Is it ok to house piggies on.....

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Fudge and Rainbow :)

Fudge and Rainbow :)

Adult Guinea Pig
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just newspaper and hay on top? My piggies used to have newspaper everywhere with wood shavings on top, with hay in the bedding area and hay rack but..... wood shavings are getting pretty expensive and I've heard it can hurt the piggies feet. So is just newspaper and hay ok as it is much cheaper and I have my guinea pigs on it now and they seem to love it! :(|)

Thanks :)
 
Yep it's fine :) I find hay can get a bit damp though, so just make sure the hay on top where they sleep is dry at night, and top it up a little if you need to. :)
 
My pigs live on newspaper and hay when they're in their hutch :) I have to fluff up and top up the hay in sleeping areas everyday though
 
I use megazorb, but from reading up on this, it seems that the only problem is that the hay can get a bit damp and will then tend to go moldy. But shouldn't be a problem if you take out the grotty bits of hay every day :) x
 
Thanks everyone, but I've gone back to wood shavings for the living area. :( They were on the hay for 6 days and I cleaned it out yesterday, it was very smelly. :{ I put them on hay again but had to change it today because it stunk that bad and was really wet, they were only on it for under 24 hours! 8... They still have tons of hay in the bed as always but their living area is wood shavings now. I've never had a problem with it though to be honest, I only changed because of the price, I don't think it's ever hurt their feet, that was just something I read where it could happen. It does the best job for me so my piggies will be staying on that. Looks so much cleaner too :)) I'm attempting litter training them, so if that is successful, I may go back to hay. :)
 
If you buy bigger bales of woodchip it works out quite cheap. Can get 25kg (very heavy) for a tenner at work. I get discout so it's even cheaper for me :))
 
I've changed from keeping the pigs on woodshavings after finding out it wasnt suitable, I couldnt face keeping them on something after I found out it wasnt good for them and the possibility it was uncomfortable for them or whatnot :/
The best bedding I've found to get is chopped cardboard/ cardboard squares, I use ecobed for all my small pets now, there are a few different brands, it doesnt smell at all, stays dry and works out incredibly cheap for the amount you get in a bale.
My girls love using their hay as bedding so I'm constantly giving them more for their nests xo
 
dollheart said:
I've changed from keeping the pigs on woodshavings after finding out it wasnt suitable, I couldnt face keeping them on something after I found out it wasnt good for them and the possibility it was uncomfortable for them or whatnot :/
The best bedding I've found to get is chopped cardboard/ cardboard squares, I use ecobed for all my small pets now, there are a few different brands, it doesnt smell at all, stays dry and works out incredibly cheap for the amount you get in a bale.
My girls love using their hay as bedding so I'm constantly giving them more for their nests xo
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It's not "not suitable", the rescue I got my guinea pig from has always used wood shavings and never had problems with it, it's sawdust that's bad.

Thanks, cardboard is a great idea :)
 
Sawdust and woodshavings arent ok not just sawdust, aside from the possible respiratory issues, its quite drying on skin and very strong smelling when your close to it, enough to make your eyes water and sneeze, and the guineas are very close to it all the time and not good for boars private bits lol.
my pigs seem to have been fine on woodshavings for about 5 years but I dont want to chance it.
Not trying to be argumentative in a weird way, just my thoughts on it xo
 
dollheart said:
Sawdust and woodshavings arent ok not just sawdust, aside from the possible respiratory issues, its quite drying on skin and very strong smelling when your close to it, enough to make your eyes water and sneeze, and the guineas are very close to it all the time and not good for boars private bits lol.
my pigs seem to have been fine on woodshavings for about 5 years but I dont want to chance it.
Not trying to be argumentative in a weird way, just my thoughts on it xo
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ok that's your opinion but my pigs have been fine on it for 6 years :)
 
I used to use woodshavings for both sets of my boars but changed to fleece due to the cost implications. Also, I was fed up of having to clean it out of my boys' bits.....not the most fun of jobs! I think in most cases, it's ok to house piggies on woodshavings unless they have respiratory problems or are presenting problems caused by it. Everyone has their own opinion on woodshavings and I think it just depends on the individuals and their piggies.

If you don't mind me asking, where do you get your woodshavings from?
 
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