Looking For Best Bedding

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MochaMoo

MochaMoo

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Currently my piggies are on woodshavings (as are my bunnies). It is getting on my nerves though! I don't have any real problems with it, the piggies seem fine.. But it is a nightmare. Cleaning it up is difficult for me, I try to do it once a week but with three piggies it can get a bit nasty.. They normally do the most peeing where their hay is on one side of the cage. The woodshavings have caused staining on the base of the cage which I can't get up. The woodshavings are damp & they push their hay into it because it's where they're walking! I hate the idea of them eating hay which has been where they've urinated.. But it's impossible to spot clean! With one of my rabbits (they're separate waiting to be bonded), he goes in the corner of his cage so spot cleaning is easy, but the pigs just end up needing a full clean!

All of my pets are in big cages, so you can imagine the amount of woodshavings that I go through! It ends up all through the house, it's ruined some of my cosy pjs & fluffy slippers. Grrr.

I'd love to hear what other people use & honest reviews! I've been looking on the forum and online a lot & the things that have stood out to me the most have been fleece, vetbed & megazorb. It needs to be relatively easy to look after, easy to clean & not smell :/ Woodshavings are ok-ish for smell.. I'd never be able to leave them longer than a week though! I would be happy to do spot cleans (like if it was fleece or vetbed with a hoover or something just to pick up poos).

I love the idea of fleece, but I don't know how it is long term. A friend of mine used it for a little while, but hated the smell & didn't have the time to clean it so often. I work from home so that's not really an issue for me. Smell would be an issue though. I'm also worried about washing fleece/vetbed. Will it ruin my washing machine? :/

I am a little tempted to try to make my own fleece liners.. Although I don't have a sewing machine :/ I was thinking about 2 layers of fleece, one top, one bottom & a bed liner in between (can I cut these up?).

Anyway, I would love some thoughts! My piggies at the moment (3 beautiful rescued girls) are in a 5ft store bought (online. Lol) cage. I am considering a C&C cage once I can afford it though, they look a lot better & a lot easier for me to clean! (I'm 5'4" & find it so difficult to clean their current cage, I have to climb INSIDE it to clean it!)

OH quite likes the idea of fleece/vetbed because the amount of animal waste we have atm.. We might as well be a pet store :/

Thank you in advance for replies! I feel like such a newbie right now!
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. I think it is great you do not want to use shavings as they are very unhealthy for piggies. There is no bedding you can leave for more then once a week. I use towels with vetbed on the top. It is hypoallergenic, soft,cosy,tidy. I remove poops three times a day and wash it all every three days at 60 degrees. Buy a horse washbag to wash it in and your washing machine will be fine.
 
Thank you! :D One of my piggies, Marble, is a sneezer. She sometimes chokes on her food a little but I've noticed her sneeze a bit too. She's fine, no infection.. I can only assume it's from the dust (even though they're dust-extracted woodshavings.. They're full of dust!)

Do you mind if I ask where you put their hay? One of my bunnies at the moment has a litter tray full of hay, rather than having it in her cage (she's a house bunny & has a whole room to herself, she treats her cage as a massive litter tray! Lol).. can I do this for the piggies or are they likely to chew the tray? Or struggle to get in it? :/ My bun has no front teeth so it's not really a problem for her.

Could I cut the vetbed up into smaller pieces or would that prevent it from working properly? I'd never be able to fit a whole cage-sized piece in the washing machine. Lol.

It's ok about not being able to leave it a week, as long as there's not the mess. I dislike cleaning them atm because it's a nightmare to get all the woodshavings out & it seems like such a waste every time!

I love the look of piggiepigpig's cages, but she only ever shows them right after a clean. Lol. My piggies love to chew their toys, which I imagine will make a massive mess on something like vetbed or fleece :/
 
I put the hay in a pile in the middle. They love hiding in it as well as eating it. I never bother with litter trays. It is more natural for them to just have hay in a pile.

My bunny has no front teeth either. What happened to your bunny's teeth? I put hay in his litter tray and he has a vetbed area so I put hay there too to encourage him to eat as much hay as possible.

You have to cut the vetbed for it to fit in the machine. I get mine from dogs product direct and cut it in half.

Please do not worry about mess from hay and such like. Their cage should be how they like it. Mine has hay everywhere with pieces of brown paper they have chewed. It is always messy after they have arranged it.
 
