LITTER PROBLEM

[Squiddy96]

Good morning.
I am contacting you to ask for advice, I found this forum on the internet and it seems really nice and well managed. I am from Italy but I will live for Australia because of my PhD; for this reason I had to leave my guinea pig and my bunny to my dad because they are not allowed to enter in Australia. My dad and his family are having some troubles with the litter and the bottom of the cage: Squiddy (guinea pig's name) always smells really bad and really fast, they say they tried different types of litters but nothing seems to work... I tried to train her to use the litter but she has never learnt, so she pees and poos all around. When Squiddy lived with me, I used a specific mat I bought online with different layers, but my dad & co stopped usingnit because it is very difficult to clean (you have to vacuum the hairsnfirst and it is a very difficult procedure). Do you have any suggestion? I don't know what to do and I am afraid they will give her away if I don't find a solution...
Thank you in advance for your availability
PS She doesn't live in a cage of course, but in a big fence. We tried free roaming but she wasn't confortable with all that open space

 

[Piggies&buns]

Guinea pigs cannot be litter trained so peeing and pooping all around the cage is entirely normal. The cage will need to be spot cleaned every day with wet hay and bedding and any poops removed, and then a full clean once or twice a week.

Litter trays are fine to use - a bit of absorbent bedding at the bottom and then topped with hay for your piggy to eat. Piggies will pee and poop where they eat so having hay in a tray will catch some of the pee and poops (but not all od if - as I say a piggy will still continue to toilet all the way round the cage). The tray will need to be emptied daily if it is wet otherwise it will smell.

Do the rabbit and piggy have separate enclosures?

 

[weepweeps]

Hello and welcome to the forum. How worrying for you that your dad may give Squiddy away. How often are they cleaning her out? Maybe they are just not doing it enough? Is Squiddy on fleece at the moment? Again maybe they are not washing it well enough and the smells are still on the material.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Hello and welcome to the forum
It must be a worry for you while you are away. I clean out completely twice a week and have never had problems with smells at all. I use a thick layer of newspaper followed by a 2” thick layer of farm hay (I buy a bale at a time) for the main part of the cage and a small sleeping area has newspaper with a fleece mat. it works very well, I only poo pick in the fleece area. Poops in the hay part just fall into and below the hay, the hay is topped up with fresh layers twice a day as they enjoy most of their time eating and burrowing in it

 

[Squiddy96]

Thank you for welcoming me! I want Squiddy to be happy, so of course if it is better for her to be given away I will do that. The problem is that in Italy, and not only probably, there are many people giving away their guinea pigs and many need to be adopted. I adopted Squiddy 4 years ago and I didn't know of course I would be chosen for a PhD in Australia. Right now she is not on fleece because my dad & co said that it is too difficult for them to clean it, and they prefer to not use it... That is why I wanted to ask for alternative methods. Right now they are using hemp litter with lot of hay on it. I am not sure if they clean daily, do you think that might be the reason of the smell? Do they need to clean more often? Also my guinea pig has long hair, so of course this doesn't help (pictures attached).

 

[Squiddy96]

Hello and welcome to the forum
It must be a worry for you while you are away. I clean out completely twice a week and have never had problems with smells at all. I use a thick layer of newspaper followed by a 2” thick layer of farm hay (I buy a bale at a time) for the main part of the cage and a small sleeping area has newspaper with a fleece mat. it works very well, I only poo pick in the fleece area. Poops in the hay part just fall into and below the hay, the hay is topped up with fresh layers twice a day as they enjoy most of their time eating and burrowing in it

Thank you! Very useful

 

[Squiddy96]

Guinea pigs cannot be litter trained so peeing and pooping all around the cage is entirely normal. The cage will need to be spot cleaned every day with wet hay and bedding and any poops removed, and then a full clean once or twice a week.

Litter trays are fine to use - a bit of absorbent bedding at the bottom and then topped with hay for your piggy to eat. Piggies will pee and poop where they eat so having hay in a tray will catch some of the pee and poops (but not all od if - as I say a piggy will still continue to toilet all the way round the cage). The tray will need to be emptied daily if it is wet otherwise it will smell.

Do the rabbit and piggy have separate enclosures?

My bunny is free and has no enclosures, the guinea pig leaves in a big fence (inside)

 

[Piggies&buns]

Thank you for welcoming me! I want Squiddy to be happy, so of course if it is better for her to be given away I will do that. The problem is that in Italy, and not only probably, there are many people giving away their guinea pigs and many need to be adopted. I adopted Squiddy 4 years ago and I didn't know of course I would be chosen for a PhD in Australia. Right now she is not on fleece because my dad & co said that it is too difficult for them to clean it, and they prefer to not use it... That is why I wanted to ask for alternative methods. Right now they are using hemp litter with lot of hay on it. I am not sure if they clean daily, do you think that might be the reason of the smell? Do they need to clean more often? Also my guinea pig has long hair, so of course this doesn't help (pictures attached).

Yes if they aren’t cleaned often enough, then that will be the reason for the smell.
Hemp litter and hay is fine to use as bedding but when wet will start to smell. My boys are on a similar disposable bedding topped with hay and I remove wet hay and bedding every day, and then fully clean out around every 5 days.

It’s advisable to keep long haired guinea pigs brushed and trimmed (particularly keeping hair around the back end cut short) regularly but that is for the piggies comfort and cleanliness. Hair dragging on any hay and bedding which is damp will obviously cause her hair to mat and may cause her to smell.

My bunny is free and has no enclosures, the guinea big leaves in a big fence (inside)

That’s good, just checking they don’t have physical contact.

 

[Squiddy96]

Yes if they aren’t cleaned often enough, then that will be the reason for the smell.
Hemp litter and hay is fine to use as bedding but when wet will start to smell. My boys are on a similar disposable bedding topped with hay and I remove wet hay and bedding every day, and then fully clean out around every 5 days.

It’s advisable to keep long haired guinea pigs brushed and trimmed (particularly keeping hair around the back end cut short) regularly but that is for the piggies comfort and cleanliness. Hair dragging on any hay and bedding which is damp will obviously cause her hair to mat and may cause her to smell.



That’s good, just checking they don’t have physical contact.

Sure, I know it is dangerous for them to be in contact! My bunny (sterilized female ahah) is super territorial and she doesn't like other animals (not even other bunnies). Thank you very much for your suggestions, I will report them to my father and the other members of the family, and hope they will agree on cleaning every day. I spent a lot of time with the two animals when they were with me and I cured them a lot, with pleasure. My bunny is super clean and well behaved, so of course it is easier with her... That is why I am mainly worried for Squiddy. Thank you again for your precious advices

 

[Piggies&buns]

. My bunny is super clean and well behaved, so of course it is easier with her... That is why I am mainly worried for Squiddy. Thank you again for your precious advices

Yes absolutely - rabbits can be litter trained so it is much easier with them.
More cleaning with piggies is needed! Hopefully it is just a case of your family not realising that and it can be easily rectified

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome

Your dad may also find our hair cutting guide helpful. Long-haired guinea pigs (and you have a gorgeous one) are particular prone to drag their long hair through the mess. Keeping those hairs short will keep the messing and the matting down a lot. The guide contains pictures and videos using different methods, so your dad should hopefully be able to watch even if he doesn't speak English.
An Illustrated Guide to Hair Cutting