Help Needed - Asthma Issues

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Heather2306

Heather2306

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I got my boys, nibbles and munch 3 weeks ago. They settled in no problem and are 4 months old. We originally planned to keep them inside but I have really bad asthma and hay fever so on Sunday we had to go and buy them an outside hutch. I was really upset as I was worried my oh and daughter would lose interest in them outside. Well, they spent one night outside and I felt so guilty and missed them so much I brought them back into the house tonight!
I need to clear out the spare bedroom and they will live in there. I have a few questions though. I am trying to keep the smells to a minimum, what is the best bedding to use? I've been using sawdust but it's not ideal. I read about vetbed products and ordered some today. What would I do, just line the bottom of the cage with it? Or does it need anything underneath or on top of it? It's all so confusing! When using this what should I put in their igloo's? I've got a hay holder thing on the side of the cage and a cardboard tube stuffed full of hay, is that enough for them? I give them pellets and veg too.
Phew...sorry for being so long winded, just need to be sure I'm doing the right thing for them. My OH doesn't know I've brought them back inside yet so will probably go nuts at me after buying the hutch on Sunday!
 
Vet bed is very good, but isn't absorbent, so you need to put an absorbent layer underneath, like towels or something. Another bedding option would be fleece liners. If you buy ready made liners that's the easiest, otherwise buy a fleece blanket, wash it 4-6 times to wick it (so that if you drip water on it immediately soaks through rather than pooling on top), then first put an absorbent layer like towels down, and then the fleece blanket on top.
If you buy the ready made liner the fleece has already been prepped and there will be am absorbent layer sewn in-between 2 fleece layers.
 
Hi, thanks for the information. Would puppy training pads be suitably absorbent for under the vet bed do you think? I bought a pack of them last night.
 
You could put hay in litter trays with aubiouse which is hemp based to absorb wee.Or possibly use a cat carrier to stop the hay flying about as much.Good luck.
 
Thanks for your help. Going to try vet bed with puppy pads and see how that works out.
:-)
 
I use two large plastic boxes as hay trays, and I have an old muslin cloth pegged over the top of them to reduce the amount that flies all over the place (I have a piggie who burrows and like to fling :roll:).
I store hay outside in a locking plastic bin, and make sure I really fluff it up and 'air' it before I bring it into the house.
My pigs are on fleece so their substrate isn't an issue for allergies.
They have a window nearby which I open often, and keep permanently open in good weather.
I plan on investing in an air filter for Winter when open windows aren't possible.
They are in a room with tile floors (ok, all of our rooms have hard floors) and I hoover daily (Dyson allergy +).

We are a family of allergy sufferers (mine are quite severe) and so far the piggies are proving to be great for this, so fingers crossed you can also tolerate them indoors.
The joy that they bring is certainly worth the extra effort.
 
Swissgreys said:
I use two large plastic boxes as hay trays, and I have an old muslin cloth pegged over the top of them to reduce the amount that flies all over the place (I have a piggie who burrows and like to fling :roll:).
I store hay outside in a locking plastic bin, and make sure I really fluff it up and 'air' it before I bring it into the house.
My pigs are on fleece so their substrate isn't an issue for allergies.
They have a window nearby which I open often, and keep permanently open in good weather.
I plan on investing in an air filter for Winter when open windows aren't possible.
They are in a room with tile floors (ok, all of our rooms have hard floors) and I hoover daily (Dyson allergy +).

We are a family of allergy sufferers (mine are quite severe) and so far the piggies are proving to be great for this, so fingers crossed you can also tolerate them indoors.
The joy that they bring is certainly worth the extra effort.
Click to expand...
 
Put the new vetbed down tonight with puppy pads underneath. There's been lots of popcorning, weird slinking around and strange moves from them, almost like they were rubbing their tummies on it! lol They also had some floor time while I was cleaning out the cage. Munch is very timid and doesn't explore much but Nibbles is very excited and curious :D
 
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