There is aubiose if you want to try something simular to shavings and then you could use it for bun too! Its a hemp based bedding which looks a lot like wood shavimgs only it is chips and there is no dust most horse suppliers stocknit and it ranges from £9-11 for giant bale.
 
Aw, my piggies are the same! They love it when I put fresh hay in, especially Marble, who will popcorn around the cage & then dive right into the pile! Hehe. Do you have any trouble getting the hay off the vetbed before putting it into the wash at all?

My bunny had them removed when she was a baby. She's a PaH adoption bunny :/ One of theirs that came in with teeth so bad! She was having her teeth trimmed every week, but they were still growing back & pushing into her gums :( Poor baby. I looked everywhere to find a nethie to be a wifebun with my current bun (he lost his friend last year). None of the rescues had any that would get on with him. I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her! She's just getting over her neuter right now, bless her. I was thinking about putting her on something different too (she's currently on woodshavings). Not sure how she'd like that though, she's a very clean bun, think she'd prefer something more obviously a substrate, rather than carpety if that makes sense? Lol.

Hehe, maybe I'll just have to take photos right after I've cleaned them :P It'll be no different to how it is now though.. All of the pets are determined to make as much mess as possible once I've cleaned them out!

Briony_y - I've heard of it, but worried it was a little too hard for them? I've read that a lot of people use horse bedding for their pigs! A few have come up in my searches. They look good but I worry there'd be a lot of waste still. I am kinda leaning towards something fabric because there's less waste for the house :/ Our bins can't cope with the amount of substrate we throw away on a weekly basis!
 
I know what you mean. I have half on fleece and two cages on aubiose as I have 6 cages and it is a toss up between washing constantly or bin fulls. It is fab for litter trays too. Much more absorbant than shavings. Do you have a pet warehouse ot something like that close by? If so those places tend to sell it and it is in clear plastic so you should be able to see it before you buy!
 
Also if you email makers of megazorb they send you a sample. Its not enough to use but you can see what it looks like. I used it for years but stopped as it is very dusyy. It is no longer recommended for small animals
 
Another coincidence, I had a guinea pig called marble! I use a brush and brush off as much hay as I can but never get it all off.

Poor bunny. That place tends to sell unhealthy animals. If your bunny is litter trained is the mess not done in the litter tray? Mine does then sleeps on the vetbed area.
 
I didn't realise that Megazorb was no longer recommended for small animals. Thank you for making me aware of this.
 
Lol, Piggyfan! What a coincidence! :D Marble is our little mischievous piggy! I love her to pieces! We got them from the RSPCA last year, they are so excited by the smallest things, apparently they'd come from a home where they just had too many & couldn't care for them all :( So fresh bedding, hay, attention, toys.. Everything makes them popcorn! Hehe. I suppose it's not too different to getting hay off the carpet. We use a mixture of dustpan/brush, picking it up with our hands & a dog slicker brush!

Yeah.. It was awful for her. She does really well though! Eats a lot of hay which has helped her back teeth a lot! The Vets are always surprised! She has a 120cm cage atm which is filled with woodshavings. She uses one corner to go to the toilet in & that's it. The rest stays pretty clean! She doesn't really need a cage that size considering she's only ever in it to go to the toilet and eat! I just feel bad giving her anything smaller, weird, right? She tends to sleep in her hay box! Silly bun <3 It frustrated me when we first got her because a lot of people (seeing how cute she is!) asked if we were going to breed her with our current bun (he's 5 & was neutered at 6mths. LOL), but the fact that her teeth were in rotten condition, it was so irritating to have to explain to people why she shouldn't be bred from! She's beautiful & has a great temperament though :D

Briony_Y - All we have locally are PaH & an independent pet store. They sell vetbed (that's a new addition) but no alternative options for small animal bedding :/ A few towns over there is a pet store, but I doubt they'd stock anything different. It's a shame about the megazorb.. A lot of people seem to like it. Am I right in thinking it's similar to carefresh? I find carefresh ridiculously dusty! I use it for my gerbils, it doesn't last long (the amounts you get for the prices are ridiculous!) & cleaning them out is awful, I have to step away every so often to breathe. Lol!

