Newbie questions

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StarGirl

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Hello

My hutch is here! I'm so excited :(|) I was wondering, is it a good idea to line the bottom of the cage (with lino?) to make it easy to clean, or will this make the cage cold, or stop the wood 'breathing' or something?

Also, I am planning to get my mother in law on the case for fleece liners. Can anyone suggest where I would buy the wadding or other material to make it absorbent? Is it just fleece and an absorbent layer?

Advice/suggestions gratefully received!
 
Hey! Welcome to the forum :)

I have an indoor cage, so cant really offer too much advice. I'm sure someone will come along soon with some great idea's for you!

I used to have lino at the bottom of my indoor cage, with newspaper and fleece over the top and my little guys were nice and warm. I think lino outside would be fine too, especially if you're using wadding and fleece - but again i bet someone else on here would be able to tell you for sure.

I would try ebay for wadding, or find your local fabric store in town?

Good luck with everything! x
 
StarGirl said:
Hello

My hutch is here! I'm so excited :(|) I was wondering, is it a good idea to line the bottom of the cage (with lino?) to make it easy to clean, or will this make the cage cold, or stop the wood 'breathing' or something?

Also, I am planning to get my mother in law on the case for fleece liners. Can anyone suggest where I would buy the wadding or other material to make it absorbent? Is it just fleece and an absorbent layer?

Advice/suggestions gratefully received!
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First thing I will say, you can't really treat a hutch like a cage, that's my only concern with reading your post.

Anyway, lino won't make the cage cold, no, but you'll have to have it fitted properly, and a fair way up the sides and back helps because they're inquisitive little sods, they will try to eat anything new, even plastic! So I'd line it as far up as you can afford to. Don't just think the self-adhesive stuff will suffice, you should use some tacks as well (Like These) to hold it firmly onto the wood so it doesn't peel off after a while. It'll keep the wood from rotting so quickly from the piggy pee so it'll help it 'breathe' in that sense, so long as your pigs can't pee directly onto the wood underneath, then you might have problems, hence why I said tacking it down.

I'm not one who is for using fleecing for these animals in any environment, so I personally would not advise using it in a hutch unless you are prepared for a lot of cleaning and changing because not only will it likely be peed and pooped all over, you'll have to deal with rain coming in if you don't have a good cover too so I'd invest in either making one from some plastic sheeting/tarpaulin, or buying one.

Hope that's helped you a bit!
 
Can't advise on the hutch as mine live indoors but I do use fleece and attached a fabric mattress protector to it for absorbency. I currently change mine every 7 days but might have to do it more often now there's four of them lol
 
lilmisscavy said:
I'm not one who is for using fleecing for these animals in any environment, so I personally would not advise using it in a hutch unless you are prepared for a lot of cleaning and changing because not only will it likely be peed and pooped all over, you'll have to deal with rain coming in if you don't have a good cover too so I'd invest in either making one from some plastic sheeting/tarpaulin, or buying one.
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Hello, thanks for your comments. Do you mind me asking why you are against fleece? This is my first time at keeping guinea pigs so it is all new to me!

Rain won't be an issue as the hutch will be indoors, but the cold is more likely to be a problem over the winter. But I have bought a backup cage in case temperatures drop too low. I guess that's probably why I kept writing cage in my post, so sorry for any confusion!

Do you think it is best not to line the hutch at all?
 
StarGirl said:
Hello, thanks for your comments. Do you mind me asking why you are against fleece? This is my first time at keeping guinea pigs so it is all new to me!

Rain won't be an issue as the hutch will be indoors, but the cold is more likely to be a problem over the winter. But I have bought a backup cage in case temperatures drop too low. I guess that's probably why I kept writing cage in my post, so sorry for any confusion!

Do you think it is best not to line the hutch at all?
Click to expand...

Many members line hutches with Lino - if the hutch is inside, I see no reason why you can't use fleece but if they are in a garage or out house you will need to provide a good amount of bedding hay to keep them warm. This could be a bit of nightmare as hay sticks to fleece.

In my cage I have a separate hayloft which I use finacard in at present - however it's not the best bedding I have used but it does the job if cleaned regularly and keeps the hay off my fleece (which is now VetBed) I prefer it a lot more!

HTH
 
Hi!
I have an outdoor hutch.
I think yes, you should use lino. You may have heard woodshavings cause respirotary problems but ive had them for 3 years and i have had no problems. The thing with using fleece is that in the winter it wont be warm so your piggies can snuggle up in it.
When you say rain is no problem and your hutch is indoors what do you mean. I put my hutch in the garage with a cover over it in the winter.

good luck !
 
iluvguineapigs said:
When you say rain is no problem and your hutch is indoors what do you mean. I put my hutch in the garage with a cover over it in the winter.
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We have a verandah next to our kitchen and dining room and the piggies will be there, it is very light as the roof is opaque glass, but it is not heated which is why I am concerned about the cold in winter. I was planning to put lots of hay and one of those microwaveable pads in their sleeping compartment. I guess I could just use fleece in the main compartment?

I was thinking I would use the self adhesive tiles, will these not be good enough then? What would I use instead, sheets and glue/tacks?
 
When I bought my first outdoor hutch I made the mistake of lining it with newspaper - I just recently upgraded my piggie palace and was gifted some lino cut offs from a friend who had new flooring put down...i can honestly say it is THE BEST decision I ever made. It makes cleaning an absolute joy, and makes the hutch smell a lot nicer.

I also swapped from using wood shavings, to shredded paper - and find that if you lay it thickly it absorbs most of the moisture. I clean mine out 2-3 times per week (and do a daily tidy). Shredded paper is also great for them snuggling down in. I have a couple of cardboard boxes full in amongst the "living room" area of their hutch.

