Outdoor Hutch/fleece/pigloos/ Shredded Paper

[guineapig101]

I apologise if this has been talked about before but I have a few questions I need to ask!

Recently my guinea pig had mini operation on her foot and we were advised to keep her away from my other guinea pig for the night so we did and then keep her out of dusty bedding when they were reunited, so I put the whole hutch on fleece. My pigs aren't strangers to fleece, their food area is on fleece,towels and newspaper anyway but their bed is straw and newspaper, however they are not used to the whole thing being fleece and are unsure where to go to the toilet and where to sleep. Does anyone have any tips on how to litter train them?

their hutch is in our shed and brought out on warm days (they go in their run when the weather is nice) and the hutch is left out overnight in the summer if it's warm enough, but i don't know what to do about the winter months? It is still fairly chilly in the shed in winter and they are used to having straw to snuggle in but If I can litter train them I want the whole hutch to stay on fleece. I've heard of people putting pigloos in and filling them with shredded paper? Is that paper I can shred myself?

sorry for the long question, well done if you've read this far and thanks for any replies!

 

[MycuteBoys]

Hi, I'm changing to fleece once my boys get the all clear from the vets because wood shavings are dusty and making my poor boys scratch all the time ( they have long coats) they live in an outside hutch which is in the garden out of direct sunlight and rain it has the proper weather cover on it. I'm getting them a piggy loo ASAP as I've noticed they only wee in two areas so I plan to put it in the corner where they wee and poop the most, yes shred up some news paper (eg in a paper shredder) ideally it's best to put the loo where they wee now if not suitable put the paper where they wee most at the moment once it's got wee on the paper put it in the piggy loo so they know where to wee you will need to keep this up until they start using the loo. If the loo is where they wee most now then put any wee soaked bedding (eg straw) in the loo they will soon use it then switch to the newspaper you plan to use in the loo.
I plan to have on the bottom of my hutch: fleece, piggy loo, hides, toys , chew things , tunnel, food bowls, water bottle. And on the top floor I'm for now going to use newspaper and hay in their bedroom, as well as their hay rake and another water bottle up there too.
I will bring them into the garage in the winter I can access the garage via the house and I will keep a small lamp near their hutch for lighting during the day (we don't put the cars in the garage) also having lots of lap time etc.
I hope that is of some help
Kell x

 

[guineapig101]

That was a big help, thankyou so much! I can't wait to get it all sorted so they have more room to play(: I think I'm a lot more confident to try and litter train them now too! x

 

[Cookie16]

We used shredded newspaper with our rabbit, it's more absorbent and softer than normal paper.

 

[Maisy and Poppy]

I would go back to bedding if they are outside as hay/straw is vital for guinea pigs to snuggle up in and keep warm. Regarding litter trays I would buy 4 (1 for each corner of the hutch) and I would put tumblefresh inside. In Spring/Summer when it is warm again then you could use fleece and tumblefresh in the litter trays. I recommend Scratch and Newton hutch covers and snuggle safe heat pads. Hope this helps!

 

[Chief Guinea Pig]

Litter training pigs is not easy at all, unlike rabbits and cats.
Where their food is, will be where they poop. So litter trays filled with hay is probably best, changed daily.