keep my cage clean. Also, this is quite time consuming, so I dont' get to spend as much time handling my pigs as I'd like as I spend a good 30min cleaning them out each night.

Thank you for any advice you can offer me.
 
That is a lot! Do they wee in one place more than others? If so, try litter trays, I line mine with newspaper and empty them and change the paper every day, but I only wash them a couple of times a week. I sweep the fleece a couple of times a day to keep the poop to a minimum. If you have the bedding quite thick you could probably get away with lifting only the wet stuff daily and doing a full change once or twice a week. Pee pads are also good, and if you keep their hay to specific areas with litter trays beneath them, that should go a long way to keeping most of the wee in smaller areas. Sorry about the evil eyes in the pics lolDSC_0790.webp DSC_0789.webp
 
I use Aubiose in my 7x2 C&C.
I don’t use pads or paper but I do have litter trays under all of their hides. I have between 1-2 inches of Aubiose everywhere. Under the hides I also put hay.

I spot clean twice a day by shaking out all the hay over a bucket and picking off all surface poos and taking out any wet hay.
Replace/top up hay as needed.
I also scoop out any wet bedding that I can see, as and when.

Once a week I empty all the litter trays and turn over all the bedding to check for wet underneith.

I use the remain bedding to re-fill the litter trays and the most wee’d areas and put new bedding in as required for the rest of the cage. I only throw away about 1/3 or the Aubiose every week (I still get a full 80lt bin bag as I throw so much hay!)
 
i use aubiose in a 6x2 c &c cage.i use puppypads then a two inch layer of aubiose/aubichick.i do not need to clean for seven days.in which i dump all old bedding to the tip.clean the correx base with f10 solution.leave to dry.place puppypads and then 2 inch layer of aubiose,put a pile of hay on top.clean every seven days.ive four piggies in this cage !
 
My three are in a 10 x 2 c and c cage with lino on the bottom. They have a chill out zone one end with fleecy beds, 3 ikea beds with a cage liner and extra mats under them and a hay area with two 32litre underbed storage boxes containing hemp bedding from zoop!us and hay.

Most of their wees go in the hay trays. I shake out their underbed mats every day. Oh the poo!

I clean the hay trays out every 3 days or so. I clean the lino with vinegar and water every few days.

I used to line the trays with newspaper but it just went very soggy. Much prefer having just the hemparade and hay.

1zp5n53.jpg
 
Guineapigfeet said:
I use Aubiose in my 7x2 C&C.
I don’t use pads or paper but I do have litter trays under all of their hides. I have between 1-2 inches of Aubiose everywhere. Under the hides I also put hay.

I spot clean twice a day by shaking out all the hay over a bucket and picking off all surface poos and taking out any wet hay.
Replace/top up hay as needed.
I also scoop out any wet bedding that I can see, as and when.

Once a week I empty all the litter trays and turn over all the bedding to check for wet underneith.

I use the remain bedding to re-fill the litter trays and the most wee’d areas and put new bedding in as required for the rest of the cage. I only throw away about 1/3 or the Aubiose every week (I still get a full 80lt bin bag as I throw so much hay!)
Click to expand...

Hi, thank you for your reply, please can you explain what you mean by a hide? Also, what flooring do you have, thanks.
 
flowerfairy said:
My three are in a 10 x 2 c and c cage with lino on the bottom. They have a chill out zone one end with fleecy beds, 3 ikea beds with a cage liner and extra mats under them and a hay area with two 32litre underbed storage boxes containing hemp bedding from zoop!us and hay.

Most of their wees go in the hay trays. I shake out their underbed mats every day. Oh the poo!

I clean the hay trays out every 3 days or so. I clean the lino with vinegar and water every few days.

I used to line the trays with newspaper but it just went very soggy. Much prefer having just the hemparade and hay.

1zp5n53.jpg
Click to expand...
Hi, thank you for your reply. Do they wee on the fleece? Do you wash it weekly? Do they sleep in the hay areas?
 
