Stink piggies

Alyssaer

Alyssaer

New Born Pup
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I have two female piggies whose cage I just upgraded to c&c. I put in a litter box to manage the amount of stool around the cage and it seemed to help. I recently noticed it to be stinky in the cage. I do know both of my females tend to argue , could they just be marking? I would hate to think this is a health issue as they should be very healthy piggies. I changed the fleece 4 days ago. I’m very confused. Any thoughts?
 
It may help to have more information. What kind of bedding are you using, how often you spot clean, and how often you do a full cage cleaning? Most people spot clean (remove and discard wet disposable bedding and pick up poos) at least once per day. Your mileage may vary on this though. A full cage cleaning at least once per week. Any fleece items need to be removed, washed, and replaced frequently.
 
Hope4gem said:
It may help to have more information. What kind of bedding are you using, how often you spot clean, and how often you do a full cage cleaning? Most people spot clean (remove and discard wet disposable bedding and pick up poos) at least once per day. Your mileage may vary on this though. A full cage cleaning at least once per week. Any fleece items need to be removed, washed, and replaced frequently.
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Ok thank you! I spot clean every single day by sweeping up poop/hay but I do not swap out pee pads daily. I think I need to change out the fleece more often and pee pads . I’m purchasing some more liners for the cage now. Thank you!
 
Alyssaer said:
Ok thank you! I spot clean every single day by sweeping up poop/hay but I do not swap out pee pads daily. I think I need to change out the fleece more often and pee pads . I’m purchasing some more liners for the cage now. Thank you!
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You're welcome. Changing fleece liners more often should help. You may find more responses on this post tomorrow. A lot of members are UK based and as such are probably sleeping right now, but hopefully they'll see your post tomorrow and add any suggestions that they have.
 
The amount of times fleece needs to be changed in a week can vary - having to do two full cage cleans a week with new fleece is quite normal. So the fact Irs been four days since your last fleece change, having to change it again now would be expected. On the very rare occasion I use, it will need changing every 3-5 days.

Wet hay will need to be removed and replaced every day as often it is wet hay that will smell most. You might be able to get them to pee in a tray while they are eating (they will still pee in their beds) but they generally will poop everywhere.

Sows do scent mark, but they don’t tend to be anywhere near as strong smelling as when boars scent mark

You say your piggies argue - what do you mean by this? Is it normal dominance or are there problems between them?
 
When I had two piggies a weekly fleece change was fine usually. Sometimes there would be phases were they just randomly got really smelly and I changed it a bit more but it didn’t help much. Ultimately if you do it too often they just scent mark more!

What are you using under your fleece?
 
Piggies&buns said:
The amount of times fleece needs to be changed in a week can vary - having to do two full cage cleans a week with new fleece is quite normal. So the fact Irs been four days since your last fleece change, having to change it again now would be expected. On the very rare occasion I use, it will need changing every 3-5 days.

Wet hay will need to be removed and replaced every day as often it is wet hay that will smell most. You might be able to get them to pee in a tray while they are eating (they will still pee in their beds) but they generally will poop everywhere.

Sows do scent mark, but they don’t tend to be anywhere near as strong smelling as when boars scent mark

You say your piggies argue - what do you mean by this? Is it normal dominance or are there problems between them?
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Okay thank you. I actually just hand made some pee pads last night to put in spots where they frequently go so I can change them out more regularly. I will change fleece out more regularly as well. Also— I adopted my two female piggies 2 weeks ago and they have lived together their whole life (they are 18 months old) They flick noses at eachother and run at eachother.
 
Like @Tigermoth said, sometimes you just get random times when their pen is just really stinky. I recommend when you do a full clean, to wipe down their pen with a 50:50 solution of vinegar and water. This is said to neutralize bad smells, and is non-toxic to guinea pigs.
 
Tigermoth said:
When I had two piggies a weekly fleece change was fine usually. Sometimes there would be phases were they just randomly got really smelly and I changed it a bit more but it didn’t help much. Ultimately if you do it too often they just scent mark more!

What are you using under your fleece?
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Reusable puppy pee pads !
 
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