Some ponderings from a newbie and advice welcomed!

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Teejay

Teejay

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hi all, I had 2 young male GPs at Xmas (prezzie from my lovely OH), who are currently being housed in our dining room in a new 4'6" double-decker hutch, which will go into the garden when the weather warms up.

The hutch has quite a large sleeping area, far too big to cram full of snuggly bedding, so I've put a pigloo in the sleeping area so that the piggies can get cosy and feel secure.

So, at the moment, I'm using shredded paper (from work) or meadow hay in the pigloo (I use paper one day, then hay the next, cos they just eat the 'bedding' hay), and folded sheets of newspaper on all of the hutch floors. That seems to work for me.....I'm a bit of a tidy freak and the newspaper flooring is very tidy, absorbant, the piggies seem to like chewing on it, and is easy to clean out.

Although it seems fine to me, and they seem happy enough, can you please advise whether this bedding arrangement is ok for the piggies? If what I'm using is not ok, what would be better?

At the moment, I'm considering the practicalities of different types of bedding for when the hutch is outside:
Shavings we used shavings to start off with (in an indoor cage), but I'm not keen on them - they go absolutely everywhere, and unless I buy in bulk, they're expensive cos I clean the hutch out every day, and I don't really have anywhere to store a large bale of shavings. Plus, I've read about the health problems they can possibly cause in piggies.
Meadow hay - I've seen pictures of people using this as flooring for the whole hutch, but don't the piggies just poo and pee in it and then eat it, poo, pee and all? Also, doesn't it get very expensive if you're having to replace all of the hay every day?
Shredded paper (from work) - I have tried using this on the floors of the hutch while it's been indoors, and it's ok....much tidier and easier to clean out than shavings, it's pretty absorbant, and cos I get it from work, it's free......but I'm not sure it's good for the piggies long term? Also, I assume it would just get blown about in an outdoors cage?

Sorry, so many questions........also, I'm puzzled by the use of fleeces for GP cages......mine just poo and pee where they stand, so how do people get on with fleeces? Don't they pong? Or are fleeces only used for piggies who have been litter trained? I assume that you'd have to have loads of fleeces so that it can be changed every day? Just wondering really?

I like the idea of my piggies having a fleece to snuggle down into, so would a fleece be suitable for the sleep area of an outdoor hutch?

I'm sure I'll have stacks more questions soon!

Tracey
 
Tracey- youve just asked lots of the questions ive been wondering, so will await answers too:{
 
I have my trio on fleece, it gets changed completely every 3 days and I remove poops at least twice daily. In my experience it doesn't smell at all, I used to have my boys on woodshavings but they were so messy and didn't agree with my piggies at all, I changed to fleece and have never looked back! My pigs don't snuffle or sneeze like they used to whilst on woodshavings.
 
Hello Tracey and welcome to the forum,

I'm laura and have two boars too, Harvey and Artie who live in my shed, in a double hutch. I’ll try to help you as much as I can, as I have tried a number of different bedding and types.

The Pigloo is a great idea, I'm sure they love it, as mine do too.

Guinea Pigs need unlimited amount of hay everyday so if you like the hutch to be tidy and clean you could try using a hay rack and a tray underneath to catch the stray falling hay, this also works well when using fleece!

I found putting my boys on just paper and hay became pricey esp as the boys are getting bigger, and eating like two little horses so i have since switched to a product called VetBed, which is fantastic, it’s similar to fleece but also its like carpet in the way it looks, how it works is the top layer of the vetbed stays dry and any water just wicks away underneath, you would need newspaper under the vetbed to soak up any water.

However the initial start up cost can be pricey, although I have just purchased vetbed half price on ebay which cost me £20 which covers the top and bottom level of my hutch, but in the long run it is far cheaper to maintain.

Vetbed does need washing every 4 days, if you have two piggies, and it makes cleaning so much easier – just wipe off the poops and your done!

If you don’t think vetbed is for you, you could try fleece, but you do need an absorabnt materiel underneath the fleece such as inconatance pads or puppy pads and then a layer of newspaper. Fleece will need washing too, every 3-4 days, but is cheaper and easier to get hold of. You don’t need loads of fleece, just fleece to cover your hutch and a spare set for when its in the wash.

