In A Flap About Fleece

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obsessedwithanimals

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Hi guys,

I'm abit confused and shocked by the article on the gorgeous guineas website about fleece. http://www.gorgeousguineas.com/fleecebedding.html

It's quite a strong article against it.
I don't know what to think about it really, I do agree loose bedding does seem abit more natural and it's true I probably don't wash/change my fleece enough. :( On the other hand my piggies popcorn when I put a fresh fleece down. :)

Opinions? I now they can differ because different people prefer different amounts of cleaning and other people prefer the nice look of fleece and other people prefer the natural look of loose bedding... What do you and your piggies think?
 
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Fleece is far too much work for me, i use bedding people are strongly against, but i have never had any issues with it. And that is thick layers of newspaper, sawdust and barley straw. The piggies love it and sprawl out and fourage in it, there is no messy fleece covered it hay and hair to go in my washing machine, it doesn't smell and always seems to look fresh.

x
 
Thank you for your reply. :)

On one hand I love the look of fleece and the piggys seem ok on it. And although people say piggys can dig and forage in loose bedding I always feel the bedding gets trampled down and it's very difficult for them to bury through so what's the point?
I quite like loose bedding as it's less work in one way but on the other hand my girls always kick the bedding out of the hutch spilling it everywhere. :/
This post wasn't aimed directly at you just me rambling on to myself and others :)
 
The joy with the straw is they can't kick it out, we have them in a C&C cage with a correx base and it doesn't make any mess.

x
 
That's great! My guys live in a hutch so the bedding (often poops!) get kicked out all over the shed floor. :/
 
Where there are piggies there is mess, and even where there aren't piggies there is mess!

x
 
Toffeewoffee said:
Fleece is far too much work for me, i use bedding people are strongly against, but i have never had any issues with it. And that is thick layers of newspaper, sawdust and barley straw. The piggies love it and sprawl out and fourage in it, there is no messy fleece covered it hay and hair to go in my washing machine, it doesn't smell and always seems to look fresh.

x
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I gave fleece a try for 3 months but have gone back to the old faithful of dust free shavings with newspaper underneath and dfhay. It is less work for me and I like to throw out all their bedding every few days and spray the cage down. With fleece I didn't trust everything was getting washed out.
 
I wash my fleece regularly at high temperatures, don't overfill the load and don't have any more problems than I had before I switched to fleece!

In fact, I am not at all happy about said article - it is not balanced at all and does not weigh up the considerable advantages of fleece against the disadvantages; thusly serving only to unnecessarily alarm and confuse especially new owners. It also completely ignores the fact that most owners with fleece also provide a hayloft or other area where piggies can burrow in hay to their hearts content. I simply couldn't have the number of indoors piggies without fleece.
 
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To be honest, it is all about personnel preference and what is best for a certain owners circumstances.

My girls live free range in a shed so I use newspaper, woodshavings and hay. I always have done and this is what works best for me and my piggies. Some people disagree with woodshavings but it is my choice.

When my girls use their indoor run, I use fleece. They also have plenty of fleecy items in their shed which I just brush down before washing.

If my girls were indoor pigs, I certainly wouldn't use woodshavings as my gerbil, hamster and degu make enough mess with them never mind four guinea pigs!

If you are happy using fleece and if it suits yours and your piggies needs, use it.

There is no right or wrong answer and when it comes to bedding for any animal, there are pro's and cons for everything.
 
This thread has helped me - We were thinking of switching to fleece but I think we will stick with woodshavings and hay. They don't seem to have any problems with it and seemed to prefer it to when we used Vetbed briefly.
 
Newspaper, woodshavings and hay all the way for me :)
I would never try fleece again, its too high maintenance and personally I don't think it's natural. My pigs have their fleecy sacks so they have the best of both worlds-comfort and foraging all around their cage :)
 
We've just switched to fleece and I much prefer it, I think they do too. They still have a haybox which we're planning to extend to a 'hay room' in the cage so they can still burrow in it but even when they were on bedding in the hutch, the hay was always flattened and sat on so they ate from the hay rack instead.
It's not exactly completely 'natural' to keep piggies as pets anyway, with a supply of pellets and fresh veggies which isn't what they'd get in the wild and as long as they have some opportunity to forage with their hay, enough space and companionship of their own species I'd class that as meeting their need to exhibit natural behaviour regardless of the bedding they are kept on.
 
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I have used fleece and certainly didn't find any major problems health-wise. I just found it a pain to sweep and wash. Especially in winter as we don't have a tumble drier. xx

Am now using hemp and hay - dirty bedding goes straight into the green bin and it's easy to spot clean. Must admit they absolutely love tunnelling through the hay and they certainly seem to eat more hay this way. :) xx

I will stick to this and am very happy with it.

But each to their own, really. I do plan to have a fleece section when I build my new C&C cage so they get the best of both worlds. :))
 
missybct said:
This thread has helped me - We were thinking of switching to fleece but I think we will stick with woodshavings and hay. They don't seem to have any problems with it and seemed to prefer it to when we used Vetbed briefly.
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I thought I would treat my guineas to vetbed sent for some but they wouldn't go on it. Don't know why, it is now confind to the cupboard, shame it looked soo comfy.
 
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Fleece hasnt made any problems with my girls.. the only thing I dont like are hay seeds stuck in it. But it reduces my waste load and I wash my toilet area towels on a baby wash anyway so I have no worries with it not being clean enough. I took the article with a pinch of salt as everyone makes up generalised rules based on their own experiences. Human nature.
 
