Need advice - What is the best bedding for two long haired guinea pigs?

[midomido]

Hello everyone, I've been a mother of a Peruvian for over a year now, but recently I adopted a Sheba (yes, yes, I know I'm terrible for keeping him alone this long, but there was just no right time to adopt the second one until now). But anyways, right now I have 2 very long haired piggies...

I've been using fleece in Peruvian's bedding, however, I must say the amount of hair that's in the bedding, and then after on our clothing... We cut his hair every month but still, it grows too fast! Now with our Sheba, we'll also have the same problem. I'm still getting them accustomed to each other (as they are two boars), but in time, I'll put them in the same cage. I'm looking for ideas which bedding to choose for them, as I'm really sick of fleece bedding - laundry I don't mind, but all that HAIR!

So please let me know your experience with other types of bedding for long haired piggies.
Our cage is indoors - infact in our living room/bedroom because we live in a studio. So I really want the bedding to be smell resistant.
right now they are in different commercial cages, I'm planning to build and move them in a CC cage once they are used to each other.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Siikibam]

They will malt whatever bedding they’re on. The best you can do is shake off the fleece. Otherwise what works for you may not be the same as others

As an aside, boars shouldn’t be introduced slowly. It’s all or nothing. Depending where you adopted Sheba from, you may need to quarantine him. The cages can then be next to each other and then you need to do the introduction on neutral ground. If they get on then you can put them in the thoroughly cleaned (and rearranged) cage. 150x60cm is the absolute minimum for boys. I’ll link below threads on bonding and bedding as well.
Bedding For Guinea Pigs - Overview
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

 

[midomido]

They will malt whatever bedding they’re on. The best you can do is shake off the fleece. Otherwise what works for you may not be the same as others

As an aside, boars shouldn’t be introduced slowly. It’s all or nothing. Depending where you adopted Sheba from, you may need to quarantine him. The cages can then be next to each other and then you need to do the introduction on neutral ground. If they get on then you can put them in the thoroughly cleaned (and rearranged) cage. 150x60cm is the absolute minimum for boys. I’ll link below threads on bonding and bedding as well.
Bedding For Guinea Pigs - Overview
A Comprehensive Guide to Guinea Pig Boars
Boars: Teenage, Bullying, Fighting, Fall-outs And What Next?

I'm afraid just shaking off is not a good option for me, because our apartment doesn't have a balcony, only big windows.

and thank you for the resources, I've checked them both. I have checked many others before asking here in fact - but none of them actually mentions a "furry friend" situation. As in here, fleece is highly recommended in general but my experience with fleece is simply draining, due to the amount of hair (otherwise it's great I'd agree)

And I have finally moved the boys together, I combined their individual cage sides and the bottom is a coroplast, kind of like a recycled C&C cage
the total area is 100x100 which should be good.


Right now I just put fleece on the bottom as I didn't have any other material ready, but did a spot cleaning today morning and... OH MY GOD THE AMOUNT OF THAT HAIR Please I'm even okay with trying out a few different options but I need to know which to start with at least (since it's also not good for them if I keep changing their lining)

 

[LMPigs]

You could try newspaper with one of the disposable bedding types over it (such as hay, or others listed in the thread above). When you clean it out then you would be throwing away some of the shed hair with the bedding, rather than washing the bedding with it on. The downside could be that hay (or whatever you use) spills out from the cage over your house instead, but maybe not depending how high the corroplast is?

 

[rp1993]

I have a longer haired piggie, we started on shavings and he would always end up an absolute mess with them stuck in him and they get everywhere so I wouldn’t recommend that, we are in fleece and noodle bath mats, I find everything shakes off the bath mats a lot easier than the fleece... there is also this that dissolves pet hair in the Wash... https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/...HRb8EWvT6iJK1_7q--IaAnPUEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Siikibam]

