Eats The Towels :/

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Fishtails

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey!

My pigs have been on fleece for a while now, but the vet said I should switch to towels because they're more absorbent and can prevent pododermatitis (bumble foot) and/or urine burns. My lady pig is fine with the transition, however my boy (who is housed separately) tears up the towels and eats (or tries to eat) the strings. I'm concerned that he's going to get impacted if he keeps doing this. He PREFERENTIALLY eats the towels over hay, his pellets and even fresh veg. Its weird. He's weird.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can stop him from eating the towels? Do you think its better just to switch back to the fleece? Does anyone have any suggestions for something that is in between?

Thanks!
 
Just keep the towels under the piggy. and fleece doesn't cause bumble foot.
 
Kiya-Piggy said:
Just keep the towels under the piggy. and fleece doesn't cause bumble foot.
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The vet said that because fleece doesn't absorb urine as well as towels, the urine is able to pool and if the pig sits in them (etc.) then it can cause urine burns, which can subsequently cause bumblefoot.
 
Fishtails said:
The vet said that because fleece doesn't absorb urine as well as towels, the urine is able to pool and if the pig sits in them (etc.) then it can cause urine burns, which can subsequently cause bumblefoot.
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You first have to wick the fleece so it lets the pee go through and the towel under it soaks it all up. So it leaves a nice dry place for your guinea pigs untill your guinea pigs decides to drag the hay everywhere. :))
 
You don't want the top layer or your bedding to contain the urine as then it will stay wet and cause urine scald.

If you wash a fleece 3 or 4 times before using it it will start to wick, which means the urine will go through it. You could then use fleece over a towel as the urine will go through the fleece onto the towel.

I use fleece with puppy pads underneath.

Vetbed is also great as a top layer. It's very soft and wicks the urine through into your second layer.
 
I use premade fleece liners which don't need a layer underneath
 
That's confusing advice for the vet. Yes if you just use a piece of fleece and nothing else then your piggies will be sitting in their urine. The fleece needs to stay dry and is designed to allow the urine to wick through to the underneath. To achieve this it needs to be washed several times in detergent with no fabric softener included. Then you need to decide on the absorbant layer - puppy pads, towels, newspapers, mattress toppers have all been mentioned on here for use.
 
Have you been using anything under the fleece?

Fleece lets liquid through. You need an absorbent layer under the fleece to soak up the liquid. The fleece remains dry. After a day or so the fleece and absorbent layer will need to be washed.

I use liners with fleece an absorbent layer and fleece all sewn together like a sandwich. Works well esp when coupled with hay trays which are hay and absorbwnt bedding in 32 litre storage boxes where my trio do most of their wees.

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fleece liner under their beds

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Thanks for everyone's responses!

I was/am using towels under the fleece, but she said I should just get rid of the fleece altogether because it will cause urine burns etc... I thought it was odd advice as well, since I've never really had any issues with it before and, like I said, my skinnypig tears and eats at the towels if I use only those. I've also never noticed urine just like...sitting on top of them or anything.

I didn't know that washing them a few times before use will help wick away the urine, but that's good to know for when I replace these ones.
 
abrennan110 said:
Not really looking at the dates of everything while doing my research.
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We kindly ask you look at the date before relying. There are guides under each of the forum sections - health, new owners (I would head there), behaviour etc.
 
The secret to a good absorbent fleece is it needs an absorbent inner layer so the pee drain quickly through the fleece in to that inner layer, so it stays dry. If you put puppy pads or newspaper as a bottom layer then the pee will drain down through the layers and be eventually collected into the newspaper or pee pads. I am not a fan of weatherproof fleece pads as the pee has little chance of draining away and just gets wetter and wetter as time goes on.
 
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