A few questions...

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Hoggle*&*Ludo

Hoggle*&*Ludo

Adult Guinea Pig
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I should know most things by now...") but I just want to ask a few specific questions...

1. Is sawdust really that bad for them? I came down this morning and they STINK! I am doing my best to keep them clean but they are weeing too much, I even have puppy pads under the fleece but it isn't helping, they smell too and they only had a bath last Saturday. Is a weekly bath too much?

2. How often can they have corn on the cob? I bought 4 half cobs yesterday, they wolfed the first one down last night. Is it safe to give them another today?
 
Well I use dust extracted shavings and hay, always have and I find my gerbils smell more than the pigs - and there's only two of them verses 20+ piggies. If I have any with breathing problems they move in the kitchen and I use an alternative bedding. Others use newpaper and hay to bed them on and just roll up the paper in the morning and replace with fresh. I even have some bedding made from recycled teabags minus the old tea! I don't use it very often 'cos I don't like the smell.

Have a look around at the choices and do what works for you.

HTH

Suzy
 
Thank you Suzy. :)

I did have them on shavings for about a week when I first got them, just realised now their hair is long, will it stick to their fur?

My main thing is, would sawdust smell less than the fleece? How often would I need to change it as they have a nero 4 sized cage and would need loads. ?/

Newspaper sounds a good idea too.
 
I found sawdust ok when I had just two, but they weren't on it for very long. I had to clean them out 2 or 3 times a week though. With 7 all in my lounge, I think the smell would be too much for me to have them all on sawdust. The other downside for me (with so many) is the volume of rubbish it would create and the cost of buying it.

I do like seeing a thin layer of sawdust and then hay as a bedding, then the piggies can dig around and it's a bit more natural for them. I would like to have a little area in my cages where they could do this.

Mine love corn on the cob as well! I don't give it often but when the do get it, they get it a few days in a row until the pack is finished, then I don't buy it for a while. It's more of an occassional treat here, usually when the other veg in the supermarket looks rubbish. I think so long as you don't buy it every week, it shouldn't cause any problems :)
 
Hoggle*&*Ludo said:
Thank you Suzy. :)

I did have them on shavings for about a week when I first got them, just realised now their hair is long, will it stick to their fur?

My main thing is, would sawdust smell less than the fleece? How often would I need to change it as they have a nero 4 sized cage and would need loads. ?/

Newspaper sounds a good idea too.
Click to expand...

Do you think it is the fleece or the puppy pads that are smelling? I have incontinence pads under my fleece because I used to have towels. I found that if the fleece stayed tucked over the towels, they didn't smell, but if they pulled the fleece off (which became a favourite game!) it smelt... A LOT! Horrible smell. Really bad! I switched to the inco pads and they smell a lot less than the towel combo. By the end of the week, the cages are starting to get a bit pongy, but the pads can be washed at very high temperatures which kills off any bad stuff.

Have you thought about trying them on inco pads & fleece? Although they are quite expensive, they last for 200 washes each (about 4 years if you wash once a week) so overall, the cost would be less than sawdust. And I'm sure if you don't get on with them, someone will buy them off of you on here.
 
Wow I never knew about them, how much are they? I suppose I could buy 2 and alternate.

I am not sure what smells so bad, could be the pads as I don't always use them, my friend gave them to me for Victor when he was unwell but he never used them. rolleyes

I am going to the pet shop later, I will price up sawdust, give it a shot and if I am not happy, I will convert back to fleece. :)

They are sulking at the moment because all their soft furnishings are on the washing line. :(|)
 
I bought these ones [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Washable-Absorbent-Bed-90cms-Wings/dp/B000MES1W8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1279364173&sr=8-1"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Washable-Absorbent-Bed-90cms-Wings/dp/B000MES1W8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1279364173&sr=8-1[/ame] (picture below) and these for lap time and the upper levels [ame="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Washable-Absorbent-Chair-Pad-cms/dp/B001LENJUC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1279364203&sr=8-4"]http://www.amazon.co.uk/Washable-Absorbent-Chair-Pad-cms/dp/B001LENJUC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=kitchen&qid=1279364203&sr=8-4[/ame]. They come in different sizes, so if you measure the inside of your cage, you might be able to get some that are big enough so that you only need one pad to cover it, my 150 cages need two of the size I bought but if I had looked around a bit, I could have got one big enough to fit.

This is what the bigger pads look like;
no%20wings.jpg


Because they are for humans, they absorb about 3 litres of liquid (some even more!) which is why they can last so long for the piggies. Downside to it is that you'll have more piggy washing.
 
I've found the fleece too smelly lately too, and am thinking of going back to shavings (dust extracted).

The fleece is getting kinda horrible after about two days, and I don't want to wash it that often and am also scared of it wrecking the washing machine . . . the vet bed is working well though, maybe you could try that?

If you have somewhere to store them then you can buy a huge bag of wood shavings meant for horse bedding, for about €10 . . . so £7 or something? It's so cheap.

But then the problem is that you can see all the poop and it looks bad, and you can't really spot clean it, but have to change the whole thing, going through loads of shavings and it's a lot of work.

But I was thinking of using a thin layer of wood shavings, with hay on top, and then just change the hay everyday (or replace it if it's all been eaten!). Then the poos mostly fall through the hay so at least it looks a bit better and they're not lying on poo. And then maybe just change the shavings once a week, or clean out any pee corners more often, if it stays clean enough for that long . . .

