What guinea pig bedding is the easiest to clean

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EmilyD

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I want guinea pigs but I hear they smell. I was wondering if there is a bedding that would make it easy to fully clean there cage everyday to reduce odor.
 
They don’t actually smell terrible, I do believe there’s a thread in bedding though
 
I think piggies will always have some smell, air fresheners can help with that. But I personally recommend fleece as bedding. You really only need to wash it once a week and it's also cheaper to use! :)
 
squeaksandcarrots said:
I think piggies will always have some smell, air fresheners can help with that. But I personally recommend fleece as bedding. You really only need to wash it once a week and it's also cheaper to use! :)
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Sorry to contradict ... I don't recommend using air freshness around guinea pigs
 
squeaksandcarrots said:
Thanks so much for telling me! I will remove the air freshener
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These things are always a balance @squeaksandcarrots . I recall a post on Cavy Corner where a new volunteer had started and was wearing perfume ... and the guineas were distressed. I'm not going to be a complete killjoy and say guinea pigs owners shouldn't wear perfume ... but this is something well worth being aware of and keeping an eye on.
 
Veggies Galore said:
These things are always a balance @squeaksandcarrots . I recall a post on Cavy Corner where a new volunteer had started and was wearing perfume ... and the guineas were distressed. I'm not going to be a complete killjoy and say guinea pigs owners shouldn't wear perfume ... but this is something well worth being aware of and keeping an eye on.
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I don’t wear any perfume but thanks for letting me know. I had no idea piggies were so sensitive to fragerences 😱 I suppose it’s better to learn now than never!
 
I never understand when people say that guinea pigs smell. My pig room just smells of hay but the guinea pigs themselves don't smell even my neutered boar. The only time I detect a smell is the day before cage clean.

Anyway, I use puppy pads, hay and snowflake woodshavings replacing wet shavings and replacing with fresh daily doing a full cage clean once a week. I know that some people are opposed to woodshavings but they've always worked well for me.
 
I never have a problem with them smelling. And they're in my bedroom. All I can smell is fresh hay, and when honey was ill she had a bit of a pong but don't we all when we're poorly 🤣 I use fleece, but this doesn't suit everyone, so I'd just say try various types, and see what works best for you. For example, I didn't like using shavings partly because of the amount of mess in my bedroom, and I feel fleece can look nicer in my bedroom
 
I actually don't find that mine smell... I use a paper bedding that I clean completely weekly and I spot clean by removing wet/peed on bedding daily. I find it's really just the urine that is left sitting that can smell with time. They are certainly less funky that other rodents I have (my male mice had quite a distinctive smell, as does the female Syrian hamster when she's in heat.) On the whole, the pigs mainly just smell like hay.
 
I am using puppy pads right now and change them every other day while i clean up all their droppings through out the day. I think as long as you keep their cage clean and dont leave dirty bedding in their for way to long you probably wont have an issue with it smelling. Also i put a large flat tin pan with a little hay over it right under their hay feeder and for the most part that is where they go to the bathroom . But guinea pigs are lovely pets and I'm sure you won't regret getting them if you do.
 
squeaksandcarrots said:
I don’t wear any perfume but thanks for letting me know. I had no idea piggies were so sensitive to fragerences 😱 I suppose it’s better to learn now than never!
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I am very sensitive to most fragrances so much so that certain ones make my nose bleed!:yikes::yikes::yikes: I can understand a bit about what the piggies are going through.:)
 
Frequent cleaning gets rid of bad odor and leaves good odor. I wouldn't go as fast as say their odor is Garden Fresh, but I do enjoy a little bit of smell as it reminds me of nature that I am closer to nature. Mine are indoor piggies.

I use fleece bedding, pee pads, and hay tray. Mine use their big hay tray as their bathroom, which cuts the cleaning time to half. Because most of their poop and pee are in their hay trays, so I just clean the hay tray out every 2 days, very easy.
 
We have a mix of kaytee clean and cosy bedding with hay on top, and vet fleece with a washable puppy mat underneath, and do twice weekly cage cleans. And daily poop scoops and daily cleans of the corner hay/toilet rays.The only time the cage ever smells a bit is the night before clean out day... but piggies smell lovely compared to cats or dogs or perfumes!
 
I understand your fear of smelly Guinea pigs as I've had friends that were trying to deter me from getting them because of smell. But the way I started doing it was using fleece. I put down puppy pads first, then about 2 towels and fleece on top. I also have a fleece liner which is INCREDIBLY useful but they are very expensive so I only have one right now. But if you are responsible and clean the poops out every night or every morning and night and clean/deodorize the cage once a week you shouldn't have any issues. That's what I do and I have no smelly guinea pigs :)
 
Carefresh is what I use for my guinea pigs, but it does come out as quite pricey. Although it's pricey it's worth it, a lot softer on the guinea pigs feet and also #1 in odor control for bedding. It can sometimes be difficult to find the big bags of it though, there's only one shop near me that does the big bags (and only in the natural colour too) otherwise pets at home do the small bags but it works out so much more expensive.
 
My piggies only smell if for some reason I am a a day or two late in cage cleaning.
I use wood shavings which I find are ideal and need cleaning every 4 - 5 days. This is a 5x2 C & C cage with @x@ extension making an L shape.
I tried fleece but found that the time required for washing made it too difficult for me.

We all find the bedding that works best for us and our piggies
 
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