Litter Training

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Alicia

Alicia

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A few months ago I bought a guinea-pig litter tray and put it in a cupboard and forgot about it :)) I've recently found it and want to litter train my guinea-pigs but I have a few questions if you could help? Firstly I'm not sure if this litterbox is big enough, it said for all rodents and has a picture of a guinea-pig on the label but I tried it with Roy and he couldn't even fit his bum in it :)) I've seen on other forums that people have cut up plastic boxes to the right shape, could I do this or would the guinea-pigs chew it and would that be bad for them? If I can't use that what should I use? Also what do I put inside the litterbox, I thought about old newspaper but I'd obviously empty it and clean it at least once a day but I still don't want the guinea-pigs sitting on wet bedding even if it is just in the litter tray. Also I was going to hang some hay sort of above it so they'd go in it and then hopefully go to the loo in there, should I move any poos into the litter box too? Or would that not encourage them to go to the toilet there? I've found some info online but I'd like to hear how you litter trained your guinea-pigs. Thank you :)
 
I didn't...

Mine don't seem to be the trainable type. I have hay in a big crate which I have a paper based kitty litter and because they spend a lot of their time eating hay they also do a lot of weeing and pooping in there. It saves the fleece, but they still wee where they sleep and lounge and wherever they fancy, really.

Pooping I don't know if they can even control at all. At least mine go all over the freaking place!
 
Speaking on behalf of probably 95% of the forum..."When you figure out how to litter train your guineas pigs, please tell us how you did it!" lol
Maybe you will be lucky, and some of the other 5% will see your post.
Good luck! xx
 
I know it would be almost impossible to fully litter train them but I was just hoping to get them to maybe use it a bit, even if just every now and then whilst eating their hay. What do I put inside it?
 
Good Boys

I must have really good boys, I would say the majority of the poops and pees go in the litter tray at least £95 percent. BUT if I'm not quick to change it of an evening then they start to poop in other places.?/

I have one of those huge Cat litter trays you get from PAH. I put 2 sheets of newspaper down in the bottom and then fill it *** cheap bedding hay, Then I top it up with the good stuff grass hay herbage bit of dandelion etc and also hang a hay rack above to the side with the Good hay in it.

They can easily jump in and out its not very high at all for my big pigs,

I must admit they have had this same routine since I first got them at 8 weeks old. I used to pick up the poops every couple of hours and put them into the tray. and i would move the tray to where they pooped- They had a smaller cat tray then with a hole sut out of the side, but now they are over a year old and can easily pop in and out..:(|)

the only other place the tend to do a few pees and poops in is under a little wooden house that they snooze in but I use a puppy pad under the fleece in this area and its takes away the pee so the Fleece isnt soaked, I can lift up the corner of this every day and slip a new pad in...xx>>>

I change the newspaper and hay every evening and I wash and disinfect the tray couple time a week. I wash the fleece's every other day ish.. I think as the run gets dirtier they make it worse.. It seems as though they like it to be tidy... :p

I think the trick is to start early and its almost like you are teaching them how to be pigs, they dont know any different...also I used to lift my boys into the litter tray automatically after cuddles on my lap as I know this is normally when they will pee.....

I would like to add tho that when I let them out to run round the living roo they make a bee line for my rather expensive green rug and love to do a few celebratory poops and pees on there! I spend my life scrubbing it! one of these days I'm just going to let them have it in thier cage !

Sorry for the long post ,, I cant believe I'm one of the lucky 5% ! :(|):<>:(|)
 
I use large corner litter trays (for ferrets rabbits etc) I put newspaper then either Back 2 nature or Bio Catolet on top then pop the hay tower in the corner and Roger I have to say since I got him goes in there to do 95% of his pee's and 99% of his poops. Nelly is a work in progress but within the week she's been here she's gone from 10 % poops and pees in the litter tray to 80 % so we are getting there. I don't think any piggies is ever 100%, both Roger and Nelly are young though so still learning.

My last 2 girls I had from a very young age both used their litter tray 98% of the time but the rescue girl who came when she was 3+ never used it.
 
Good point there... If you have a litter trained piggie then it would probably be easier to litter train the rest too. Piggies lean so much from eachother (usually just bad stuff, like flipping the pigloo or food bowl...).

Maybe it's good to start it off fresh too? I'm thinking, completely clean and rearranged cage so that the "just pee in litterbox thing" comes as part of the rest of the new stuff?
 
When I got my piggies Shirley was approx 6 wks and Willow 3.5mths and I put a litter tray in immediately. They only do their toileting in the tray if they are eating hay so I'm afraid I'm one of the 95% rolleyes. I put a layer of newspaper in the bottom of the tray, then a shallow layer of back 2 nature and top this up with natural cage litter which I buy from Equine Canine feline. I've also been adding the potty training pearls, but that hasn't made any difference so I'm not going to buy any more when this lot is used up. I line my cage with a couple of puppy pads topped with an inco pad and fleece. I don't know if it's due to the fact that I have girls, but there is absolutely no smell from their cage so don't if it's what I put in the litter tray or if inco pads are incredibly odour free. I can cope with the lack of success in toilet training as long as my cage still smells sweet :)
Jude
 
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