Vetbed:
newvetbed.jpg


Hay and Wood Shavings, very expensive I found £20 a month to keep up with the hay and shavings etc.
thenewhutch.jpg


I also have on my hutch floor, is self adheisive tiles from B+Q bought 3 value packs, and this has made sure the wood of my hutch doesn’t become damp, and makes sweeping any hay/ poop easier, as well as when washing the hutch out the hutch becomes drier quicker, here a photo of the tiles in my shed, I also use these tiles in my hutch too:
Shedpinkness.jpg


Heres a good review thread for more info on all types o bedding:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53208

I found the garden did get messy, with shaving and hay, and it was expensive to keep going, i think you should try a few out and see which one works best for you. Good luck :)
 
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Hi Tracey
I used to have mine on newspaper which worked well, but Cheryl who is a self cream slowley turned black from the newspaper print.she looked really dirty and no matter how much i bathed her it didnt come off.
After joining this forum i got a lot of good advice and ideas and switched to fleece. Primark sell a pack of 2 for £4 which i find ok. I completely change the fleece evertday as they are indoor piggies and tend to smell.mine poo loads. I find its just as time consuming to spot clean as to change the whole thing. and i have nespaper underneath, which i change every 2 days.
Hope this helps. x
 
Also forgot to put, you could try what I have done which is:

Top of Hutch:
Vetbed/Fleece use as play/sleep area
Bottom of hutch:
Use paper based bedding and place all the food, hay (in rack or tray if you want to to stop the piggies peeing on the hay ) and pellets and water.

This way it's a little cheaper in the set up, and you dont have as much washing to do, it also means that the top part of the hutch wont be covered in hay and food etc so it makes it easier to clean.

Just an idea! :)
 
You can use fleece over a layer of shreeded paper. I know of at least one forum member who uses shredded paper getween two layers of newspaper, topped by fleece for a more comfy surface.

Please be aware that you can only use fleece without softener in the fabric, so you need to prewash any fleece. Never overfill the machine, or your fleece will come out stinky. Also shake it out and remove the biggest hay bits. More tips you can find in the housing section.

I have fleece over towels with newspaper at the bottom and change very two days. For the hay trays I use newpaper, woodchips (to keep the smell down) and a layer of cheap hay. Some of my piggies love to live/sleep on hay... The good stuff goes in the edges or in hay racks.

I have pigloos, woodlog tunnels (you buy them flat in p@h in the rabbit section), wooden houses built by my hub... something for everypig!
 
Hi and welcome,

As usual I'm too late and far more experienced people have answered your question much better than I can.

Just to let you know what our two boars have. They're cage-living boars but you can use the same bedding.

Our boars (Biscuit and Caramel) have a bottom layer of vet-bed. It's like really thick, fluffy fleece and keeps in heat and is absorbant. On top of that they have a fleece blanket. Every few days (3 -4 days) I do a spot clean and change the fleece blanket but the bottom layer of vet-bed only needs changing every week to 10 days. This way we only use hay for food.

They each have a fluffy tube/tunnel as a house inside their cage and a chew toys, a food bowl for their pellets and one for fresh food and alfalfa. This way that can stay cleaner for longer, it's pretty comfortable and warm and is less work for us :)
 
Oh AND each piggy gets one corner of their cage laid down with toilet roll. It doesn't work 100% but they do do the majority of their business there. This gets changed every day which takes two minutes and helps keep the number of droppings down :)
 
Wow, so many replies, thank you! This forum is great!

So, fleece seems to be quite a popular choice........I am liking the idea of it, it sounds like it'd be much cheaper in the long run and nicer for the piggies.

Carly, yes, I've noticed that Pudding, who has a white nose, seems to have developed a couple of grey inky smudges.....lol....nothing too major, but it's obviously from the newsprint.

I've taken a picture of how the hutch is today (indoors):
Hutch16111.jpg


And here are the pampered piggies who take up so many of my waking hours!
16111.jpg


Ignore the hanging ladder clip; it looks worse than it is! It's not actually hanging over the pigs when they use the ladder, it just looks like that from the picture! It's actually out to the side. I'm struggling to think of how to keep the clip out of the way......because of where it's located, I don't think it's a danger to the piggies, but you never know!

Squeak (the tri coloured piggy) is being quite dominant and won't let Pudding into the sleep section sometimes, so I've put the pigloo down onto the bottom level so that Pudding can get some peace, bless him!

