How do I use hemp bedding correctly?

[MamiSandra]

Hi,

I am mum to 3 beautiful sows and a gorgeous boar. They live indoors in 6x4 C&C cage with a 2x2 loft conversion. I normally use fleece bedding all round, but we are going on holiday for 3 weeks on Tuesday and as I don't have enough fleece blankets, I am switching them to Ambiose Hemp Bedding for the holiday. I have two very sensible teenagers who mind the piggies for me whilst we are away. They have done it for few years and usually, when we are only away for 10 days, they leave the fleece for me to wash upon our return. But as we are away for so much longer, they would need to shake them, wash them, hang them - I just don't think it is reasonable plus there is too much to go wrong (the laundry bag keeps splitting, so needs restitching every few washes, the machine easily overloads and I don't like having our old machine run for 4 hours with nobody in the house).

Soooo last night I fully cleaned the herd and put them onto Aubiose and hay and they seem very happy. Now the potentially silly questions:

- What is the best thing to use as a liner underneath? Newspaper? Or is there something else? It's just because the cage area is so large, that it an awful lot of newspaper to accumulate by next week and I stupidly did not think of that.....

- Do you use a poop scoop with hemp like people use for cat litter? How do you best clean up poop and wee between full cleans?

- How often do you need to fully clean the cage?

- How thick a layer do you use of the hemp?

Thank you.

 

[piggl]

There is a bit about Aubiose bedding in this thread. (I have just read it and it basically says the same as I have)
Bedding For Guinea Pigs - Overview

I believe it works the same as wood shavings, which I have used. I changed the shavings fully once a week with a newspaper layer underneath them.
To clean up wet patches I just used my hands but I am sure a scoop would work as well. You can pick poops out but I find they are easier to to remove in 'clumps' as they are a little harder to single out than on fleece.

I personally placed just a good layer, basically you could hardly see the newspaper in most areas, but there is no need to fully cover every sq ft.
I wonder if you can ask a neighbour or family member to provide you with newspapers. My family do not get newspapers but my grandparents manage to supply us with heaps of them.

I hope you have a lovely holiday x

 

[MamiSandra]

There is a bit about Aubiose bedding in this thread. (I have just read it and it basically says the same as I have)
Bedding For Guinea Pigs - Overview

I believe it works the same as wood shavings, which I have used. I changed the shavings fully once a week with a newspaper layer underneath them.
To clean up wet patches I just used my hands but I am sure a scoop would work as well. You can pick poops out but I find they are easier to to remove in 'clumps' as they are a little harder to single out than on fleece.

I personally placed just a good layer, basically you could hardly see the newspaper in most areas, but there is no need to fully cover every sq ft.
I wonder if you can ask a neighbour or family member to provide you with newspapers. My family do not get newspapers but my grandparents manage to supply us with heaps of them.

I hope you have a lovely holiday x

Thank you so much. That is really helpful.

 

[Mother Hubbard]

I’ve used aubiose for yonks, I’ve tried putting something underneath it like newspaper but it doesn’t work well. Use the bedding straight in and a bit of hay on top. I somethings use a different hay for that purpose than a hay tray for the good stuff. The bedding soaks up brilliantly and you don’t have to clean every day, you can go 5 days or longer depending on how messy they are.

 

[eileen]

I use aubiose hemp bedding,when i can buy it,when in stock.i use puppypads underneath,ensure its covered with an inch of hemp bedding.Clean it once a week.ive 4 commercial 150 cm x 80cm cages and that works for me.

 

[MamiSandra]

I’ve used aubiose for yonks, I’ve tried putting something underneath it like newspaper but it doesn’t work well. Use the bedding straight in and a bit of hay on top. I somethings use a different hay for that purpose than a hay tray for the good stuff. The bedding soaks up brilliantly and you don’t have to clean every day, you can go 5 days or longer depending on how messy they are.

Thank you. I have tried the newspaper and agree it does not really work - they start shredding and eating it! I must admit I’m a fleece girl and can’t wait to go back to the blankets.

 

[MamiSandra]

I use aubiose hemp bedding,when i can buy it,when in stock.i use puppypads underneath,ensure its covered with an inch of hemp bedding.Clean it once a week.ive 4 commercial 150 cm x 80cm cages and that works for me.

Thank you. The weekly clean is definitely a huge benefit.

 

[MamiSandra]

The sleeping arrangements every night. Peach does not like the Ambiose, so chooses to sleep on the house.

 

[Guineapigfeet]

I used hemp and put it straight in, about 2.5 inches deep. I hand picked out the poo/ soiled hay twice a day and did a full clean every week, but a full clean only meant the wet patches. I would scoop and turn all the bedding to get the wet patches that hadn’t reached the surface yet. I never completely removed all of the hemp, that would end up costing a fortune and wasting an awful lot of clean bedding.