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Fleece: How much do you need?

Spring100

Spring100

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
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Location
The Netherlands
Hi,

In November I adopted 2 guinea pigs. A male and a female. They can be together this weekend, because then it is 6 weeks after castration.

I have ordered a c&c cage 6x2 and it will be delivered soon. I would like to switch to fleece.

I want to buy the starter and then make something myself.

Now I'm wondering...how much do I need? How many large cage-liners are useful? And how many pee-pads? I have now ordered 4 large cage liners (75×110), 7 pee pads 25x25 and 4 larger pee pads 40x40. I also got 6 bath mats from Ikea. Will this be enough for the start?

How much fleece pieces do you need every week with 2 guinea pigs?

Washing: I have 3 children so the washing machine runs several times every day. So that's not an issue! Approximately how long does it take for it to dry? The cage-liners and pee-pads consist of 4 layers (fleece, 2 absorption layers and 1 waterproof layer).

Are there any users from the Netherlands who are reading along? I have now bought Neutral detergent. This was the only non-biological detergent without scent that I could find. Or are there other tips?

Thanks!
 
I wouldn't buy any more until you see how often you need to change the cage and how quickly you do a wash change round. How long it takes to dry will depend on how you dry it, in my case it depends on the weather as I like to line dry, some sunny days with a breeze it dries in an hour . I don't have a tumble drier and drying indoors makes the house damp. I would recommend using a pet bedding wash bag to save hair and hay clogging up your machine. No matter how much you brush the fleece off before washing there's always hair etc left stuck in the fleece. I use a stiff brush, some people on here recommend a rubber brush.
 
I use a rubber brush and a pet wash bag as mentioned by @piggieminder . Instead of detergent I use an eco egg and white vinegar in the conditioner dispenser. I find the vinegar keeps them soft, I did worry that it would smell but it doesn't. I now use it for some hooman laundry too.
I check bath mats/pee pads daily and change when needed but only change main fleeces half a cage at a time as I have teenage boars.
Well done and thank you for adopting. I hear that mixed pairs are particularly delightful. Good luck with the bonding.
 
I have bobble bath mats under hides and change them every other day. I also have a bobble mat under the hay area and change that twice a week. The main fleece is washed weekly.

Definitely get a pet wash bag (or two).

Fleece and bobble mats dry very quickly. Maybe over a day and night.

Can we see pictures of your gorgeous piggies 😍
 
Thanks for the responses!

I did indeed order a laundry bag. And a rubber brush to remove the hair.

From what I hear, I think I need some more pee pads. But I will definitely check it out first! I dry it on a line. I do have a dryer, but I understood that it is better to let it dry on the line before 'wicking'.

I'll take some fun pictures this weekend if they're allowed together!
 
I think most of us do a mix and match of smaller liners rather than a cage sized one as well. Easier to wash, dry and change out half the cage. I only tumble dry bath mats, none of the fleeces.
 
Today they were finally allowed together after 10 weeks. Super exciting, but they did very well. The male made a big show of it and the female rejected him with a lot of noise. But after a few hours things calmed down. No signs of aggression thankfully!

They are now together in an enclosure of 140x70. Next week my c&c cage will have arrived and they will have an upgrade to 6x2!
 

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Excellent, so pleased for you and them. When they go into the new cage, put some "dirty" fleeces in there with them so they feel secure and settle more quickly.
 
My 6x2 c&c cage is here! They are busy exploring, but seem to really like the extra space.

I'm going to make a batch of fleece liners myself this weekend. I'm very curious about how urination goes and where it gets dirty. I'm still a little unsure with everything, but it will take time before I have a new routine.

Question: I now have newspapers under the hay. I would prefer to do this, but we receive so few newspapers (1 local newspaper every week). How do you do that? I don't like puppy pads and I don't want hennep or sawdust either. They walk it through the entire cage. But I can't really think of an idea for a good alternative to a newspaper (if I don't have anything).
 

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If anyone has a tip about the setup, I'd love to hear it!

I have 1 water bottle and 1 water bowl now. They hardly drink so it seemed a bit redundant to hang up 2 bottles. I have 2, so if I notice that they drink more (in the summer for example) I put in a second one.

Also a dead corner next to the hay area. I think I'll put another tunnel there as soon as I order another one.
 
Do you have any family or friends who have newspapers and could save them for you?
Or perhaps there is a local Facebook page where you could ask for some.

I use newspaper as a base layer under snowflake softchip and then all topped with hay and am kept supplied with newspapers by my grandmother!
 
I know some people who are using wooden litter pellets. At the moment I am on wood shavings that I hate and plan to try them when the pack is finished.
 
That's a good idea for when I run out of newspapers! It might be useful to always have a bag at home.
 
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