Using Fleece - How??

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claire8234

claire8234

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Hi everyone

My two boars will be coming inside for the winter soon and I am considering trying out fleece but am not sure exactly how to do it and what I need.

Can anyone please let me know what I need and what works best under the fleece? They are going into my daughters bedroom so I am really concerned that the fleece bedding wont be absorbant enough and will smell - my boys could wee for britain and their wee can be pretty pongy.

When they come inside they sit on our laps on a fleece blanket and the blanket gets rather wet with wee, I am worried that they will be walking through their wee and getting their fur wet (they are long haired).


Unfortunately I am on a very tight budget so using dog training pads or pampers bed liners just aren't an option, they are too expensive.

How do you keep the fleece in place and stop them and poop etc getting underneath?

I like the idea of using a cage liner and would like to try to make one myself - anyone made one and if so how did you make it? are these better than just fleece and towels etc?

I would also be interested to hear from people who have tried fleece and didn't like using it - what was the problem?

I want to find an option that means I have happy clean and dry piggies and a bedroom that doesn't smell :)

At the moment they are on newspaper and a mixture of eco pet bed and paper pellets - not a problem outside but maybe too messy for indoors

Thanks

Claire

x
 
I use fleece indoors :)
I use a lot of newspaper on the base, then i have some old towels, normally use 2, then a large fleece folded in half so it is double thickness, I find i get 3-4 days out of it no problem and do a poop scoop daily.

You'll need to wash any new fleece first without fabric softner otherwise the pee sits on top, and continue to wash it without fabric softtner.
 
These look great :)

So its a mattress topper inside and fleece on the outside?

I am still waiting for my cubes from B&Q which should have been here last week, they have taken them off the website so a bit worried they wont turn up!

I am hoping to make a cage three grids wide by five long. Can you give me a rough idea of what this would cost?

Thanks

x
 
Well, you either want to use cage-liners, uhaul pads, towels, newspaper, puppy pads, bedding, or a combo under the fleece.
I use 4 double layers of towels and newspaper under the fleece, and it works pretty well.

When you get your fleece to 'activate' it you want to wash and dry it about 3 times. Basically until water seeps right through the fleece- this is how it works to get rid of pee.

Your piggies will love it. I originally had Miika and Luna on Aspen shavings, but I hated them because they got everywhere. Now I use fleece. Here are the pros and cons I've found:

Bedding:

Pros:

-Smells less
-They can bury into it

Cons:

-Gets everywhere
-Expensive
-Gets stuck in long-haired piggies hair
-Gets into their food
-Can cause respiratory issues
-Harder to spot clean
-Not as aesthetically pleasing
-Less fun for the pigs

Fleece

Pros:

-Pretty
-Pigs love it
-Cheap (reusable)
-Easy to spot-clean
-Keeps pigs dry

Cons:

-Smells much faster
-Washing bills can get high


Hope that helps you x>>

-Piggieslave
 
claire8234 said:
These look great :)

So its a mattress topper inside and fleece on the outside?

I am still waiting for my cubes from B&Q which should have been here last week, they have taken them off the website so a bit worried they wont turn up!

I am hoping to make a cage three grids wide by five long. Can you give me a rough idea of what this would cost?

Thanks

x
Click to expand...

I hate to tell you this but B & Q won't be getting them back until at least the middle of December :( You need to get a refund, then get them from ebay or if you can get to a JTF Warehouse they do 12 grids for less than £10 in silver or pink. Two packs would be enough for your needs.

http://www.jtfmegadiscountwarehouse.co.uk/

I layer newspaper first at the bottom, then towels then either a mattress topper or a pre washed fleece (wash at least 3 times in non-bio, no conditioner) then on top I put a fleece cage liner I have made to fit over the sides of the correx.

My piggies' pink palace lol :
DSCF0884.jpg


:))
 
Bl@@dy B&Q! grrrr my dad ordered it for me as we don't have a B&Q near us and they told him it would be in store within a week, I will give it until the end of next week and get a refund and order them off ebay, more expensive but its getting cold outside and my poor piggies don't have an indoor home built!

Poppys mum, I love your cage it looks fab. do you just tuck the fleece over the correx? if so does it stay in place?