I have a longer haired piggie, we started on shavings and he would always end up an absolute mess with them stuck in him and they get everywhere so I wouldn’t recommend that, we are in fleece and noodle bath mats, I find everything shakes off the bath mats a lot easier than the fleece... there is also this that dissolves pet hair in the Wash... https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/vamoosh-pet-hair-dissolver-100g?weight=100g?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&cm_mmc=Google-_-CPC-_- google_shopping-_-google_shopping&ita=1976&ito=google_shopping&istCompanyId=7255ccad-a1fc-4729-af31-478f79e5071c&istFeedId=385e6b9a-8b03-4076-a8bb-e4737df8549c&istItemId=itiwmiwil&istBid=tzwt&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoPL2BRDxARIsAEMm9y8J6Wpkilp5QzgqBUYXO_wJ6xUqEm1u2MZdHRb8EWvT6iJK1_7q--IaAnPUEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I’m not sure about that product. It contains bleaching agents and perfume which isn’t good for piggies. Do you use a horse wash bag?

I'm afraid just shaking off is not a good option for me, because our apartment doesn't have a balcony, only big windows.

and thank you for the resources, I've checked them both. I have checked many others before asking here in fact - but none of them actually mentions a "furry friend" situation. As in here, fleece is highly recommended in general but my experience with fleece is simply draining, due to the amount of hair (otherwise it's great I'd agree)

And I have finally moved the boys together, I combined their individual cage sides and the bottom is a coroplast, kind of like a recycled C&C cage
the total area is 100x100 which should be good.
View attachment 144679

Right now I just put fleece on the bottom as I didn't have any other material ready, but did a spot cleaning today morning and... OH MY GOD THE AMOUNT OF THAT HAIR Please I'm even okay with trying out a few different options but I need to know which to start with at least (since it's also not good for them if I keep changing their lining)

Is there any way you could Remove that middle grid so they can have more room run around? Otherwise I’m afraid they will malt regardless of whether they’re short or long haired. Perhaps get a lint roller and use it before putting in the wash. Do you use a horse wash bag or put it straight in?

 

[KathT]

My pigs moult like mad - and I have both long and short haired. I have a rubber brush which makes quick work of removing hair from fleece and you can just brush it over a bin, then sweep any hairs that landed on the floor.

 

[alpacasqueak]

Two out of three of mine moult loads too (short haired) white hairs everywhere (think actually worse than Daisy the cat and that’s an achievement!). I do the same as @KathT and have done for a few years now, really works for me (and I don’t have my own garden to shake stuff off etc).

I found woodshavings a nightmare with my hairy alpaca piggy too, I used Finacard for a long time which is a sort of shredded cardboard bedding. Only stopped because my oldies struggled to walk/run around on it as well so moved to fleece, which me and the pigs love now!
A damp cloth (or lint roller like suggested) can be helpful to get a lot of the hair off if it is causing a lot of trouble too!

 

[Alisa3114]

I have 5 long haired girls and find the bath mats are great the hair doesn't seem to stick to it and easily brushes off and I find the hair doesn't stick and comes off easily on the furry micro fleece. Another good one is Vetbed.

 

[midomido]

Is there any way you could Remove that middle grid so they can have more room run around? Otherwise I’m afraid they will malt regardless of whether they’re short or long haired. Perhaps get a lint roller and use it before putting in the wash. Do you use a horse wash bag or put it straight in?

we are keeping the grid for now in case they get into a fight or something because I can simply put the cage door back and separate them. Their relationship is still not balanced I'm afraid they never really "fought" but quarreling quite often.

And I have never heard of a horse wash bag, to be honest? I'm putting it straight in

My pigs moult like mad - and I have both long and short haired. I have a rubber brush which makes quick work of removing hair from fleece and you can just brush it over a bin, then sweep any hairs that landed on the floor.

could it be something related to the fleece I'm using because it doesn't work that way for me at all! I'm also brushing with a rubber brush, however the hair that's stuck on the fleece is stuck on there forever... sometimes it's even impossible to get it off with a lint remover.

And thank you for the recommendations! I'm ordering stuff from Ikea now and I'll add bath maths to my list! I hope this will solve the problem. I heard not very good things about wood shavings on other posts too, and they are running around a lot so I'm quite sure it'll get messy.

 

[Siikibam]

What do they do exactly when you say the quarrel? I’d consider putting in two smaller boxes so they can have one each.