Fleece

[Emma72]

Just a quick question my piggie has been poorly with nasally problems and is on medication I’m new to keeping piggies, but I have looked at all your posts and decided to take away the wood shavings and buy a less dusty hay so now we are using fleece puppy pads and towels they seem to love it and little piggies chest is Getting better. I used to fill the hidey where they slept with hay and the used to constantly sit in there munching away the vet listed a few things that could be wrong two of which were hay up the nostril or an allergy hence taking away the shavings Etc, my question is do you owners using fleece just have extra fleece in the hideys or have hay too. .? I’m not keen on using the hay in there after her chest being bad, but I’m worried it won’t eat the hay from the rack and bowl I have put it in, thanks

 

[fanniephina]

Hi Emma, Hideys can be poorly ventilated and it's not recommended to have anything around nor inside of them. I use pee pads made of fleece squares under the hideys and keep the hay in either the kitchen area or the lofts so as to make certain it's fairly fresh. Most guinea pigs will roll in hay or even take a little hay shower and it doesn't hurt them but it will possibly be more difficult if under any kind of shelter area.

You definitely don't need a rack and can easily put a large pile of hay in a corner or open area in a few spots around the cage. Believe me, they will find the hay! I do have a kitchen area separate in a sort of litter area for their food and a water bottle (with a few others around the cage) made of soft bedding. I only use a little bit for weeks as it's not the most used area so the cost isn't so bad in the long run.

Hope your little one does well and is feeling good as new.

 

[Seven7]

I have always used Carefree paper bedding and just recently changed to fleece liner. I have fleece liner covering the entire cage. I also use puppy pee pads covering the entire cage.

 

[Swissgreys]

I have fleece in my cages and large, open topped hay trays for them to burrow in and eat in.
I only use fleece pads underneath their hideys.

 

[Cocochanel4]

Hi Emma,
Just hijacking your post slightly. Hope you don't mind! I have 4 pigs and I keep them on puppy pads, covered with newspaper and then a thick layer of hay throughout the C&C. Do people think it would be worth switching to fleece? My pigs are prone to UTIs (one of them in particular) so that is a consideration, as is the fact that I spend a lot of money on hay at the moment. I've always kept pigs in hay so it would be a big change.

 

[Seven7]

I wash fleece pee-pads every 2 days and fleece liner every 5 days. After washing, I soak them in vinegar water for a couple of hours to get rid of bacteria.
Puppy pee-pads goes at the very bottom, then fleece liner, then on the very top I put pee-pads. I find it easier to pick up poop after I switched to fleece liners. I used Carefree paper bedding previously and I wasn't sure if they were comfortable because I couldn't pick up all the poop when they go under the paper bedding.
My Finn and Lara takes hay off their hay rack and spreads it but only in front of the hay rack and not in entire cage.

 

[Cocochanel4]

I wash fleece pee-pads every 2 days and fleece liner every 5 days. After washing, I soak them in vinegar water for a couple of hours to get rid of bacteria.
Puppy pee-pads goes at the very bottom, then fleece liner, then on the very top I put pee-pads. I find it easier to pick up poop after I switched to fleece liners. I used Carefree paper bedding previously and I wasn't sure if they were comfortable because I couldn't pick up all the poop when they go under the paper bedding.
My Finn and Lara takes hay off their hay rack and spreads it but only in front of the hay rack and not in entire cage.

Thank you for the tips!

 

[raining.ashes]

Just a quick question my piggie has been poorly with nasally problems and is on medication I’m new to keeping piggies, but I have looked at all your posts and decided to take away the wood shavings and buy a less dusty hay so now we are using fleece puppy pads and towels they seem to love it and little piggies chest is Getting better. I used to fill the hidey where they slept with hay and the used to constantly sit in there munching away the vet listed a few things that could be wrong two of which were hay up the nostril or an allergy hence taking away the shavings Etc, my question is do you owners using fleece just have extra fleece in the hideys or have hay too. .? I’m not keen on using the hay in there after her chest being bad, but I’m worried it won’t eat the hay from the rack and bowl I have put it in, thanks

You shouldn't need any extra fleece inside the hidey's, because it will restrict air. Personally I doubt they would like it anyway, but all piggies are different. I know my oldest hates being under blankets, while the youngest loves to burrow under them. However, if you do encounter a burrowing problem you can always clip a small peice of fleece to the side of the cage so they can burrow under that, which is what I have to do for my youngest.