I used fleece for months, but I just found it far too much work and it started to smell very quickly. I also don't think it's natural. My piggies are much happier on Medibed with fleece snuggle sacks and cosys
 
I've always used fleece but always have masses of cheapy hay for them to play in, as well as their nice hay that they prefer to eat. I do pick up poos / change blankets (not the whole fleece - we give them piles of blankets to sleep on) frequently during the day. So yes it's quite high maintenance I suppose but as long as they are safe and comfy I don't mind. I read the article and it seemed to me more a dig at owners who want their cages to look nice, rather than to allow their pigs to be messy. I must admit, it is nice to see the cage looking all swish after changing it, but 5 mins later I just cover it all in hay anyway!
 
I have been using fleece for about 6 mths now and find it really easy and my pigs love it!

they have a 6ft x 4 ft free range area in the shed, I spot clean every day and complelty change the fleece every 4-5 days.
they have a seperate hay area made from plastic boxes, which has towels and fleece in which i change daily. they have lots of tunnels and hidy holes!
I am lucky tho as can wash my fleece at work (work at a vets), as would find it really difficult to wash at home.

my pigs love popcorning around when I have given them a nice new bed!
I swapped to fleece as was using dust free shavings and it was causing issues with my old sows feet!

I think no bedding is perfect and everyone gets on with differnet types.
 
I have been using fleece now for 1 year and 9 months, I wash at the eco setting and have no problems with any bugs or UTI's. I dont have lots of hay for htem to burrow though as I am very allergic, its contained in a hay rack but they do have material alternatives to their burrowing nature should they want to use it.

I find it clean, efficient and cheap (and I use high grade fleece from the start not cheap blankets), they all seem to love using it and their fabric alternatives.

Shame the article was not written objectively, it is one persons opinion and without a better and fairer view point I would have thought it unfair to see as correct. As a fleece user I would recommend it to others, but it isnt for everyone and every situation, bedding choices is personal and my own experience has been positive enough to continue to use it, there is no right or wrong bedding choice (apart from inappropriate bedding of course).
 
Wiebke said:
I wash my fleece regularly at high temperatures, don't overfill the load and don't have any more problems than I had before I switched to fleece!

In fact, I am not at all happy about said article - it is not balanced at all and does not weigh up the considerable advantages of fleece against the disadvantages; thusly serving only to unnecessarily alarm and confuse especially new owners. It also completely ignores the fact that most owners with fleece also provide a hayloft or other area where piggies can burrow in hay to their hearts content. I simply couldn't have the number of indoors piggies without fleece.
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My thoughts exactly, one persons opinion with no balance.
 
Don't kno what to think of that really - my boys can forage because they have a large hay tray - and after 2 years no one seems to have any breathing issues...

They absolutely love the fleece & are mega excited when it's changed over!

?!
 
I've just recently switched to fleece as we were using sawdust (shock horror) - I've learnt a lot from this forum. I'll let you know how we get on :))
 
I'm switching over to fleece. The last time years ago I had fleece it did not go well, but I think it was because I sewed all the layers together and the absorbent layer shrank disproportionately. This time I'm clipping the layers to an extra sheet of coroplast on the bottom of the C&C cage using binder clips. I will have a separate kitchen area with pine pellets, because hay tends to stick to fleece so the pine pellet tray will be under the food and hay area. (It should be set up by the end of the week, I will post pictures).
Also I have an old shop vac in the garage, I'm going to try to vac up the poos and use them in the rose bed. I'm hoping that the clipped-to-coroplast fleece will be pulled taut enought so that vacuuming is easy.
I think it is an individual choice. The expense of one set of fleece is not too much, so it's not like one is making a permanent choice by trying it. What is important is something that is easy and comfortable for you and your piggies.
 
I'm not a fan of fleece. I'm using it at the moment, but only because I've a slightly incontinent piggy, and the fleece keeps her dry. But I change the fleece every day, and wash it at 60 degrees. My electricity bills is going to be awful! I'd never want to leave the fleece any longer than a day, as it gets filthy.

I've only had one piggy who loved fleece. If Cassie had her way she'd be on a bed of hay, but that just isn't absorbent enough.
 
If my fleece gets filthy (even though I don't mind daily changes) I will go back to loose bedding. But I've heard fleece fans say that vacuuming or sweeping helps keep the fleece tidy.
 
I'm planning on changing to fleece. I will buy three sets of fleece per cage, that will take me to nine fleeces. This will cut down on washing. I'll spot clean every day and change the fleece every other day, apart from the weekend which is when I'll wash all fleeces ready for the new week. My normal cleaning days are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This keeps the poops down on Lino so hopefully as long as I spot clean everyday and change the fleece on these days I won't have an issue. Personally I don't like things like finacard or other loose bedding, they get everywhere and my pigs are in my room. Not to mention boar glue sticking it to everything. My pigs have been better since on Lino so hopefully fleece will be another good step (:
 
The reason I change mine every day is because it gets massive stinky wee stains on it, particularly in the popular areas. It's perfectly dry, as it wicks fine (even better when washed at 60 degrees), but it is so filthy by the end of the day.
 
I really hope my fleece does OK but I am listening to what Pelicano says and I don't want a lot of smell. I went a bit overboard, found an entire bolt of fleece with a good price on Ebay, so I have enough to change every day for 2 weeks. And I got plenty of absorbents for the middle layer too. Crossing my fingers.
 
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