Smelly Fleece

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Teddyboys

Teddyboys

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We picked up our lovely pair of two year old boars yesterday, and already the cage is rather stinky. I have lined the cage with two towels, then fleece. There is also a hay box to one side lined with newspaper, wood shavings and hay, plus a hay rack over that.

Judging by the poos and the little white patches of wee they are just going anywhere in the cage. I've spot cleaned poos, food etc from the fleece but left the hay box pretty much as is. The fleece areas stink, but the haybox actually smells quite fresh still. We borrowed a friend's pigs two weeks ago and with newspaper, shavings and hay plus spot cleaning of very wet or pooey areas they didn't smell at all after three full days. Just a nice smell of hay and shavings.

I'm starting to think the fleece might be more effort than it's worth maybe? I have plenty of home bargains type shops near that sell cheap woodshavings and it would be a good excuse to get a newspaper every now and then if I need it for the cage.

But could the smell be scent marking in their new home?
 
Hi ,just wondered,did you wash the fleece three times and dry inbetween washes,not use any conditioner.?as the urine needs to go through the fleece onto the towels.i use a mini handheld hoover for the poops.i found this made the poop choar alot less hassell.it takes time to get used to it.my boars smell /mess more than the 5 herd of neutered boar and 4 sows. wish you luck in finding best bedding for you and your boys.x:)
 
I recently looked after 2 entire boars and they were very stinky for several days whilst they established themselves in their new territory. The larger the cage, the easier it is to keep clean usually. What are they living in? Pigs don't normally use a litter tray but they do tend so wee and poo more whilst they eat so I would suggest something like disposable puppy pads under food dishes and hay racks etc. Those can be replaced daily.

I found fleece in general to be smelly until I bought proper fleece liners with a 'Zorb' inner wadding. I now only spot clean the high use areas daily (the puppy pads get replaced and everywhere swept) but only have to change the liners once a week.

For liners, I can highly recommend C&E Cosies.
 
eileen said:
Hi ,just wondered,did you wash the fleece three times and dry inbetween washes,not use any conditioner.?as the urine needs to go through the fleece onto the towels
Click to expand...

Yes, they were washed three times without conditioner (I never use it anyway) and the fleece is wicking well. I used washable nappies on my children so washing poo and wee etc doesn't phase me!

They are currently in a 120x60 cage, which I know is small for two boars. But I am giving them plenty of exercise- I have borrowed a large run until their 6x4ft run with a 3x1.5ft hut in turns up. That way they can spend a lot of their day outside (I can cover half of it with tarpaulin so they can have a nice dry and shady area) and the run folds, so they can even get floor time on days when it is too cold and wet for outdoors.

As the hutch is basically two puppy pads in size, I might try using those under the fleece and see how it goes before I give up fleece completely in their current cage.

The long term plan is to customise a c&c cage but I need so time and money first! I'll need a big piece of plywood for it to go on, put wood round the outside so it doesn't slip off. Then I could do five grids long and two very slightly overlapping wide. Once that's set up I can make some decent fleece liners myself and some extra pads in high traffic areas like under their hay rack and food bowls etc.
 
I think a lot depends on the cage size. If it's a smallish cage I'm not sure fleece is the best option unless you are willing to do full cleans more regularly. Since they are new tho they probably are marking their territory. Mine sometimes will still do this when I do a full change so what I usually do is leave a few things in that was already there so they still have a familiar smell to it. I have hay trays but just use newspaper and hay and this gets changed out daily. I also use a handheld Hoover for the poops...makes things much quicker. I would also second having complete liners, they are soooo much easier when changing. For one of my cages I'm not using liners at the minute as I'm building a new cage so don't want to order the liners until it's done, and I have to say it's a bit of a pain tucking everything in and making it neat. The liners you just throw down and your done! Also pee pads are great (smaller versions of liners). I put them under hidies etc where they pee a lot and just change them out when needed. Definitely saves the liner. One of my cages is a 2x9 C&C with 6 piggies and while I was on holiday I used woodshavings in this cage to make it easier on my mums since with fleece I do a full change every 2 days. The woodshavings easily lasted a week with daily scooping and replacing wet patches. The room also smelt like a nice woody smell (although I do wonder if this is very strong for the piggies since they are so close to it). The piggies didn't seem to mind the shavings at all tho. They only thing I found was it was very messy. I had bits of woodshavings everywhere in the house, and then there was the full clean! It took what felt like forever and 2 black bags filled, plus I was finding woodshavings in random places for the next couple of days lol. Another thing I didn't like was when I lifted the piggies out I was covered in shavings. For me the woodshavings would be easier for the daily cleans, but I know I would dread the full cage clean, whereas I don't mind changing the fleece over since it only adds an extra 5 mins to my normal morning spot cleaning.
I've tried woodshavings, fleece, and vetbed and fleece is by far my favourite. Can't see me ever using anything else (unless I go on holiday lol). Fitch is supposed to be a good bedding, although with it being white you would notice poops easily. The snowflake woodshavings that home bargains do is actually really good, I didn't find it to be dusty at all and it only took 3 of their bags £1.79 per bag) to do a 2x9 c&c!
I would give the fleece a little longer before you decide. They probably are just marking (and it stinks!) but this should die down. I also find that patterned fleece doesn't look as messy as plain fleece. Good luck x
 