Thank you for your replies. Did you have to train your pig's to pee in litter trays, or do they naturally start to do this? Do they hop in, or do you need a low side? What is the best kind to start with?

I think I'm going to stop using newspaper and do a deeper layer of aubiose and see how I get on.
 
Leonie1777 said:
Thank you for your replies. Did you have to train your pig's to pee in litter trays, or do they naturally start to do this? Do they hop in, or do you need a low side? What is the best kind to start with?

I think I'm going to stop using newspaper and do a deeper layer of aubiose and see how I get on.
Click to expand...
You can't really train a piggy to use a litter tray as such, the trick is to figure out where they pee most and position the trays there. Rule of thumb is usually it's where they eat or sleep. They will still pretty much poop everywhere, but that's not such an issue.
 
Leonie1777 said:
Hi, thank you for your reply. Do they wee on the fleece? Do you wash it weekly? Do they sleep in the hay areas?
Click to expand...

They do sometimes wee on their fleece liners but mostly in the litter trays cos thats where the hay is.

Where they eat they wee and poo. On the grasslands where they would be in the wild this didnt matter. In a smaller area they need slaves to clean up for them. Us!

They do spend a lot of time in their hay trays often making guinea pig sized tunnels in them and snoozing.

I wash the fleece liners about once a week and the mats under their beds are shaken out daily and wshed when smelly and or damp.
 
flowerfairy said:
My three are in a 10 x 2 c and c cage with lino on the bottom. They have a chill out zone one end with fleecy beds, 3 ikea beds with a cage liner and extra mats under them and a hay area with two 32litre underbed storage boxes containing hemp bedding from zoop!us and hay.

Most of their wees go in the hay trays. I shake out their underbed mats every day. Oh the poo!

I clean the hay trays out every 3 days or so. I clean the lino with vinegar and water every few days.

I used to line the trays with newspaper but it just went very soggy. Much prefer having just the hemparade and hay.

1zp5n53.jpg
Click to expand...

I need to ask - Ikea beds? That sounds interesting! :D:D
 
eileen said:
@Guineapigfeet please can i ask where your tables are from? beautiful setup !
Click to expand...
Thank you! It usually has a lot more poo in it - I only photograph it before I put the pigs in! My boyfriend made the tables out of loft boards and batons with legs from B&Q. Then I painted them with leftover paint from the shower room!
 
I have found that since using litter trays the cleaning has become sooooo much easier - wish I had done it sooner! I empty the tray every night and pick up any obvious mess elsewhere in the cage - it has taken a few weeks for them to get used to it but they do tend to use the tray a lot which keeps the rest of the cage much drier and cleaner. I also use Aubiose and I put all of the 'rubbish' (excluding the paper which I recycle) on the compost heap - admittedly it is now a rather large compost heap!:xd: :)
 
threepigs said:
I have found that since using litter trays the cleaning has become sooooo much easier - wish I had done it sooner! I empty the tray every night and pick up any obvious mess elsewhere in the cage - it has taken a few weeks for them to get used to it but they do tend to use the tray a lot which keeps the rest of the cage much drier and cleaner. I also use Aubiose and I put all of the 'rubbish' (excluding the paper which I recycle) on the compost heap - admittedly it is now a rather large compost heap!:xd: :)
Click to expand...
Do you have a photo of your litter trays, or a link to where you bought them from? Thanks
 
Leonie1777 said:
Do you have a photo of your litter trays, or a link to where you bought them from? Thanks
Click to expand...
Will try and take a picture to upload for you - I bought a cheap cat litter tray (about £2) from the bargain shop - I put a layer of newspaper at the bottom and then fill it with hay. Try to get one which is quite wide and shallow - the narrower one I bought they manage to tip up (so I have put one of their wooden bridges in it to hold it down!). About 45cm x 30cm is a good size :)
 
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