Thinking of switching to Fleece bedding.

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Piggie Life

Piggie Life

Teenage Guinea Pig
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I currently have my Guinea Pigs on Megazorb and then a layer of hay on top, but it costs quite a lot to buy all this stuff every month and also I have noticed my Guinea Pigs have been sneezing a lot recently so I think the Megazorb may be the cause of the sneezing.

I've been seeing a lot of people use Fleece as a bedding for Guinea Pigs on this forum. Is it actually better, how much work does it require, how many layers do you use and do you put anything underneath?

Thanks,
 
I use a layer of newspaper, I am lucky to get a lot of it for free so I use 7 days to line a whole hutch top and bottom (as in I open it from the middle and lay that down complete. The a towel ontop of that and then a fleece ontop of that, or vet bed in the bedroom and upstairs in their pen.
 
I've got cage liners from Cosy Cavies that are all in one - fleece, wadding, waterproof layer, fleece. I know that other places do the same thing if you look around :)
I used to use sawdust but it was such a pain to clean every day, fleece is so much easier!
 
I like the look of those cage liners but they are £40 for a 4x2 C&C and that's too expensive for me.
 
Hi,

I made my own for my 4 by 2 c+c. I am not especially good at needlework either, but i managed to do it ")!
I used an old mattress topper and wrapped the fleece around it, then just stitched it (by hand!) all the way around the edges. It took me hours and my fingers were sore but the fleeces look great and work really well. They have also washed up well in the machine.
I put a towel, newspaper, or bed wetting mats underneath. The bed mats are the best, but expensive so i only buy them when they're on offer ;).
Good luck!
Helen.
 
I would definitely recommend fleece. It works out cheaper in the long run as you don't have to keep re buying bedding. Once you make the initial cost of buying fleece you dont have to replace for a long time. I have got fleeces from various places such as pound land, primark and 'the works' all quite cheap. You must wash the fleece several times first (about 3) to increase its absorbancy before using it. New fleece wont absorb the wee and it'll just sit on the surface and make the piggies wet. Another good purchase is a wash bag which you put the fleece in once you've brushed it free of as much hay/poo as possible then put in the washing machine. It keeps all hay/hair in the wash bag so it doesn't clog your machine but cleans the fleece. I change my fleece about every 3 days and just have newspaper underneath. I also have a litter tray in each cage with carefresh on the bottom and hay on top with food bowls to try and keep all mess in one place.
Think I've covered most things. Hope this helps.
I have four cages and I love using fleece. When I used sawfust it took me up to 3 hours to clean out but with fleece it will take about half hour if that to hoover poos, brush fleece take out newspaper and replace for four cages.
 
Totally agree - I switched from sawdust/hay to fleece, and now we are a happy household!
The sawdust was all over the house, and it was so messy to use indoors, plus my composter was full in a month!
I really recommend the horse washing bag too - keeps all the hairs and hay bits out of your washing machine innards!
Helen :)
 
I have previously worked out that using fleeces does not really work out cheaper if you only have one cage. Based on one wash load and one tumble dryer load on for 15 minutes including washing liquid and electricity at current prices fleece washing once per week for one 4x2 cage works out about £1-£1.20 depending on how long your wash is and how expensive your washing liquid etc. I dried the towels on the banister and used the tumble dryer for the fleece to get this pricing. With more than one cage the cost doesnt go up, about 3 cages worth fits in one load .

Finacard worked out at 60p a week with one clean out, shavings 30p a week with one clean out (needs doing 2x a week though) or £1.20 with megazorb - very generous layers of bedding too, I now use half this amount and change out 2x weekly if using bedding.


In the winter I will be using vetbed and towels and in the summer megazorb/finacard
 
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I went to the store today to get some fleece. I thought I was looking for what I had seen in one pigture on the forum, that looked like puffy sheep's wool, kinda? Well, I didn't see anything like that, all I saw was the flat fleece, in various colors and patterns. So, I found one on sale, and got two yards for my two cages. Is this the sort of fleece everyone is talking about? I'm thinking of using my old puppy pads until their gone, then switching to newspapers, topped with a towel, then topped with two layers of fleece. I read about washing them a few times before using in the cage. Please just lemme know if I wasted my money :red I'm so tired of their cages being virtually impossible to spot clean through all the carefresh... I'm also considering doing the potty area with the carefresh?
Thanks guys and gals.
 
Just be careful with the puppy pads that they don't chew it rolleyes:x
I used to have some under the girls at playtime, until one night a certain little girl decided to remodel ...... aka chew the pads ! whipped them out quickly!
You haven't wasted your money, many people on the forum use fleeces.
 
yes fleece is flat not fluffy. You do need to wash it a few times before putting it in with non bio washing powder/liquid and NO conditioner to prepare the fibers in the fleece to wick away else it will sit ontop the fleece instead of seeping through to what ever you have underneath to absorb the wet. Fleece is not absorbant, its more like a barrier over the preperations underneath that is absorbant so they have something dry to walk, eat sleep and play on.
 
I bought some fleece today from a fabric shop near where I live, I bought a metre of cream and a metre of sky blue, it's really nice and soft !
 
Pepperdog said:
yes fleece is flat not fluffy. You do need to wash it a few times before putting it in with non bio washing powder/liquid and NO conditioner to prepare the fibers in the fleece to wick away else it will sit ontop the fleece instead of seeping through to what ever you have underneath to absorb the wet. Fleece is not absorbant, its more like a barrier over the preperations underneath that is absorbant so they have something dry to walk, eat sleep and play on.
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Ok. I bought two yards, I'm hoping it will be enough for the two cages. If it works out, I can go get more. And, I washed it twice last night, and let it air dry. So I'm going to put it together tonight, and I'll let y'all know if I have success :D Thanks!
 
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