New cage question one (probably first of many!)

[Teejay]

Hi all, the bottom level of my boys' new cage is currently lined with newspaper and filled with meadow hay (a couple of inches deep). The other two levels of the cage are vetbed (top) and fleece/mattress pad cage liner (middle), so i was really keen to make the bottom level a bit more of a natural environment for them, somewhere they could forage around and do what guinea pigs like to do best!

So far, they are loving the hay and spend most of their time digging around in it......I have also been mixing their veggies in with the hay and I also mixed in some grass yesterday, cut from the garden. It keeps them occupied for hours!

So there's a lot of hay in the bottom level, and I was hoping, as I know it'll be such a messy job, to only have to clean it out and replace the hay once a week. But, because the boys are spending lots of time in the hay, they're peeing and pooing most on that level, which means that the paper under the hay is getting really wet really quickly and also it means that they're rummaging around in stinky wet hay!

They have fresh timothy hay twice a day, so I wasn't really expecting them to eat the meadow hay on the floor, but they do seem to eat it sometimes.....amazing really, cos when I used to put the meadow hay in their hayrack, they turned their nose up at it!

So, does anyone have a hay floor in their cage/hutch, and how often do you clean it out? I've tried to do a spot clean of the hay when I spot clean the rest of the cage, but it's nigh-on impossible to see the poos in amongst the hay!

Thanks for looking, Tracey

 

[Salt n Peppers mum]

I have plastic boxes (recycling boxes) filled with hay in their hayloft.

I change them everyday, because like you say they do spend a lot of time foraging in the hay which they absolutley love, and is of course a Guinea Pigs favourite pasttime - so they do lots of peeing and pooing in there too.
Hay does get smelly when wet so to keep down the odour also, piggies just get so excited about fresh hay dont they, so giving them fresh hay everyday makes me smile watching them getting excited too.

My Pepper is peeking out from his hay box

 

[Guinea pigs <3]

I too have a hay loft in my C&C cage, but i do have to change the hay every day as as you said the piggies poo and pee so much in there! It does feel like a bit of a waste but it is bad for piggies to eat dirty hay and can cause health problems.

I love your set up salt and pepper! Pepper looks so happy sitting there amongst his hay kingdom

 

[Teejay]

Hi there! Aw, little Pepper looks like he's having fun in there!

Right,so it looks like it's a complete change of hay every day then.....so much for my plans to keep my lounge reasonably tidy! :{ I have visions of finding stray bits of hay all over the house.....LOL! Memories of when I had horses.....lord knows how, but I regularly used to find bits of hay in my bra and pants!

That's a lot of hay I'll be chucking out every day, though......hmmm.....rather than fill the whole bottom level with hay, then, I might start using a big box or a cat litter tray (I have one of those spare somewhere).

Thanks for your replies, I'll do some thinking, Tracey

 

[Jules7]

If it helps I use a huge cat litter tray which I fill with megazorb and then loads of hay. They tend to spend a lot of time in there munching the hay and emptying it out the other end which seems to work quite well and makes for slightly easier cleaning! They sure are poop and peeing machines tho aren't they!