I have a Sheltie and the wood shavings don't really stick to his fur at all.

(Unlike my black double maned lionhead rabbit, who just has shavings in her fluffy hair all the time!)
 
Shavings and sawdust are not the same thing. Shavings/wood chips are okay, sawdust is not.
Also apparently the wood of certain trees is bad, but I don't remember which.

BTW, if you go to CCT, Vedra is allergic to wood shavings and won't treat pigs that are kept on it.

WRT smell, it's worth checking that they are not impacted.
 
WRT Smell too - I find that the piggies get whiffy if they have cabbage - so I only feed it the day before I cleanout. I also use large plantpot saucers - 12" - as drip trays under the water bottles as I find a lot like to pee when they drink, I clean these as often as they need and that really helps with the smell.

I get my shavings (I never use sawdust) from an equine supplier for £8/giant bale and I find that it costs me less than £5 a week for 20-30 pigs, compared to the hassle washing 50+ fleeces I think good value and a lot less palaver. My wheelie bin does get a bit heavy but my council won't accept it for composting.

Suzy
 
Thanks for your advice, I have just been to the local pet shop and got a biggish bag of shavings for £2.95! I am going to give it a try later, bet they sulk cos their fleece has gone! :(|)
 
I am using fleece and puppy pads just now and it stinks, I am sure it is the puppy pads, as I didn't have the problem with incontience pads.
 
In the summer I have to change Mimsis fleece daily or every second day. Last week when I changed his cage, I noticed that there was a white fungus growing over his droppings. I was horrified as I had changed his fleece the day before. My fleeces are all washed at 60 degrees. It does stink more in this weather I find. As for sweetcorn, apprently this is high in fat and should be fed occasionaly. Sweetcorn is a good bulking up food for poorly or thin pigies. Mine love it though and its great seeing them devouring a corn on the cob..
 
They seem to like it!

Hoggle was snuggling on his chair and falling asleep, was so cute. There have been a few popcorns so thumbs up!

Smells so fresh too.
 
Farquhar said:
In the summer I have to change Mimsis fleece daily or every second day. Last week when I changed his cage, I noticed that there was a white fungus growing over his droppings. I was horrified as I had changed his fleece the day before. My fleeces are all washed at 60 degrees. It does stink more in this weather I find. As for sweetcorn, apprently this is high in fat and should be fed occasionaly. Sweetcorn is a good bulking up food for poorly or thin pigies. Mine love it though and its great seeing them devouring a corn on the cob..
Click to expand...

I'm glad it is not just us - we had that white fluffy stuff on poo last week too.
we're struggling to get rid of the wee smell in fleeces at the minute even with hot wash and bio liquid
B
 
It could be that you are noticing the smell more because it is now in your living room. You may find that you hardly notice it in a week! I found the animals a bit smelly at first but now I hardly notice it. I do spot clean for poops at least once a day though as I find my boar's poop is a bit pongy.:{

Lovely piccies BTW.
 
boozyfruits said:
I'm glad it is not just us - we had that white fluffy stuff on poo last week too.
we're struggling to get rid of the wee smell in fleeces at the minute even with hot wash and bio liquid
B
Click to expand...

A lot of piggie owners have been finding the same thing with the fungus. Must be the weather although I threw the fleece out. I got such a fright when I saw the fungus and felt guilty but now I know its happening to others I dont feel as bad. :(
 
yep the mouldy poop got me too...I am having to clean mine out loads at the moment, and I have 1 boar in each cage, Bert the youngest can pee for England :( I am using pads and then fleece, thinking about trying the inco stuff.
 
I use megazorb, it doesn't get so stuck in the long coats as woodshavings do, and it seems to stay in the cages if any piggies are indoors. Even my OH agrees that they don't smell as much as the hamster did, and he had his loo emptied twice a day.

Woodshavings end up all over the house, they get stuck to the bottom of your socks too. Can you tell I'm not a fan of woodshavings?rolleyes
 
I use newspaper then shredded paper and that seems to work for me...I like the thought of having my girls on fleece or vetbed, but cant seem to see how they are going to stay dry for long, surely they would get wet bellies..I dont knowrolleyes. I think it looks great when all clean but after a bit..I think I will stick to the paper:)
 
Farquhar said:
A lot of piggie owners have been finding the same thing with the fungus. Must be the weather although I threw the fleece out. I got such a fright when I saw the fungus and felt guilty but now I know its happening to others I dont feel as bad. :(
Click to expand...

I noticed that today too. :)>>>
 
Linny pop said:
I use newspaper then shredded paper and that seems to work for me...I like the thought of having my girls on fleece or vetbed, but cant seem to see how they are going to stay dry for long, surely they would get wet bellies..I dont knowrolleyes. I think it looks great when all clean but after a bit..I think I will stick to the paper:)
Click to expand...

I have found that fleece can be a bit damp in places, but vet bed seems to stay really dry. My piggies love it. :)

And when I was doing work exp. at the vet's there was a poor dog who had eaten rat poison and was getting sick all the time, but the vet bed always stayed dry. It's brilliant.

I have just a small square of vet bed for them to sleep on at the moment. Just so I can shake off the poo and they always have a clean dry place to sleep. :)
 
I have noticed their bums are dry and fresh with them laying on the shavings. I think I will keep it for now and see how we get on. :)
 
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