Tips on keeping hay "tidy" when using fleece?

[cherryredx]

Thanks to everyone for their replies.
I also put small things like cuddle cups, tunnels etc into a pillowcase and then fasten with safety pins. This works fine but the fleeces are a bit too large. Still, I will get round it I'm sure. I am just going to try and keep on top by dustpan and brushing poos whenever I get a moment. Have just been upstairs and filled another dustpan with poos - these pigges never stop.
Might try them with a litter tray in the corners too, that seems to be where it is worst. I have only yesterday bought 2 very lovely big fleece pyramids, and the amount of poo in those was unbelievable....
Thanks to everyone. It's good to get feedback!

I use corner litter trays but you need to fasten them back to the sides or they just flip over when guinea pig feet rest on the edges. I melted holes in the top of mine so I could cable tie them back to the side of the cage. I don't really like them though to be honest. At the moment I've just got hay on the floor - will no double regret it tomorrow when I change the top layer of fleece/vet bed.

 

[Salt n Peppers mum]

The bags are very thin and the material is designed for the water to filter through so the fleece washes much better than using a duvet cover. They take up a very small amount of room. However, I should have bought the XL one as this would have allowed more space for the fleece to move about inside the bag. I have to do 2-3 washes because of the amount of incontinence pads, fleece, beds, etc that I use, but this was the same when I washed everything just loose in the machine. The wash bag dries in an hour on my airer which is another bonus as when I used a duvet cover, it occupied valuable space on my dryer for 3 days.

As I can't clean the filter myself, this has been the best option for me. It's also nice not to have to keep brushing hair off of the washing that I do after the pig wash.

Thank You p

 

[Guinea pig slave]

i pick off the poo,s an hay then put the fleece on floor under two chairs then hoover it beore washing-works well for me no hay in washer ")

I hoover the vetbedding too before washing to get rid of the bits then shake like mad when dry, lay it flat and run my hands over every inch. Just a precautionary measure really to make sure there are no rogue or sharp pieces of hay anywhere -c

 

[cherryredx]

I hoover the vetbedding too before washing to get rid of the bits then shake like mad when dry, lay it flat and run my hands over every inch. Just a precautionary measure really to make sure there are no rogue or sharp pieces of hay anywhere -c

I never thought of hoovering - I just hang it on the line and brush it after I've shaken the loose stuff off.

 

[gogoguineas]

I've just got a litter tray from wilkos that has clips to fasten it onto the cage, it sits on so securely its brill, £2.99 |)

 

[louise_stocker]

My Mum is in Cheshire.

Which B&M did you get your handheld? I might ask her to pick me one up!

Hi, I got it in Northwich - it's was on the end of an aisle next to the tills! Hope they still have them xx

 

[nebraska79]

I saw a handheld vacum cleaner - it's by Jovis, is about £49 and best of all it collects fluids. So essentially you could hoover up wee!

I was thinking of buying this so I can spot clean every day.

Currently, this is my set up:

2 parts of the c&c cage at the back are lined with newspapers then with towels on top. On one side I have a cat litter tray with a box - basically I found a box that was big enough to fit the cat litter tray inside. I read that guinea's like to go to the toilet where they feel safe, so the box encourages them to go there. Inside the litter tray is a layer of barley straw with hay on top. Dangling outside of this is a ball hay rack - so they can eat clean hay while doing their business.

The rest of the cage is fleece. So far my piggies do like going to the dark undercover 'safe' bit of the cage to do their business. I don't get any wee and only a bit of poop on the fleece.

They do drag the hay around a little but I pop it out on the washing line and brush it down with a dustpan brush. I have several fleeces so I can leave one out for a few hours for the hay to blow away.

There pretty good at adhering to my: this is where the hay stays, this is where the fleece starts, rule.


I'm still thinking of investing in the hand held over, because I'm a little OCD on cleaning, and like to see a lovely clean cage

Hi,
I'm thinking about getting the hand held small hoover to sort the problem of cleaning the poos every single day and also to keep the fleece nice and clean, but what worries me is that the suction would be too strong and will suck in the fleece.
Does anyone have any experience with hovering the pops with it in the cage? If the suction is not that strong – then is it enough to suck up all the hair, straw etc?
All help appreciated.

 

[Phoebe-PP]

I've also heard of people using a stiff bristled brush with a pair of nylon tights over the bristles. Apparently this really helps getting hay and hair off fleeces and vetbed.

 

[nebraska79]

I'll have a look online for these brushes.
But having a small hoover sounds really tempting! Just a little vacuum around the cage in the morning and evening, emptying the hoover in the garden on the lawn as an extra fertilizer
Any experiences with hovering the cage?

 

[LittleEskimo]

I found a cat litter tray did a reasonably good job of keeping the hay in. I mean hay is must like sand, it get everyyywhere rolleyes but you just got to try your best