I've customised a cardboard box to make a hidey-hole in the sleep section and also put the log tunnel in there, for the odd occasions when Squeak lets Pudding in there! The hay-rack is upstairs and the food and water are downstairs. Those small cube things on the upstairs floor are alfalfa bales.

Looking at the picture, though, it does look very bare and uninspiring to me (but then, I'm not a guinea pig!)....does anyone have suggestions as to how to make it more fun for my lads?

Oh, and the floor in the bottom level is removabe, so when the cage is outside they'll have direct access to the grass. We're planning to build a huge run as well, which will attach to the hutch, so the boys can stretch their legs even more!

Tracey
 
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Awww Tracey your boys are gorgeous, and have sweet names too x) I also love your hutch it's huge, you certainly have two very spoilt piggies! :))

I found my boys love cardboard boxes which i pick up on my weeklyshop in morrisons, and i cut out two entrances for them to play hide and seek in, zooplus also have a great range of piggie toys, treats etc:
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/small_pets/accessories
 
Hiya! Thanks, I think they're gorgeous too! They're so funny......if they're not in the mood for human contact, they lurk on the ramp thinking I can't get to them there.......

Thanks for the link; I looked at Zooplus when i was hutch shopping, it's really cheap isn't it?

Tracey
 
Yeah Zooplus is great and they do have sales on quite oftern too, so i try to only look at zooplus when i really need to otherwise my bank card's not happy with me :))
 
Hiya!

Right, I've been doing some reading, and I'm really seriously thinking about using either fleece or vetbed.

If I used fleece, I'd only use it in the sleep section first, just to try it out. I'd really love to bunch it up in the sleep section so the boys can really nest into it, rather than just use it laid out for flooring. Would that work, a fleece crumpled up on top of a folded towel and some newspaper?

If I decided on Vetbed, I'd have to invest about £30-odd in two large pieces (one to wash & one in the hutch), which I'd cut to shape round the ladder hole and which would fit edge-to-edge of the top level of the hutch, so it'd be like a fitted carpet and hopefully wouldn't slip...lol!

I prefer the idea of VetBed to fleece, TBH (apart from the higher cost of course!) but is VetBed suitable for an outdoor hutch? I can't think why it woudn't be, but there may be some reason for it not being suitable.

I wouldn't bother with getting enough VetBed for the bottom level, as, in the summer, that'll be on the grass, and in the winter, I can use newspaper and put all the hay and feed down there.

Tracey
 
I honestly can’t recommend going to vetbed or fleece enough, it’s a wonderful bedding option, as it saves on money and keeps the piggies warm and cosy.

You could use fleece as a blanket, although the towel would end up soggy after a day. I’d suggest having a layer of fleece ontop of the towel, as the fleece will still dry when they urinate on it and go straight to the towel underneath so only the towel is damp, not the fleece, and then you could have the crumpled fleece for them to snuggle under. I used to have a snuggle blanket for the boys and it hardly got dirty, i washed it once every two weeks as they used it to go onto of them rather than them lying on it.

Vetbeds really good, i love it it lasts longer too if cared for properly (no using fabric softers) upto three years or longer, whereas fleece would need replacing after a while, and you just need one piece no towels just newspaper. I have no slip vet bed, which has a rubber bit underneath which stops the vetbed moving.
I wouldn’t see why it wasn’t suitable for an outdoor hutch, to be honest it’d be easier to whip off the hutch floor and replace when its raining in the summer rather than trying to put down sawdust and hay in the rain.

This is the non slip vet bed that i bought:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VET-BED-76cm-...7?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Dogs&hash=item4ceb8d604f

:) laura

:)
 
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Hi Laura, yeah, I've been reading loads of threads extoling the virtues of using fleece and vetbed.

I've been busy online tonight, mooching round here and on ebay @) and I did find that vetbed that you've bought, but I baulked at the high P&P charge (£6.50 for the size I need!) Anyway, I found this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160463879528&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT which would fit wall-to-wall (so to speak) and has the non-slip backing, so that should work for my hutch.

I guess I could get a couple of cheap fleeces to go on top of the vetbed in the sleep section.

