Changing to sawdust while i'm away

[GeorgesHuman]

I'm going away, and my 3 guinea's will be going to my mum's. She is fine handling one of the pigs who lives on his own, but the other two she can't handle, so only George will get cleaned out while i'm gone when he's done lots of poopies!

They're all on fleece and towels at the mo, but I find I have to clean them every other day, especially the two that live togther, not because it's wet (it soaks up quickly), but they poop a whole lot and the smell of the wee will be bad! I think perhaps sawdust might make the smell better. Is this the case?

 

[ghostbusterbunny]

I'm going away, and my 3 guinea's will be going to my mum's. She is fine handling one of the pigs who lives on his own, but the other two she can't handle, so only George will get cleaned out while i'm gone when he's done lots of poopies!

They're all on fleece and towels at the mo, but I find I have to clean them every other day, especially the two that live togther, not because it's wet (it soaks up quickly), but they poop a whole lot and the smell of the wee will be bad! I think perhaps sawdust might make the smell better. Is this the case?

If you move to shavings then you will have a bedding that lasts much longer (especially if it's not you that's cleaning it!). Shavings, in a decent sized cage, will give you approximately a week with spot cleaning before it needs a full clean out - definitely lasts longer than fleece. However, if your pigs aren't used to it and you choose this option - please test them on it before you leave so you can watch for any reactions to it. Some piggies are sensitive to the shavings/dust - especially when they aren't used to it.

Another option that I've seen here is people putting several layers of fleece, towel, fleece, towel, etc so whoever is looking after your pigs can just take the dirty layer off, shake it off and binbag it so you can wash it when you get back. That all counts on you having enough fleece to do that though! Your mum wouldn't necessarily have to handle the pigs this way; just pick up each end, nudge them off onto the new layer, and remove the dirty one. Definitely worth looking into if you have enough towel and fleece!

 

[Connie]

depending on the cage size, sawdust CAN need cleaning out less often, how long are you away for?

Another idea might be :
Sometimes i have to clean my piggies out when I'm alone in the house on a rainy day, there is nowhere secure for them to be so instead i leave them in the cage, this can be a little fiddly and shouldnt be done regularly as you cannot spray / wipe the cage then, but might be fine just for a holiday. I use towel and fleece, i find if i carefully (slowly) drag the fleece+towel with them on towards me, they hop off it nicely and wait for my to replace the newspaper and towel before scampering back on again.

As i said this wouldnt get them as clean as i full clean out but would mean your mom wouldnt have to pick them up or anything.

 

[Toffeewoffee]

I think it depends how long you'll be away for. Sawdust soon gets smelly in my experience when its been wee'd on plenty, especially if they wee and poo on the hay that ends up on the floor, (from the hay rack) ontop of the sawdust, however this can be picked out using a carrier bag, which i do on a daily basis. Just put my hand inside a carrier bag and grab the dirty hay and then pull it out and turn the carrier bag inside out if that makes sense.

 

[Guinea pig slave]

depending on the cage size, sawdust CAN need cleaning out less often, how long are you away for?

Another idea might be :
Sometimes i have to clean my piggies out when I'm alone in the house on a rainy day, there is nowhere secure for them to be so instead i leave them in the cage, this can be a little fiddly and shouldnt be done regularly as you cannot spray / wipe the cage then, but might be fine just for a holiday. I use towel and fleece, i find if i carefully (slowly) drag the fleece+towel with them on towards me, they hop off it nicely and wait for my to replace the newspaper and towel before scampering back on again.

As i said this wouldnt get them as clean as i full clean out but would mean your mom wouldnt have to pick them up or anything.

|) Two of my younger girlies have to try and sit on the back of my hand when I'm cleaning their pen, takes me ages to do as I'm laughing sooo much at them :{ I swear they're checking I'm doing it properly and watching my every move the little diva's |)

 

[piggyfan]

|) Two of my younger girlies have to try and sit on the back of my hand when I'm cleaning their pen, takes me ages to do as I'm laughing sooo much at them :{ I swear they're checking I'm doing it properly and watching my every move the little diva's |)

Lol so funny and cute!

 

[sport_billy]

|) Two of my younger girlies have to try and sit on the back of my hand when I'm cleaning their pen, takes me ages to do as I'm laughing sooo much at them :{ I swear they're checking I'm doing it properly and watching my every move the little diva's |)

Ha ha! so cute and funny! We need pigtures of this!