Need Ideas For C&c Cage Cleanliness

[PDX Piggies]

Hi Pig Parents,

We just upgraded our two male piggies from two "typical" single-pig cages with all-litter bedding into a new medium-sized C&C cage with bedding only in the kitchen area. It has been a week now of daily cleaning in the "carpeted" area and I am regretting this move. Have been using a large bath towel which is relatively easy to fold up and shake out (then wash) but have some fleece flippers on the way. Am not keen on filling the play room with extra garbage and linen storage to accommodate. :\

Hoping to hear how you all manage the carpet poo created by two. We also have two human children under 10, so I am mostly just in need of some smart tips/shortcuts/wise buys to make this new development feel manageable within a reasonable standard of "clean" (for the pigs, and for our home).

Thank you from Portland, Oregon!
Natasha / PDX Piggies

 

[artcasper]

Hi... i use fleece throughout my c&c set up for my 2 girls. They have a hay tray at one end and most of their poop ends up in and around that area.. they get a clean hay tray twice a day. I use lots of little fleece liners over a large one (changed weekly) then others that are half a cage size, then smaller ones which can get changed daily (if peed a lot or get trashed). I store my spare liners under their cage in an understorage bed thingy so takes up no more floor space. Not really got any tips though... Good Luck!

 

[PDX Piggies]

Hi... i use fleece throughout my c&c set up for my 2 girls. They have a hay tray at one end and most of their poop ends up in and around that area.. they get a clean hay tray twice a day. I use lots of little fleece liners over a large one (changed weekly) then others that are half a cage size, then smaller ones which can get changed daily (if peed a lot or get trashed). I store my spare liners under their cage in an understorage bed thingy so takes up no more floor space. Not really got any tips though... Good Luck!

Thanks, Art. We've gone from two cats to two piggies in one year. I guess shaking out the poops isn't that different than scooping their litter box, but having it all in our active living space is a change.

 

[PerceptorII]

The nice thing about fleece is that the pee passing right through the top fleece layer into an absorbant layer beneath, keeping the top layer dry. The drawback is that the poop has no place to hide, where with bedding much of it would be kicked down under the top layer. I've kinda accepted that my mostly fleece pen needs me to pick up the poop daily. But that's all I do: pick up the poop. The fleece and underlayers only get changed once a week.

 

[HeatherRose]

I have a handheld vacuum that is designated just for poop, I vacuum the cage once a day and it keeps the poops under control. I also have a tray under the hay bin and where the food is that catches most of the poop and pee. I made fleece liners for it that I change every other day. I have children (3 and 5 years old), the cage is in the 5 year old’s room

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

I use old padded incontinence mattress protectors and seat pads as underlay to the fleece for the areas my piggies are peeing in most often (mostly the sleeping areas), but most members use disposible puppy pads under the fleece. It depends on how busy you are and how many guinea pigs you have! Puppy pads will cut down on your washing load.

It is advisable to 'poo patrol' the fleece areas daily; since the poos cannot mix with the bedding, they stand out more and are their smelliest between 1-2 days old. Make sure that you always wash your fleece without any softener so any fluid/pee gets wicked away into the absorbent underlay.

Better wash your fleece at a higher temperature from time to time to minimise the build-up of bacteria. Non-bio soap is better with fleece than bio. Shake the fleece out well before putting it in your washing machine and if necessary use a fabric bag to wash it in to prevent debris from clogging up the filters.

How often you change your fleece depends on how sensitive to smells you are; some members change every two days, but twice weekly seems to be the norm.

Tips on bedding and bedding care: Bedding For Guinea Pigs - Overview

 

[flowerfairy]

I have a c and c cage for my herd of 7.

I use fleece in the middle third where their beds are and put noodle mats under the beds on top of the cage liners. These are all shaken out daily (liners and mats). The mats get wet more quickly so are changed every few days, the liners last up to 5 days.

They also have two hay tray areas where I put newspaper down and hemp bedding and hay in the trays. I change on area each day. Primrose in one hay area

Tani in the other one plus a shot of it newly cleaned out

The bed area (in the middle section of the cage)

 

[fanniephina]

Hi Pig Parents,

We just upgraded our two male piggies from two "typical" single-pig cages with all-litter bedding into a new medium-sized C&C cage with bedding only in the kitchen area. It has been a week now of daily cleaning in the "carpeted" area and I am regretting this move. Have been using a large bath towel which is relatively easy to fold up and shake out (then wash) but have some fleece flippers on the way. Am not keen on filling the play room with extra garbage and linen storage to accommodate. :\

Hoping to hear how you all manage the carpet poo created by two. We also have two human children under 10, so I am mostly just in need of some smart tips/shortcuts/wise buys to make this new development feel manageable within a reasonable standard of "clean" (for the pigs, and for our home).

Thank you from Portland, Oregon!
Natasha / PDX Piggies

I'm still new here and adding to this cage but have 3 girl babies and this seems to be working. We do have them out quite a bit with us and cuddle them on our family room couch in blankies-they seemed to really enjoy this so we created a place in the family room with us. They seem to automatically use the litter in their 'kitchen area' where the litter is. I do vaccuum with a small attachment twice daily but only in the few spots they tend to drag the litter around when running and it really isn't much. As others mentioned, and what I've learned, I use puppy pads under the fleece but to be honest, they don't require changing if not near the litter. Fleece was expensive so I bought marked down cotton/fleece blankets from dollar general for $2 a piece after christmas. Saved a bundle and they are just the right size (cage is now 2x5). We kept our original cage with litter and basics on the side in case one may seem to need privacy but they also have 'field trips' (one at a time) to my daughter's room upstairs where her sweet monster cavy runs free and has an open cage she goes into whenever she wants :-). They never have accidents; Gracie upstairs seems to know to go in her cage for litter and eating.

Lots of great ideas here really. I think they can tell you what they like most and what's going good for them. Congrats on your new babies!