Don't give up yet!
I expected such great things when I swapped from Auboise to fleece and was initially horrified that it started to smell within a couple of hours!
But it does settle down, once everyone has sorted out their territorial 'discussions'.
These days it is much less of a problem, but I do find after a full cage clean we ahve a bit of a spray fest for an hour or two, and then it settles down again, and I can easily go for 5 - 6 days between liner changes.
The key for my lot is to always try and leave something that smells familiar in their cage - this really cuts down on the manic scent marking.
Even when I change the liner and wipe down the correx, I always leave a couple of the older pads underneath their favorite hideys etc.
 
Right, I think I'll give it a bit longer with fleece but try puppy pads underneath (not too expensive from home bargains or £1 shop with a small cage) and see if their territory marking wears off a bit. Otherwise we'll switch to woodshavings until we can build a bigger cage and I'll make fitted liners.

They clearly love the grass- I'm sure I saw Han popcorn! And he's now settled down for a little sleep with eyes closed in the house. So I'm guessing they are happy here. I'll try and get them out as much
 
Posted too soon!

...as possible when the weather allows. To be honest I'm not too sure how they were kept before they went to the rescue so not sure if they were mainly indoor or outdoor piggies.
 
Well interestingly the smell seems to have diminished a bit even though I haven't changed the fleece or the towels! Mostly all I can smell in the cage is hay.

I figured if they were scent marking it was probably best not to wash too often and to let them get on with it. I changed the hay box (taking out some hay they hadn't peed on and putting it back after cleaning) and have swept up etc but left everything else as is. I did notice that the pigs themselves smelt quite strongly when I cuddled them, but I suspect that will have worn off a bit.

They seem very settled now and run over to us when we come in the room hoping for tasty treats. They only run away from our hands when it looks like we're going to pick them up. So far they have enjoyed rocket, green and yellow peppers, mange tout, carrot, broccoli, cabbage, romaine lettuce, strawberry tops and the hulls! But courgette was very much left. As they couldn't go on the grass today I cut them plenty off and they pounced on it.
 
That is exactly what I find.
When I do a full cage clean (and it all looks gorgeous and smells so fresh) the smelliness peaks around 2 - 4 hours afterwards.
After that i keep up with daily sweeping of the main liner, relining and replenishing the hay trays daily, and only removing pads under the houses when absolutely necessary.
It is less smelly by day 2, and I only relised today that they have been on their current liner for a full week and it really doesn't smell at all.
I will change tomorrow, but I think sometimes you just need to get through that initial post clean smelliness, and then it settles down.
 
Can I just ask re the smell... could it be that your just getting used to it?
I say that through not being a pet owner til I got my piggies who live outside .
I am a huge huge dog lover but my hubby hates all pets and is very allergic to everything.
I know from friends houses and my dad's that as soon as I walk in I can smell the dogs.. that pet smell. I have noticed that when I bring in my two guinea pigs for floor time within half an hr I can smell them... and unfortunately so can my hubby. The plug in goes on in the hall.. away from them to stop the smell moving through the house and when they are back outside the air freshener comes out.... but I had every plan to move them into the spare room by the utility in the colder months. This isn't going to be a choice if I can't do something about the smell. The hutch at the moment has fleece on the top level and snowflake and hay on the lower... the fleece they love but it smells very quick. Can just changing spot pad's every day and washing stop this? Was also thinking about getting an air purifier... one that helps pet and smoke odour... has good right ups. Expensive but if it helps will be worth it so they can be indoors too for winter.... any advise?
 