Thanks piggy slave that is very useful. I might have a go a making something and see how I get on but I doubt for a second it will be anywhere near as good as yours :)

JTF is too far away from me which is a shame
 
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Wow that cage looks fab :)
I am so wanting fleece after seeing everyones replies too.x
 
yay you made a pink one:))drool


Poppy'sMum said:
I hate to tell you this but B & Q won't be getting them back until at least the middle of December :( You need to get a refund, then get them from ebay or if you can get to a JTF Warehouse they do 12 grids for less than £10 in silver or pink. Two packs would be enough for your needs.

http://www.jtfmegadiscountwarehouse.co.uk/

I layer newspaper first at the bottom, then towels then either a mattress topper or a pre washed fleece (wash at least 3 times in non-bio, no conditioner) then on top I put a fleece cage liner I have made to fit over the sides of the correx.

My piggies' pink palace lol :
DSCF0884.jpg


:))
Click to expand...
 
claire8234 said:
Bl@@dy B&Q! grrrr my dad ordered it for me as we don't have a B&Q near us and they told him it would be in store within a week, I will give it until the end of next week and get a refund and order them off ebay, more expensive but its getting cold outside and my poor piggies don't have an indoor home built!

Poppys mum, I love your cage it looks fab. do you just tuck the fleece over the correx? if so does it stay in place?

Thanks piggy slave that is very useful. I might have a go a making something and see how I get on but I doubt for a second it will be anywhere near as good as yours :)

JTF is too far away from me which is a shame
Click to expand...

I used 4piggiepigs very helpful instructions & measured the base, added about 35cm all around in extra fabric, then I tuck it down the sides, & slightly under sometimes, but it never moves as I made my correx liner a very snug fit lol :))

I would seriously get a refund & get them ordered off ebay though rolleyes
 
claire8234 said:
Bl@@dy B&Q! grrrr my dad ordered it for me as we don't have a B&Q near us and they told him it would be in store within a week, I will give it until the end of next week and get a refund and order them off ebay, more expensive but its getting cold outside and my poor piggies don't have an indoor home built!

Poppys mum, I love your cage it looks fab. do you just tuck the fleece over the correx? if so does it stay in place?

Thanks piggy slave that is very useful. I might have a go a making something and see how I get on but I doubt for a second it will be anywhere near as good as yours :)

JTF is too far away from me which is a shame
Click to expand...

I just tuck the fleece over the edge of the correx base and it stays in place :)
http://s1184.photobucket.com/albums/z328/kimlou5288/New Fleece/
 
kimlou5288 said:
I just tuck the fleece over the edge of the correx base and it stays in place :)
http://s1184.photobucket.com/albums/z328/kimlou5288/New Fleece/
Click to expand...

Thank you, your piggy home looks great. what do you use underneath your fleece?

I've got two indoor wire runs that I bought from zoo plus so I might make an alternative C&C cage as the cubes are £47 including postage on ebay so a bit too pricey for me.

I'm on a mission to find a manufacturer of wire cubes and make them readily available to all you lovely people :))
 
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I just use old towels under the fleece. It can vary how long it last's. Noramlly between 4-5 days. They are good at using there litter tray so that helps, I use the small animal wood pellet litter (its alot less messy than shavings). And there hay goes in a cat litter tray, which is cleaned and changed daily.
 
I'm a recent fleece convert but i've found it easy so far. I use 2 layers of old towel and then fleece on top. I've found it easier to dry all separate as it dries quicker. They have a hay tray which i line with newspaper...they do quite a few wees in here. I poo pick once a day (more if really bad, but it takes about 2 mins) and then wash every 4th day or so...i could stretch it further to 5 at least. I clean the hay tray every other day or so. The fleece is wet immediately after the boys wee, but it quickly soaks down and then it is dry to the touch, certainly drier than sitting in wet hay/straw/shavings/newspaper. Its working really well for us so far. And the outside boys stuff was all free as i had some old fleece blankets and towels anyway.

Honestly, no smell at all, and Max and Dobby are in my son's room so i had the same concerns as you.
 
Thanks Zez

I have got a load of old towels and fleece blankets in the airing cupboard so I might give it a try. My boys seem to pee in the same places in their hutch so I might try using litter trays in their cage.

Local pet shop is selling vet bed at a really reduced price so I might invest in that too - not that I spoil my piggies you know :)
 
Vet bed is supposed to be good, aparently. Definitely get it, you might want it in the future :)

Have you tried ordering grids off guineapigzone.com? I know they ship worldwide. Also, for the same price of shipping you can get good C&C cage kits... maybe you would be interested? Shipping can get very pricy though- too pricy for me and I live in Canada!:o

http://www.guineapigzone.com/c-and-c-cages-guinea-pigs
 
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