I like the C&C cages with lofts, so hay & bedding can go at the top & fleece at the bottom.. But I don't think there'd be room at the top for all 3 piggies & I kinda like that they lie in their hay! Hehe. I love the look of the all-fleece cages.. Fleece accessories and everything, but then I'd worry about their teeth :/
 
MochaMoo said:
Lol, Piggyfan! What a coincidence! :D Marble is our little mischievous piggy! I love her to pieces! We got them from the RSPCA last year, they are so excited by the smallest things, apparently they'd come from a home where they just had too many & couldn't care for them all :( So fresh bedding, hay, attention, toys.. Everything makes them popcorn! Hehe. I suppose it's not too different to getting hay off the carpet. We use a mixture of dustpan/brush, picking it up with our hands & a dog slicker brush!

Yeah.. It was awful for her. She does really well though! Eats a lot of hay which has helped her back teeth a lot! The Vets are always surprised! She has a 120cm cage atm which is filled with woodshavings. She uses one corner to go to the toilet in & that's it. The rest stays pretty clean! She doesn't really need a cage that size considering she's only ever in it to go to the toilet and eat! I just feel bad giving her anything smaller, weird, right? She tends to sleep in her hay box! Silly bun <3 It frustrated me when we first got her because a lot of people (seeing how cute she is!) asked if we were going to breed her with our current bun (he's 5 & was neutered at 6mths. LOL), but the fact that her teeth were in rotten condition, it was so irritating to have to explain to people why she shouldn't be bred from! She's beautiful & has a great temperament though :D

Briony_Y - All we have locally are PaH & an independent pet store. They sell vetbed (that's a new addition) but no alternative options for small animal bedding :/ A few towns over there is a pet store, but I doubt they'd stock anything different. It's a shame about the megazorb.. A lot of people seem to like it. Am I right in thinking it's similar to carefresh? I find carefresh ridiculously dusty! I use it for my gerbils, it doesn't last long (the amounts you get for the prices are ridiculous!) & cleaning them out is awful, I have to step away every so often to breathe. Lol!

I like the C&C cages with lofts, so hay & bedding can go at the top & fleece at the bottom.. But I don't think there'd be room at the top for all 3 piggies & I kinda like that they lie in their hay! Hehe. I love the look of the all-fleece cages.. Fleece accessories and everything, but then I'd worry about their teeth :/
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It Is teeny pieces not compact like carefresh and its way dustier. If you pm me your address i can send you the sample they sent me & sone aubiose to see what it looks and feels like? I was on a freebies emailing session wanted some grazeon but they sent me megazorb sample instead. I could pop it in post for you to help your decision?
 
Aww they sound so happy. It is great they have a loving home now and are getting the love and care they deserve.

I hate people like that. If you love your animal why would you put them through the hell of breeding. We are overpopulated with animals as it is. I get so angry when people assume I would bred my guinea pigs.

You can have wooden cabins as well as fleece things if you like.

I would not get your bunny a smaller cage either. My rabbits litter tray is meant to be a guinea pig cage.
 
We use fleece blankets for the cage, newspaper two layers, puppy pads, then a bath sheet folded in half then fleece blanket on top. The hay is in a hay rack , and toilet rolls cut in half and a bowl full at all times, they are spot cleaned 3 to 4 times a day and cleaned completely once a week, or earlier if Chloe decides to change the fleece, just because! Lol!, but we have had no smells at all, although sometimes the front room does resemble a barn yard ! More for the hay all over the floor.:oops:
 
Thank you Briony_Y.. I'm a little reluctant though if it's dustier than carefresh :/ I'll bear it in mind though :)

Aw, piggyfan, thank you :D We originally had them in a hutch outside, but they were so frightebed, we never saw them :( As soon as we brought them indoors (Don't think they were outside for longer than a week!), they started to come out of their shells more.

Baby piggies are the cutest things I have ever seen! That being said, I would much rather adopt now than get babies. People seem obsessed with breeding :(

Hehe, it's shocking the size of some cages! My hamster's cage is the size of a 'guinea pig cage'! My guinea pigs have a 5ft cage, although I'm looking at altering it (add levels to it, maybe go for c&c) & my bunny has a 120cm cage and free run of an entire room to herself! Lol. My other bun is in a 5ft cage and plays in the lounge. I hate it when people are told they can have 2 piggies in an 80cm cage :(

Guineagrandma! I love your name! I'm leaning more towards fleece atm. OH is worried about mess and cleaning so I've been looking at the pre-made liners which have several layers of absorb any materials and what not. They seem a little pricey though so will need to save up for them I think! Wish I had a sewing machine because I bet they'd be cheaper to make :/

I did have another question about washing them. My OH is reluctant to put them in the washing machine.. How easy would it be to hand wash them? :/
 
Hi, you need to wash in machine as they need 60 degree cycle minimum to get rid of the germs (as they will have been wee'd and poo'd on) You can make your own much cheaper. I have currently done one but it did take me about 4 hours lol!

