Housing question

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NewMamma2013

NewMamma2013

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So I am looking at pictures on the internet and most cages are set up with fleece rather then "bedding". What is your opinion and what do you use and find the best? most comfortable? and least messy? Is it easy to clean the fleece rather then the "bedding"?

Thanks in advance & Hopefully I posted in the correct section this time! Lol

Kim
New Mamma
 
Hi kim i used to use shavings and then switched to fleece, found it great but with 6 piggies at the time the fur was clogging up the washing machine. I have now started using fitch paper bedding and i think it is brilliant, soft, smell and dust free and really absorbent, the piggies seem to like it too as they snuggled intop it straight away which i have never seen them do with the shavings, the were wriggling round so it made a little mound around them lol X
 
I was also thinking about this when a long time ago I was going to set up an excersise corner for the winter. Here are the advantages of these types of bedding.

Advantage Disadvantage
Sawdust - Very soft for their feet, well odour - Slightly hard to clean out as it is
control, very messy! Hard to spot-clean poos
of course

Fleece - Soft for their feet, easy to clean out - Smelly after a couple of days, keeps clean though
easy to spot clean.

Pure Hay - Good for Burying themselves in! - Hard to spot clean, quite messy, not so soft.

I'm not the best at knowing my beddings, but i Hope this helps! Keep in mind: If you use fleece/towels, make sure there are no loose threads where your piggies feet can get trapped in. AVOID Straw and corncob bedding. KEEP IN MIND: If you use Sawdust, make sure its not dusty! It can interfere with their breathing and, well, there could be a risk of them getting URI.
 
Urgh, My 'table' didnt work.. I couldnt do long spaces! Sorry! But the ones to the left are Advantages and to the right are Disadvantages! Sorry! But I hope you can see which is positive and Negative!
 
I did a lot of research into bedding before I got my piggies as I wanted to make sure the cleaning out process would be as easy as possible and that the boys would be happy and comfortable with it.

I considered fleece but as I live in an attic bedroom and don't have access to a garden I wouldn't have been able to shake it out well before putting it in the machine or hang it out to dry anywhere. (Also some people suggested you should do an empty hot wash between the fleece and your own washing which would have added to electric bills which are paid by my parents so would've been unfair)

So having looked at the alternatives I reduced it down to Fitch or finacard - they both seemed to have their merits and I'm not 100% that one is better than the other but I plumped for Fitch as it looked softer and seemed like you got more for your money. I've only been using it for 2 weeks but so far I really love it, it's very absorbent and the boys look really comfy on it, can't imagine anything being softer for their little feet! Afraid I can't comment too much on odour control as I have a terrible sense of smell!

Hope this helps - good luck :)
 
I have mine on fleece with litter trays that have dust extracted wood shavings and hay. I do have to unclog my washing machine filter every couple of months but worth it to stop the mess. I also have Peruvian and a texel so fleece better for them. Don't use correx use ground sheets and puppy pads so bedding would be too messy.
 
Nicola_ said:
I did a lot of research into bedding before I got my piggies as I wanted to make sure the cleaning out process would be as easy as possible and that the boys would be happy and comfortable with it.

I considered fleece but as I live in an attic bedroom and don't have access to a garden I wouldn't have been able to shake it out well before putting it in the machine or hang it out to dry anywhere. (Also some people suggested you should do an empty hot wash between the fleece and your own washing which would have added to electric bills which are paid by my parents so would've been unfair)

So having looked at the alternatives I reduced it down to Fitch or finacard - they both seemed to have their merits and I'm not 100% that one is better than the other but I plumped for Fitch as it looked softer and seemed like you got more for your money. I've only been using it for 2 weeks but so far I really love it, it's very absorbent and the boys look really comfy on it, can't imagine anything being softer for their little feet! Afraid I can't comment too much on odour control as I have a terrible sense of smell!

Hope this helps - good luck :)
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Hi Nicola,
Would you please tell me if the cage or the bedding gets soggy on the bottom with Fitch? Do you use anything else underneath it.? Do the piggies get wet with the wee wee or it is quite absorbent ? Do you need to change all quite often? After 2 weeks of use how much you have left of the bag?
Sorry but I'm considering buying Fitch for my piggies and no review was capable of telling me these things?

Tks
Monica
 
I use fleece cage-liners. I love them, made them myself... i have used finacard in the past and was very good smell wise, but i found the piggies didn't popcorn while i used it, soon as i switched back to fleece the girls popcorn all the time! So that won me back over to fleece. I use a wash bag for cleaning the fleece and it dose a great job keeping hair and hay out the way. I spot clean the cage daily, and also have litter trays with a puppy pad and hay (for my kidney piggie's) or newspaper and hay in the other litter tray. I clean the litter trays daily and do a full clean 1-2 times a week.
I personally love fleece. I found finacard very heavy and made cleaning the cages such a chore- with fleece i shake the fleece in the cage....sweep off any excess hay and put it in the wash bag, wipe down the cage and replace with fresh cage-liner etc- and also the piggies love it.

