Help with Snuggle Safe and keeping Guinea Pigs warm

[SarahCR]

Hi, I've just got 2 new guinea pigs, yesterday. They seem to be settling in ok, they're in a large hutch inside a shed, but it's going to get cold over the winter. I bought them a snugglesafe pad on the advice of the breeder, which I gave them last night and they loved. Only thing is i'm pretty sure they peed all over it all night last night! And it's also completely covered in hay. So question is, how do I microwave it for them tonight - I don't really want to be having to change the cover every single day if they're going to pee on it, also not that keen on putting it covered in hay into my washing machine..... Does anyone have any tips on how best to use them (and also should you microwave with the fleece cover on or not?), and also should I disinfect the pad itself every day? Thanks for any help!

Also if anyone has any tips on speedy every day cleaning that would be great! I did my first daily clean out today and it took me ages, they had made a real mess...! New to this, so any tips very welcome. Thank you.

 

[Ritika]

Microwave it without the cover and let's wait for a better suggestion from someone

 

[amy104]

I have a few covers so I can rotate them and just give the snugglesafe itself a wipe with a damp cloth. I microwave with the cover off. You can put the covers in a pillowcase or a special pet washing bag to stop the hay/fluff going over your washing machine.

 

[Piggies&buns]

You microwave it without the cover on. Give the pad itself a wipe down with a damp cloth and then reheat it. You are going to need to wash and change out the covers though. They absolutely will get wee and hay on them! I use one set of covers for a few days, put those covers in the wash and then put on my replacement covers. So I always have a set of clean covers in rotation to put on. In cold weather snugglesafes need to be used day and night when the temperature is below 15 degrees. I also have four snugglesafes between my two boys so every bed has a warm snugglesafe in it. (Being boys multiple of everything is required!)
My boys live in a hutch in my shed. Keeping piggies warm outside is a bit of a full time job! Anytime the temperature gets below 15 degrees (day or night), they have the snugglesafes in. They also have loads of hay to snuggle into and three blankets over the hutch and a thermal hutch cover to keep them warm.

 

[Piggies&buns]

As for a daily cleaning out...
Being outside mine are bedded on hay and hay not being absorbent, it isn’t possible to sweep clean like you would indoor piggies on fleece. My boys tend to wee in three places so every day I completely remove the hay and newspaper on those areas and replace it. I use a gardening trowel and dustpan and pick Up any loose poops on top of the hay elsewhere andI then brush underneath the hay to get any other poops that have fallen through. I don’t remove areas of hay and newspaper which aren’t wet. I then throw fresh meadow hay for bedding in top of areas which remained clean from the night before. It still takes about twenty minutes each day.
I then do a full hutch clean, removing everything, once or twice a week depending on how much mess they have made and how much time they have been able to have with access into the shed floor to play (they obviously make more mess in the hutch when they are in it for longer!)

 

[SarahCR]

As for a daily cleaning out...
Being outside mine are bedded on hay and hay not being absorbent, it isn’t possible to sweep clean like you would indoor piggies on fleece. My boys tend to wee in three places so every day I completely remove the hay and newspaper on those areas and replace it. I use a gardening trowel and dustpan and pick Up any loose poops on top of the hay elsewhere andI then brush underneath the hay to get any other poops that have fallen through. I don’t remove areas of hay and newspaper which aren’t wet. I then throw fresh meadow hay for bedding in top of areas which remained clean from the night before. It still takes about twenty minutes each day.
I then do a full hutch clean, removing everything, once or twice a week depending on how much mess they have made and how much time they have been able to have with access into the shed floor to play (they obviously make more mess in the hutch when they are in it for longer!)

Thank you this is very helpful. I think it will be easier when they have decided (if!) they are going to poo and wee in certain areas. Last night it seemed like all the hay in the bedding area was just randomly scattered!

 

[Darcey15]

I use 2 snugglesafes for my piggies, they also live in an outdoor shed but I lost one of the covers (goodness knows where) but I improvised and used a t-towel wrapped around it. It's actually much easier to flap the hay etc off outside before washing so can be changed easily. I remove all covers before microwaving then pop them back on. You could even add a t-towel over the original covering to keep it cleaner...just a thought!