Need some Fleece advice

[EbonyRaven]

I use bedding...
AND I HATE IT.
I despise it
I curse all bedding and it's avid addiction to cling to every fabric corner of your house...


SO, I want to switch to fabirc. Only problem is? I tried it once, and it failed miserably.

My rabbit is litterbox trained, and I thought I could do the same with the piggies, but nope. They poo and piddle everywhere! I put a litter pan in the corner, and they just sleep in it, they never go to the bathroom in it. I got them cuddle cups and they like those more, but they still don't pick a designated spot.

I'm okay with the poo, it's just the pee I'm frustrated with. Any advice on what to do?


Also: Some good news!


We get to keep the piggies. All of them! 8D

 

[lissie]

How big is your cage? What did you use under your fleece? What kind of fleece do you have? There are many types of polyester fleece. I have found blizzard fleece from Joann Fabrics work best for me. Some people recommended sherpa fleece. I just ordered some during Black Friday and planning to try them.

Info on different types of fleece:
http://www.guinealynx.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26093

Did you prepare your fleece before you put in the cage? Fleece have to be washed-dry at least 3 times with detergent and no fabric softener.

For the layer under fleece, I highly recommend uhaul furniture pads. They are made of recycled denim and are very absorbent. I use 2 layers in my cage and one layer of fleece. If you sew, you can sew all the layers together to make changing the cage easier.

Cage size is an important factor in using fleece. If the cage is small, it doesn't allow the pee to spread out and will not have time to dry.

Keeping feeding area and fleece separated can also help fleece last longer. Wet hay on fleece will smell and hard to remove. You could put a cat litter box in the cage for the hay area and use recycled newspaper bedding like Purina Yesterday's News in there. It will not cling to the fabrics. Make sure to use the unscented type.

 

[lissie]

I ran out of time o edit!

To keep the cage fresher longer, you can use small piece of fleece and the uhaul pads in the sleeping areas. I find that my pigs pee a lot where they sleep. I have these beds and change the pads inside them everyday. They go into the wash with the rest of the fabrics once a week.

 

[EbonyRaven]

oh wow!

Thank you so much! this is all really useful information. I'm not good at sewing, but my grandmother can show me. We actually have some old Uhal furniture pads left over from an old move, I'll see if they're usable.

Yay! I'm going to decorate cages today!

 

[EbonyRaven]

Also, by the way.

All my cages are 8 square feet. So, since I read on the forums that the max you should wash VetBed as is 4 square feet per load, I think I'm going to do the cages in thirds. Have 1/3 a litterbox bedding style with newspaper litter, then have 1/3 fleece bedding, then the last third have the cuddlecups, beds, treatsticks/etc as vetbed.