Moving to fleece

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MarkJ

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Hi all,

I'm a relatively new owner of two male piggies (around a month) and now I've been on the forum a couple of days, I'm looking at changing how my cage is set up.

Currently, it's a mixture of sawdust in the corners as that appears to be the fave toilet places, with hay and shredded paper for the rest.

After seeing a lot of setups using fleece, I've decided that's the way forward, looks more manageable and more comfortable, so I purchased a batch of fleeces and towels from Jysk (currently on offer, fleeces 1.3x1.6 at £1.69 and bath towels at £1.49) and they're currently going through a 3 cycle wash.

Anyway, getting to the point, the plan is to lay towels on the base with the fleece on top, but I was just wondering whether you would do anything specific in the corners (toilet areas), such as small trays, or whether it's better to leave it as is?

Thanks,

Mark
 
if the corners were the most used it might be an idea to buy cat litter trays (or the specific litter corner trays at pet shops and fill with sawdust and/or hay so they can munch and wee and you replace each day.

I do wonder if they have just been hiding more in the corner so have been going there while they settle in, as most tend to go where the please - all mine are partially litter trained but tend to still poo and wee around the pen.

The one thing I had noticed is where they will be sitting to eat is where they will do a lot of weeing, they are lazy creatures and will not move off to go, they just go as they eat or even sleep. So where I put hay racks I put litter trays underneath so it takes most of the mess, and I put two towels underneath where the beds are, changing the beds when they get dirty quicker (so I have lots of sets of beds for both groups).

Glad you are washing them several times first, are you using softener free? I use non bio liquid for my pigs washing (without softener) just so its gets the wet to wick through the fleece.

I have found it much easier with fleece, I have my herd outside and downstairs is shredded teabags and newspaper underneath but upstairs is fleece, they tend to get messier downstairs and the fleece stays nice and dry for them to walk over longer than the paper, when they come in the whole pen is fleece and its much simpler to empty trays and brush up poos
 
Occasionally i add a small flannel to the odd corner, to add a it more comfort to make sleeping areas and to absorb the wee there so it stays dryer,

I don't bother with litter trays etc. as i don't really see the point, with or without them cage needs a daily sweep, and with them you have the cost of bedding to fill them which is an added cost on top of the fleece you use to save money in the first place !

It's a case with when you start with fleece just trying to find what suits you, i've tried newspaper under fleece and things like that but now i've settled on just a fleece and a towel and thats it, works fine for me (:
 
Thanks for the replies and the advice.

Never thought of a litter tray, which would make some sense under the hay basket and water, and potentially it could house the food bowl as well.

Like you say, I've noticed around the food bowl gets quite soiled, but their bed areas not so much.

Only have the one piggie to think about now as Rascal passed away last night at the vets..only had them a month, so not a great start to my piggie ownership.

Thanks once again for the advice. Oreo will have the run of the new place to himself.
 
Oh I am so sorry you lost your pig so soon.

That is terribly sad and poor Oreo on his own.

I know it's horrible to say this right now but Oreo will need a friend when you are ready. There are lots of rescues around that you can take Oreo to to make friends.

so sorry for you for loss tho. Did the vet say anything about what was wrong?

x
 
sophieandhoney said:
Oh I am so sorry you lost your pig so soon.

That is terribly sad and poor Oreo on his own.

I know it's horrible to say this right now but Oreo will need a friend when you are ready. There are lots of rescues around that you can take Oreo to to make friends.

so sorry for you for loss tho. Did the vet say anything about what was wrong?

x
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm due to pick Rascal up on my way home from work, but talking the vet this morning, there was nothing that they found to be the cause root cause, other than an infection.

I need to talk to my daughter this evening in regards to getting Oreo a companion, but she was so upset on the phone when I spoke to her earlier, I think it will be a while before a decision is made.

I think we need to careful with picking a friend and the nearest (dedicated) rescue centre is around 40 miles away, albeit there is a RSPCA close by.

Thanks again.
 
I always have towels on the 4 corners and would change it every 2 days. It keeps the towels below from getting wet too fast; And not getting smelly too so the whole setup could last me ~ a week. I would change everything every week once.

Speaking of which, sorry to hear about your loss :(
 
I use the same exact method as you, fleece on top washed 4 and dryed 4 times before using and then 2 layers of towels underneath that. I DO use doggy taining pee pads for 2 corners, my piggy pees in the corner 90% of the time and makes it that much easier to clean for me. You can get a package at petco for like 7$ and then cut one into 6 pieces and saves even more money.
 
The move to fleece and towels is going well, both Oreo and I are happy with the move! :)

I've got a layer of towels underneath the fleece and the fleece covers the whole inside and overhangs on the outside, so all walls covered. This also allowed the towels to sit up the side walls a little too.

I've got face cloths in the corners (£2 for 10 at Jysk), which work quite well.

I'm finding the clearing of pellets such a breeze on the fleece, just use and old spoon, which allows me to do it every morning and evening, as opposed to the sawdust, where it was like playing spot the poo. :-).

Overall, very happy so far.....might be different story come the first fleece change this weekend. :-)
 
You could buy some sample lino tiles to place in the corners (aslong as Oreo can't get to them) I'm doing this at the moment and it seems to protect the cubby house floor pretty well, but he isn't pooping or weeing in the area were the lino is hidden underneath newspaper! (I think Spunky is on to me...)
 
Hi everyone,

MarkJ has really answered all my questions i was going to ask. Could someone in the nohow answer some more for me. I now have my grids and Hubbie is on the way making a base for me. I suppose I think of fleece as being unconventional to shavings but I am going to give it a go. Do you put the flannels over the fleece or under the fleece in between fleece and towel?

In the warm weather like now do they not get hot lying on it as sometimes they lie just on the plastic cage base to keep cool?

Does the fleece make them have a wet bum? Will they like it or notice the difference?

Sorry, born worrier just want to do right by them.

My cage is 5 x 2' by the way.

Will be glad to hear. Silly
 
Hiya everyone,

I am new to owning Guinea Pigs too but wanted to say I moved to fleece and have 2 Guineas, and find the sweeping and cleaning much more cost efficient than sawdust. At first I noticed if I wanted to keep smell to a minimum I had to wash the fleeces everyone couple of days.

However, I have just started using a cat litter tray and noticed tha they go in that for most of their wees and even poos now. As long as I empty that daily their fleece lasts much longer and they seem much happier on the soft fleece. :)

I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your Guinea Rascal :( *Hugs*
 
Thanks Vanessa,

I use face cloths in the corners and just replace those regularly, which manages to keep the smell down. :)
 
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