Fleece vs Vet Bed

[Loveatfirstwheek]

Hey, can anyone tell me in their opinion if vet bed is better then fleece liners? And including smell wise? I am using fleece liners and spot cleaning daily as well as changing kitchens daily to keep the smell/bacteria down a little and changing liners twice a week. For reference I have 6 piggies in a 2x9 cage with lofts (I went overboard and now I’m in too deep and have them for life ). Can anyone please share there cleaning routines? Like could I possibly change liners weekly? (I know it doesn’t keep the smell down unless vet bedding is better?) however, I feel like I’m doing a full load of washing every second day for the girlies (am using sensitive powder and vinegar to wash)

 

[piggieminder]

I change liners every 5 days, they are 3 layers, fleece, quilted mattress cover, fleece so don't need an absorbent layer underneath. I poop pick twice a day and change pee pads in the beds and favourite sitting corners daily (every other day if they don't feel damp).
I have used vetbed in the past instead of fleece for elderly piggies. It's heavier to wash so you can't put so many cage worth's in the machine. It's hard to get the hay off, you need a thick layer of absorbent something underneath (I used newspaper) and 2 of my piggies found it hard to walk on. Whilst the vet bed stays dry on top the backing gets wet and will smell so with 6 piggies weeing on it I don't think you would get away with more than 4 or 5 days.
I now use vetbed cut into small squares in the main sitting areas and hideys with folded newspaper underneath for the oldies as it's easier to wash.
What I do find helps cut the washing down a bit is using a mixture of smaller liners rather than one big one covering the whole cage. I have found mine don't mess some areas of the cage so much so liners in those areas don't need to be changed so often.

 

[pepperpots]

I change my liners weekly, but I have two massive gardening trays lined with newspaper, aubiose and then lots of hay. The piggies tend to do pretty much all their wees in there and I change them daily. I put small pads under other known pee places and change those every two days.

 

[flowerfairy]

I have half the cage full of hay trays lined with newspaper and lots of hay and the other half of the cage with a large fleece with smaller ones on top under the bed and the stool ie in high use areas. All fleeces have polar fleece, zorb and polar fleece.

The cage is pretty small, 160 x 80cm and houses two sows. I change the little pads every day or two and the big one less often depending on wetness.

I also found vet bed to be a bit heavy and harder to get hay off.

 

[flowerfairy]

Pics

 

[Loveatfirstwheek]

I change liners every 5 days, they are 3 layers, fleece, quilted mattress cover, fleece so don't need an absorbent layer underneath. I poop pick twice a day and change pee pads in the beds and favourite sitting corners daily (every other day if they don't feel damp).
I have used vetbed in the past instead of fleece for elderly piggies. It's heavier to wash so you can't put so many cage worth's in the machine. It's hard to get the hay off, you need a thick layer of absorbent something underneath (I used newspaper) and 2 of my piggies found it hard to walk on. Whilst the vet bed stays dry on top the backing gets wet and will smell so with 6 piggies weeing on it I don't think you would get away with more than 4 or 5 days.
I now use vetbed cut into small squares in the main sitting areas and hideys with folded newspaper underneath for the oldies as it's easier to wash.
What I do find helps cut the washing down a bit is using a mixture of smaller liners rather than one big one covering the whole cage. I have found mine don't mess some areas of the cage so much so liners in those areas don't need to be changed so often.

Thanks, I really appreciate you telling me your routine. I sewed my own liners with fleece, mattress protector and a PVC backing however I am very amateur at it so it doesn’t sit flat which might be some of my issue.

 

[Loveatfirstwheek]

I have half the cage full of hay trays lined with newspaper and lots of hay and the other half of the cage with a large fleece with smaller ones on top under the bed and the stool ie in high use areas. All fleeces have polar fleece, zorb and polar fleece.

The cage is pretty small, 160 x 80cm and houses two sows. I change the little pads every day or two and the big one less often depending on wetness.

I also found vet bed to be a bit heavy and harder to get hay off.

Thank you! Your set up looks great though! It gave me the inspiration to fill a cardboard box with hay just for an enrichment thing in the middle of the cage

 

[Loveatfirstwheek]

Pics

Those face though!

 

[Loveatfirstwheek]

I change my liners weekly, but I have two massive gardening trays lined with newspaper, aubiose and then lots of hay. The piggies tend to do pretty much all their wees in there and I change them daily. I put small pads under other known pee places and change those every two days.

Thank you for your response! I really appreciate it, I think I just needed to know that I was doing the right thing as well! Maybe I might put my liners on an extra soak option will help with the smell too!