Is it wrong that I'm getting excited about guinea pig bedding? :red

Tracey x
 
No, it just means you have come down with piggy addiction. Welcome to the world of piggy slaves - and welcome to the club! :(|)
 
Teejay said:
Hi Laura, yeah, I've been reading loads of threads extoling the virtues of using fleece and vetbed.

I've been busy online tonight, mooching round here and on ebay @) and I did find that vetbed that you've bought, but I baulked at the high P&P charge (£6.50 for the size I need!) Anyway, I found this one http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160463879528&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT which would fit wall-to-wall (so to speak) and has the non-slip backing, so that should work for my hutch.

I guess I could get a couple of cheap fleeces to go on top of the vetbed in the sleep section.

Is it wrong that I'm getting excited about guinea pig bedding? :red

Tracey x
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Oooo wowie, i hadn't noticed that ebay page, i may have to order myself some more from them, I found the P+P pricey too.

You can usually get fleece quite cheaply, from asda,primark, etc or if you go to your local haberdashery, you can also pick it up sometimes for cheap too.
Haha! You should off seen me waiting for the vetbed to arrive, I was bouncing up and down impatient for it to arrive!

Keep us update if you do decide to go ahead with the vetbed or other bedding idea :))
 
Many of us spend many hours thinking and talking about piggy bedding. :(|)

I would recommend that you try with a cheap fleece before you commit to the expense of vet bed. Not everyone gets on with with this type of bedding because of the washing routine. You can pick up a cheap fleece throw for a couple of pounds. :)
 
Ohhh good idea flips! :)) I didnt think to suggest trying fleece before vetbed, sorry! I'm just a wee bit excited over vetbed at the moment, it's all I'm talking about haha! :))
 
I have been drooling over vetbed for some time now, although I would only have some small pieces to make a bed area in the c & c. I don't have enough pennies at the moment though. I love what you have done with your set up in the shed. :)
 
Hi Wiebke....it didn't take long for that to set in, did it? He he......now I'm waiting for MPS (multiple piggy syndrome) to take hold.....I understand that's normally the next symptom of this 'illness'...lol!

Tracey
 
flips said:
I have been drooling over vetbed for some time now, although I would only have some small pieces to make a bed area in the c & c. I don't have enough pennies at the moment though. I love what you have done with your set up in the shed. :)
Click to expand...

I only have enough to cover the top part of the shed, I'm saving up (or should i say hinting at my OH that its my 21st in feb and i really would like somre more vetbed for the boys...to which he replied with 'thats the strangest 21st present anyones ever asked for!) :))

Aww thank you i do like vetbed...

I'm glad there is like minded people on this forum, I don't feel quite so barmy being excited over piggie bedding and guinea pigs! :))
 
Teejay said:
.now I'm waiting for MPS (multiple piggy syndrome) to take hold.....I understand that's normally the next symptom of this 'illness'...lol!

Tracey
Click to expand...

Hahaha! :)) love it MPS will have to remember that one :))
 
Hi Flips....no worries about the washing schedule......my washing machine barely gets a day off as it is! From what I've read, vetbed only needs to be washed and replaced about every 3 or 4 days, so that's no great hardship.

I'm kind of swaying towards vetbed over fleece.......although it's cheaper, fleece sounds like more work (doesn't it need washing more often than vetbed) and more of an ongoing cost if you have to invest in something absorbant like puppy pads or towels to go underneath (although I can get hold of some old tatty towels for free, I'm sure).

Plus, the one thing we're all forgetting in this is.....I love spending money! LOL! Shame I don't have more of it to spend!

Tracey
 
If you can afford it, then no problem. Give it a go. I've not used vet bed so not sure about how often it needs washing. I have been told it needs brushing after it's washed to stop it going clumpy.

However, I would recommend that you consider using an old duvet cover or something similar to wash your piggy things in. I shake and brush my fleece really well before washing but you just can't get all the hair and hay off. I thought it was ok but I had to have someone out to fix my machine twice in a month. Once because the pipe was blocked but because he showed me how to clear it I thought, no problem, I can do that myself if it happens again. The second time it wasn't the pipe, it was the filter at the bottom of the drum. It turns out that my machine doesn't have a 'consumer accessible' filter, which the man demonstrated by having to tip it on its side to get to it. rolleyes It's been the most expensive aspect of the guinea pigs so far!
 
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