Is Tarpaulin Too Slippery For Indoor Run?

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Mnar

Mnar

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Hello,
We have had our guinea pigs, Nibbles and Cuddles for 4 weeks now and we are still learning a lot! We have an indoor run for them but I need to protect our flooring as they have their fresh veg during this time and they wee and poo a good deal. The mat that the run came with is not wipe clean and doesn't really fit. I have a very small window of time for clearing up after them to fit it into kids bedtime routine after run time and supervised lap time so wondered if easy, shake outside then wipe clean and fold regular tarpaulin would be ok for them to run around on for an hour each day or if it is too slippery/hard on their feet.
I really want the answer to be that tarpaulin would be fine as it would be really cheap and easy but I know the guinea pigs health is most important. If not suitable do you have any suggestions?
Thanks guys!
 
A tarpaulin is a good idea, for ease of cleaning, but as there is nowhere for urine to soak into and run away I'm thinking it would become quite soggy for the pigs to run on and they'll be sitting in their own mess. What about puppy pads? They are cheap to buy and can just be thrown away and replaced.
 
Oh yes, I hadn't thought of that. It is a rather large run so I would need to use a few puppy pads each time. Maybe newspaper....
 
What about towels? They can be brushed off and put in the wash?
 
I have been doing some reading and it looks like fleece may be a good option, and easy to wash.
 
If not puppy pads try disposable incontinence bed pads you can get a pack of 25 on Amazon for around £7 and they are bigger than puppy training pads but act the same way the washable ones are £11.75 free p+p by comfortcare on amazon
 
We use a shower curtain with a towel or an old sheet on top. It's easy to clean and wash too.
 
Claire W said:
I have an indoor run which has a waterproof floor attached. I use fleece over the top :)

There is also a risk of tarpaulin being chewed
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Hi Claire, I worried that I would need something between the fleece and the waterproof layer, it would be great if not and it sounds like you don't. Could you confirm? Many thanks

Sar said:
We use a shower curtain with a towel or an old sheet on top. It's easy to clean and wash too.
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Hi Sar,

I had thought about using a shower curtain but worried that it would either only be water repellant or one of the waterproof ones that won't go in the washing machine... May I ask which type of shower curtain you use? Many thanks
 
Hi @Mnar

We use shower curtains that are 100% polyester. They do absorb water/urine etc (the odd time we've had to use one on it's own we've had no problems) but it protects the floor (mum would kill me if the carpet got ruined!) too. It goes in the washing machine and by the next morning it's dry so pretty low maintenance.

You can get plastic shower curtains, I think these would probably be the ones where liquid just sits on it or is maybe too slippy.
 
Thanks Sar, that's really useful. I think I'm going to try the combination of yours and Claire's advice... Shower curtain with fleece on top
 
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Disposable Baby changing pads are also good I've lined the bottom of popcorns hutch out with them no wet comes through really good
 
We also use an old shower curtain with towels or fleece, sometimes newspaper, for our indoor run inside an old bookcase1.webp - if it's only for an hour or two, then it seems to be ok.
 
use a shower curtain, with a layer of either puppy pads or newspaper.
once done i hang mine on line and put hose to it to rinse as its not type you can put in machine
 
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