Laura mason said:
I think a lot depends on the cage size. If it's a smallish cage I'm not sure fleece is the best option unless you are willing to do full cleans more regularly. Since they are new tho they probably are marking their territory. Mine sometimes will still do this when I do a full change so what I usually do is leave a few things in that was already there so they still have a familiar smell to it. I have hay trays but just use newspaper and hay and this gets changed out daily. I also use a handheld Hoover for the poops...makes things much quicker. I would also second having complete liners, they are soooo much easier when changing. For one of my cages I'm not using liners at the minute as I'm building a new cage so don't want to order the liners until it's done, and I have to say it's a bit of a pain tucking everything in and making it neat. The liners you just throw down and your done! Also pee pads are great (smaller versions of liners). I put them under hidies etc where they pee a lot and just change them out when needed. Definitely saves the liner. One of my cages is a 2x9 C&C with 6 piggies and while I was on holiday I used woodshavings in this cage to make it easier on my mums since with fleece I do a full change every 2 days. The woodshavings easily lasted a week with daily scooping and replacing wet patches. The room also smelt like a nice woody smell (although I do wonder if this is very strong for the piggies since they are so close to it). The piggies didn't seem to mind the shavings at all tho. They only thing I found was it was very messy. I had bits of woodshavings everywhere in the house, and then there was the full clean! It took what felt like forever and 2 black bags filled, plus I was finding woodshavings in random places for the next couple of days lol. Another thing I didn't like was when I lifted the piggies out I was covered in shavings. For me the woodshavings would be easier for the daily cleans, but I know I would dread the full cage clean, whereas I don't mind changing the fleece over since it only adds an extra 5 mins to my normal morning spot cleaning.
I've tried woodshavings, fleece, and vetbed and fleece is by far my favourite. Can't see me ever using anything else (unless I go on holiday lol). Fitch is supposed to be a good bedding, although with it being white you would notice poops easily. The snowflake woodshavings that home bargains do is actually really good, I didn't find it to be dusty at all and it only took 3 of their bags £1.79 per bag) to do a 2x9 c&c!
I would give the fleece a little longer before you decide. They probably are just marking (and it stinks!) but this should die down. I also find that patterned fleece doesn't look as messy as plain fleece. Good luck x
Click to expand...
Can I ask for some advice on getting the piggies hair off the fleece? I've used a sticky clothes roller and that gets some off but isn't very practical as it's time consuming and giving the fleece a good shake outside. I don't have full fleece in my piggies cage jUstinov in their bed area. Thanks
 
I only shake... brush and use a roller... can't think of anything better. Then sit there picking the rest after its washed! Be interested if anyone has something better
 
I literally just Hoover, shake, and throw in the wash. Never see any hairs when it comes out, but then I have patterned liners. Not sure how long my machine will last tho lol, but so far so good :) x
 
I haven't done it with guinea pig fur before, but for cat fur on blankets I just used a rubber washing up glove, dampened it slightly, and wiped. Gathers all the fur up really easily.
 
Teddyboys said:
We picked up our lovely pair of two year old boars yesterday, and already the cage is rather stinky. I have lined the cage with two towels, then fleece. There is also a hay box to one side lined with newspaper, wood shavings and hay, plus a hay rack over that.

Judging by the poos and the little white patches of wee they are just going anywhere in the cage. I've spot cleaned poos, food etc from the fleece but left the hay box pretty much as is. The fleece areas stink, but the haybox actually smells quite fresh still. We borrowed a friend's pigs two weeks ago and with newspaper, shavings and hay plus spot cleaning of very wet or pooey areas they didn't smell at all after three full days. Just a nice smell of hay and shavings.

I'm starting to think the fleece might be more effort than it's worth maybe? I have plenty of home bargains type shops near that sell cheap woodshavings and it would be a good excuse to get a newspaper every now and then if I need it for the cage.

But could the smell be scent marking in their new home?
Click to expand...

Boars can be VERY stinky, especially at the beginning when they are spraying their testosterone laden pee everywhere and scent marking all over the place. If necessary, wash change the fleece top every two days. The stinkiness is going to settle down somewhat over time.

Please make sure that your fleece is wicking properly (not all fleeces are equally good at that, not even when you pre-wash them properly; the best a micro or polar anti-pil fleeces) and that you do not overfill the drum when washing fleece, so there is more water injected than the fleece can suck up.
 
Just a tip but try soaking the fleeces in non bio powder with Dettol or Tesco (which is cheaper but promises the same) Antibacterial Cleanser. I have found this is really good at getting rid of the smell from fleece and towels.
 
To make sure you get all the smell out when you wash, you can put a good squirt of white vinegar into the fabric conditioner section of the washing machine (this will also help de-scale your machine), it breaks down wee remains, and helps with smell. I don't do it always, every 2nd or 3rd wash, or if I have left the change a bit longer than normal, and it smells more. You can't smell the vinegar after, so it doesn't affect the piggies' sensitive little noses.
Some people find that it is the towels that start to smell faster than the fleece, and prefer to use mattress protectors under the fleece. I haven't noticed towels smelling more, but have tried both and find that the mattress protectors tend to shrink over time (some towels do to if new) so wouldn't recommend sewing them into a liner. Zorb is supposed to be the absolute best.
Giving them more space really makes a huge difference to smell when they're on fleece, though.
 
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