For the piggy boudoir I use fleece on top of vet bed. Yes it does require cleaning, but I find brushing it every day or so keeps it fairly clean!
 
Thanks for this, so how did you attach your lino?

I'm thinking now that I will put newspaper and shredded paper in the living room like you say. But how do you mean, fleece on top of vet bed? Do you have fleece cozies in your piggie bedroom? As I'm dying to get some but now I'm worried it won't work with a hutch, as I was going to put lots of hay in the bedding area :(
 
O it is a complicated business setting up your piggies home isn't it?

I too have indoor piggies so can't offer a great deal of advice.

I think it sounds like a good idea to line the cage so pee doesn't damage the wood. Then I would use a layer of news paper, layer of old towels and then fleece. Like you say you could have this in the main compartment and then you could maybe use newspaper, sawdust/shredded paper, and lots of hay in the bedroom. You could also insulate the bedroom area with a cardboard box. Have a look at this thread for another idea http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=67742&highlight=insulation

As you would like to get cosie cups and things I don't see why you couldn't get them and have them in the main compartment. Then the piggies can choose where they would like to lie. If they get chilly they can go to the bedroom :) Here is a website for cosies http://www.thimbellina.com/ It is a member from this sites website.

Your main compartment if you do use fleece you will probably need to do a poop clean up a couple of times a day. Hopefully you piggies will use the bedroom to pee as they sit and eat their hay (of course they wont always pee their). Then you can change the fleece maybe every few days.

I hope this helps :)
 
I attached the lino with some double sided tape - I didn't want to nail it down etc as I'd like to be able to easily replace it every few months without ruining the hutch. If you take your time at fitting and measuring it properly and fitting it tight into the corners etc (the OH came in handy for something!) you should find they don't munch on it. (so far mine haven't!)
In the bedroom area of the hutch i have vetbed on the base with a fleece blanket over the top of it !
 
Hiya I bought some cheap lino adhesive tiles (8 for £1.99) and have stuck them down in all my hutches, cleaning is a doddle you just spray and wipe dry.
 
Bit of topic but just an fyi:

I got lino from carpet world when I was back home in Altrincham visiting my family. They had huge off cuts outside. I got something like 2 square metres, it could have been more, can't remember but it was £10.

Although I'm not in the business of lino seemed pretty cheap to me :)
 
I have a four tier wooden hutch in my...ahem...dining room and I've lined it with sticky back plastic from a diy store. It's worked a treat and I was a little concerned that they would have a chew at it but it's fine, no nibble marks, and I still use a good layer of newspaper on top then hay.

I liked the idea of using it to help stop urine soaking into the wood and the hutch becoming really smelly. Wouldn't have done it if it was outside but because it's inside the house I wanted to give it a try.

Jenny xx
 
I am a big, big fan of wood shavings, I buy the one that has all the dust taken out. My hutch has metal inserts on the floors, I thought most have that nowadays. I line the hutch with plenty of newspaper, that insulates, then lots of wood shavings,you can't beat that combination,it always smells lovely and fresh.
I bought Vet Bed Gold last winter(cost £65) to try as an experiment but it was a disaster, it stunk after a few days and you can never get the hay off of it for washing. Best points about Wood Shavings are :
1. The poops are buried underneath(most of them anyway)
2. Lovely fresh smell
3. Just scoop out the wet patches by grabbing a handful and replace with dry.
I buy a huge bale from my local farm, they use it for horses.
 
Hi

my boys live outside in a two tier hutch in the summer and are coming in to live in a home made cubes and correx (C&C cage) for the winter

I personally wouldn't line my hutch with lino, just in case there is ever a problem with mites/lice etc I wouldn't want to be trying to rip up a load of lino to get to the wood underneath. Also depending on how well the lino is fixed to the hutch you run the risk of damp/urine/poo or food getting between the hutch and lino.

My hutch floors aren't bare wood and have a coating on them which does make it easier to clean. Having said that I have had hutches without and have never had a problem cleaning them. I used to remove all the bedding, brush out the hutch, spray with a hutch cleaner, wipe and leave to dry. During the summer the whole hutch would be cleaned with a pet safe disinfectant and left to dry.

I use a thick layer of newspaper followed by eco pet bed (dust extracted squares or cardboard) and then hay on top. In the areas I know my guinea pigs pee and poo a lot I put a layer of papelit liter pellets under the cardboard and it really absorbs the wee. I clean them out fully about every 5 days.

I have never had any problems using this type of bedding in a hutch its easy to use, absorbant, isn't dusty and all goes in my recycling bin :)

I wouldn't personally wouldn't use fleece in a hutch, totally different than an indoor cage made from cubes and correx as you have no sides in a hutch and therefore its a lot harder to get your fleece to stay in place. Without wishing to sound rude I thick a cage liner would be a waste of money for a hutch but a great idea if you plan to have an indoor C&C (cubes and correx cage).

Hope this helps

Claire
 
Hello, thanks for all your responses! I've had the piggies for just over a month now. :)

Just to update in case others are interested. I ended up buying some hardwearing flooring for £10 from a carpet shop which is doing a fantastic job. It's the sort of flooring they use in pubs, extremely tough, and I have stuck it down with double sided carpet tape, then built the hutch (so effectively the sides of the hutch hold it in place and there is nowhere it can peel up) and used aquarium sealant round the edges.

I decided against fleece although may consider this if I bring them in for winter as the verandah is starting to get cold now. They do have fleece cosies and tunnels which are doing a great job of keeping them warm.

I put loads of newspaper on the floor of the hutch, then lots of hay in the sleeping compartment and megazorb in the main compartment.

This is all working really well although I haven't been able to buy megazorb that cheaply!
 
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