Smelly Piggies!

[Laura12345]

Hi,

I have two piggies which i rescued from Sophie W(Hi Sophie its Billie and Jean I'm talking about!)

I use a combination of towels, fleece and vet bed in this order....

Newspaper on the bottom, towels, vetbed under the house and vetbed under the hay tray, and fleece on the top. I then wash in the washing machine.

Lately i seem to find i need to change the bedding every 2 or so days! Even after the first day i notice a smell especially near their house. They use that as their main toilet i think! I clean up all the poops everyday, and i just cant work it out!

They are long haired and i gave them a really good trim last weekend as its getting warmer, and i give them a shampoo and blow dry at least once a month!

If anyone has any ideas of why this may be, please share with me!

Thank you!

 

[JackyB]

Hi Laura,

I think males can scent mark their territory.

I have two females that mainly wee in their house so i put lots of newspaper under the fleece where their house is and change it everyday.

Also the heat may makes the smell worse so maybe opening the windows where they are for a fair amount of time may help?

I find doing the above really helps as i rarely smell bad odours by time it comes to the 3-4 daily bedding change.

 

[skrikopanik]

How big is the cage? In a 2x4 foot cage I think every second day is pretty standard for two pigs.

I usually put smaller pieces of feece or vetbed under houses where they sleep and change those every day. It helps! I also have a separate hayloft and change the fleece there every second day or so.

 

[Laura12345]

Thank you for your advice.

Mine are both females, i wish they didnt wee in their house so much! i will have to try changing the newspaper underneath everyday. It is always very wet when i clean them out.

I also have the back door open when ever i am home, which does help. I would like an outdoor cage for them as i think it is nice for them to be outside in the warmer months. On a budget that is my only problem!

 

[JackyB]

They can wee for england can't they lol! Yea i think try skrikopaniks suggestion of extra fleece in their house and put loads of newspaper underneath to change everyday- i think that will make a big difference for you.

Mine are indoors too and i think they are quite happy there- i don't think i'd get as much interaction with them if they were outside- cause i love just popping up to see them all the time

 

[skrikopanik]

You might want to consider something else than newspaper underneath too... I used towels for about 6 months and was happy but changed to washable incontinence pads to get less bulk. They are pretty pricey though. If you have any old towels you could try that.

If the fleece smells from the start try washing it hot (60 degrees or so) and add a glug of white vinegar where you would normally add fabric softener. It neutralises smells!

 

[Wiebke]

I was going to add the washing tip with white vinegar as well - it helps neutralising any smells in the fleece and towels.

If you want to, you can also add an antibacterial fabric solution for babies to the wash occasionally; especially if you prefer not to wash at high temperatures all the time. Even though it doesn't say on the label, you can wash fleeces at 60 or even 90 degrees if they are really badly soiled, btw.

 

[JackyB]

Ohh good tip with the vinegar- i'll have to keep that in mind

 

[Laura12345]

Thanks everyone,

I do put some vinegar in when i wash, i will try the anti-bacterial fluid as well though!

I do worry if they go outside they wont get as much attention, they do like a chat in the morning. I could hear them talking to my partner this morning as i lay in bed upstairs but he isnt as appreciative of the chat as i am! ha.

 

[Tracyxx]

I have heard that fleece can get really smelly and damp quite quickly. Have you thought of trying vetbed? I use it and I think it's fab, although still needs to be changed 4-5 days.

 

[Splat n Dexter]

I used fleece for a wee while with my two and wasn't impressed smell wise.

It was great from the daily clean up point of view; a quick brush up and that was it, done. But we'd notice a smell in under a day and the bedding felt damp. (I used newspaper, then cotton towels, with fleece on top.)

We changed over to Allbed, a type of dust free equine bedding and no more urine smell in the room! Sure, the daily clean up takes a bit longer, but I can happily live with that knowing my daughters room no longer stinks.