With regards to looking after your washing machine use an old single duvet cover or cheap new one and put the liners inside and tie in a knot that way no hair / hay will get in your machine. If you don't want to use a duvet cover you can buy horse wash bags off internet and again just put fleece in and close so no bits get out.

I have found some piccies of megazorb and aubiose on internet which should show you what they are like as they are shown in someones hand so you can see size of bits :

megazorb : upload_2014-3-2_14-55-50.webp

aubiose :
 
Briony_Y said:
There is aubiose if you want to try something simular to shavings and then you could use it for bun too! Its a hemp based bedding which looks a lot like wood shavimgs only it is chips and there is no dust most horse suppliers stocknit and it ranges from £9-11 for giant bale.
Click to expand...
Are you.in.the free delivery area?If not what do.they charge for delivery? Am in Cumbria
 
At the minute I use puppy pads on the bottom (pack of 30 from B&M), towels on top of that, then just a simple fleece on top of that. (I get most of my fleece from B&M too, 2 for £5). I do eventually want to get some proper cage liners but until I can afford it or I invest in a sewing machine this is what I've done. I don't have many issues with smell. Mine last a week, obviously spot cleaning each day for the poops. There is a little smell on that last day but its nothing unbearable, its only if your really close to the cage you can slightly smell it.
Cage liners are so expensive, but I suppose if you think about it, your going to be reusing them for months so I dont think it would be much more expensive that using all of the paper based stuff and shavings.
Hope this helps a bit :)
 
I like fitch bedding. Very absorbant and like soft loo roll but in shreds. Mine usually just have newspaper and hay in their litter trays.
 
Briony_Y said:
There is aubiose if you want to try something simular to shavings and then you could use it for bun too! Its a hemp based bedding which looks a lot like wood shavimgs only it is chips and there is no dust most horse suppliers stocknit and it ranges from £9-11 for giant bale.
Click to expand...

That sounds very similar to snowflake, I've ordered some, I pick it up tomorrow from my petshop as they had to order it in. I'll take a photo of it once it's in the hutch. Apparently it very soft, it soaks up pee very well, locking in the odour to cut down on piggy pong! I'll report on here what I think of it after a week of using it. ;)
 
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Briony_Y said:
aubiose :
Click to expand...

This is snowflake.

snowflake-softchip-woodchips-1950g-cage-bedding-floor-cover-548-p.jpg
 
madguinealady said:
Arit you.in.the free delivery area?If not what do.they charge for delivery? Am in Cumbria
Click to expand...
No but I have about three horse shops nearby that stock It. I usually pick it up but I have found another place that will deliver for £1 so may get delivered next time.
 
Well, just finished the first week on snowflake. I must admit, I'm suitably impressed, it's very absorbent, and has almost eliminated the pee pong from the shed. The wife has even noticed how "clean" the shed smells when she's been in, so it gets 2 thumbs up from me. ;) :tu:
 
Is it as hard as it looks? I know you said it's soft.. But it looks so spikey! Lol. How big was the bag you managed to get? I'm sure a friend told me she uses snowflake with her bunnies as two of them have respiratory problems.

I'm really close to trying fleece.. I just love the colours mostly! Lol.
 
Believe it or not, it feels softer than my usual wood shavings, with the added advantage that it's heavier so it doesn't get kicked everywhere. It's been brilliant in the piggies hutch as it's stayed on the top level where I put it and hasn't all been kicked to the lower level like the shavings do. The rabbits haven't kicked it on to the shed floor like the do with shavings. ;)
 
I have finacard in my litter trays then fleece over incontinence pads.The discard is great, no dust and no smell.Only have to do my litter trays every second day.Have hay in the litter trays.Got it online
 
I've decided to go with a 5x2 C&C cage, split into two.. One side will be fleece lined & the other will be Fitch! (Hopefully!) Can anyone give me an idea of the actual size of the Fitch 20kg bag? I can't even compare it to my woodshavings cos there's no weight on the bag! I've been getting the large PaH bag.

I'm so excited! :D
 
We've just started to use Aubiose, found it in our local farm shop. Initially, I am very impressed! We are not getting the piggy pong we had before and they seem all round happier piggies! :)
Winner! :tu:
 
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