But i know everyone likes different things, but me- i wouldn't be without cage-liners! :D
 
Hi Monica,

I started off using newspapers underneath and have moved to puppy pads (I hate newspaper with a passion!) I still put newspaper down between the puppy pad and Fitch in the areas they wee in the most (pretty much every corner). I initially had them in a fabric playpen which got a little wet with wee on the sides (they seem to like to wee up the side of the cage than straight on the ground!) but not on the actual floor of it (although this doesn't seem to be a big issue with the correx). I do a spot clean whenever it's looking like it needs it where I remove the extremely wet looking bits (although upon feeling it, it doesn't actually seem too wet) my intention is to just do an overall change once a week and so far, with the spot cleans, it looks like this will be manageable. I certainly haven't noticed the boys feeling wet at all, like I say the Fitch itself barely feels wet even when it looks it!

After 2 weeks I only have half the bag left however I'm putting that down to the fact that the playpen was massive and I think I put too much in, then I had to do quite a bit of spot cleaning and one full clean of it (my c&c took a bit longer to build than planned) so I basically used a whole load of it just for 1 or 2 days worth of use. Also my c&c is quite large (a 4x4x2 corner and 3, 2x1 lofts) so takes up a little bit; I'm hoping once I've got the hang of it I'll be able to get at least 6-8 weeks worth out of one bag and in an ideal world 3 months. I think if you had the minimum 120 sized cage or 4x2 c&c It could easily last months and months, either way I think it's definitely good value for money as it's £15 for a condensed 20kg bale (it's half the price if you live close enough to collect it from them!).

Overall I think it works very well and is the best for the pigs and for value, I'm certainly sticking with it :)
 
Just a wee reply after seeing Jennifer's response, I would definitely have gone for fleece if it'd been more practical for me as the ease of taking it out and replacing it would've been great. But as my parents weren't too keen on me having them I wanted a system that wouldn't impinge on them too much so it'd be a 'you don't even need to know they're there' situation (until I go on holiday in December!) So having fleece taking up the machine and hanging around the house would've been unfair for them (also as mentioned earlier they pay the bills which although minimal would have put the cost of bedding onto them and not me)
 
Tks Nicola,

That was a great review.. :)
I don't want to go for fleece because of the washing, but in my case I have two daughters, 1 and 3, so I don't feel comfortable washing wee wee and poo poos and their clothes as well in the same machine. I know it needs a 90C wash in between but it's just not for me.

Did you try to put a litter tray in the corner they use most? I read about it and some piggies learn to use it so it would make cleaning even better.
I'm going to try some wood pellets underneath the Fitch for the corners and see how it goes. Their cage is 120cm long so Fitch will last me a long time. I just wish I could find it cheaper nearby. £15.99 is pretty expensive considering that half of that is delivery.

I don't know if caves act like dogs and cats where the males like to wee on walls (my mums male cat used to wee backwards towards the wall..lol), so maybe that's the problem.

Tks again. :)
 
BellaVi said:
I don't know if caves act like dogs and cats where the males like to wee on walls (my mums male cat used to wee backwards towards the wall..lol), so maybe that's the problem.
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Haha! That could well be the case! :)

I didn't really try with the litter trays (I did consider the little piggy sized ones today but knowing my contrary wee boys they wouldn't use them!) I do have a litter tray full of hay and one under their hay rack with their pellet bowl in as well - they still wee just outside them!

I think although it seems like a huge expense to begin with, it will last you a long time so compared to many other beddings overall you'll spend less on it. I'm going to keep a little 'piggy bank' where I put a monthly amount in so when it comes to bulk buying things the money will be there rather than having big outlays every few months (does that make sense? Not sure I'm explaining it well!)

The biggest issue with Fitch is the storage! It is quite a large bale, I'm lucky that I've quite a big room and I don't mind having something like that in clear sight but for some it might not be so easy to store.
 
Nicola_ said:
The biggest issue with Fitch is the storage! It is quite a large bale, I'm lucky that I've quite a big room and I don't mind having something like that in clear sight but for some it might not be so easy to store.
Click to expand...

No **** here. I have a big shed/ greenhouse. I just hope they like it, otherwise my husband will be quite happy burning it all. Lol
 
I use Fitch, on its own. It doesn't get soggy, keeps my boy very dry and easy to clean.
 
BellaVi said:
No **** here. I have a big shed/ greenhouse. I just hope they like it, otherwise my husband will be quite happy burning it all. Lol
Click to expand...

I don't know why the '****' on my last post. It was supposed to be written 'problem'. :s
 
I use fleece and vet bed with a hay section for burrowing. I find the worst part of the fleece is the washing machine and I'm always paranoid that if it clogs up the actual washing ( for humans !) will get a bit smelly in following washes . I'm liking the idea of bagging the fleece before putting it in machine though - I've never tried that ! I love this forum for wee ideas :)
 
I might have to try Fitch, I don't think there is a local stockist where I live though. I use dust extracted wood shavings, my buns and pigs are happy enough on it. I go through 2 large bales of shavings a month at a cost of £7.50 a bale. Thankfully, my local council lets me put in the garden recycling bin so I have no problems of disposing of soiled bedding. ;)
 
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