I have a question..

[BonBon2010]

Why do people put fleece on their piggies bed and not hay? I've noticed a few of you have this, and wondered how do you keep them clean? Do you change them everyday?
Mine have a thick bed of shavings with normal hay on top, and timothy hay put in the hay rack..

 

[mojules]

We used to keep ours on shavings and hay bedding and then I saw people on here used fleece so thought we would give it a try and oh my god they loved it - it must have been so much softer on their feet they were bopping around and popcorning and we have never looked back

Cleaning is so much easier as we just grab the corners of the fleece and empty contents into the bin then shake the fleece outside (or rather my OH does hehe) and bung it in the washing machine - this is not without its difficulties though as the washing machine filter then needs unblogged sometimes every 3 wheeks. After fleeces washed i put them into tumble dryer to dry and theyre ready to go again - we change ours about every 2 days depending on if it is hot weather you would be able to judge - hope this helps?

Karen

 

[flips]

It really depends on your set up. I have a large 3 x 4 c & c cage and I couldn't give them this much room if I used shavings/ megasorb and hay for the whole thing. The cost of buying bedding would be too much and I would have a problem with disposal. My guinea pigs live indoors. I wouldn't use fleece if they lived outdoors.
I invested in washable incontinence pads to go under the fleece and use cheap fleece throws. I wash them every 2-3 days. I also have a big litter tray with megazorb and hay because it's important for them to have hay to roll and forage about in.
I also do a poop scoop twice a day. Fleece can take up quite a bit of time in terms of cleaning. I give it a good shake outside then fold it into sections to brush before it goes in the washing machine.
What type of bedding you use really depends on what works best for you. There are reviews on differenet bedding in the housing section.

 

[BonBon2010]

We recycle the hay, put it in the compost bin to rot down, and the shavings go for recycling in the recycle bin
I like to spoil my piggies, by making sure they have Timothy hay ab-lib, in the hay rack, everyday, I don't mind the expense as they cost about £10-15 per week including veg |)

 

[Little Piggles]

I agree with Flips that it depends on your set-up and also on personal preference.

My girls lived on fleece indoors over the winter and both I and they loved it. It is much easier to keep clean and doesn't drag through the house like hay does. I used puppy-training pads underneath the hay and it soaks everything up and keeps the smell down too. A quick sweep once or twice a day and you're sorted

My pigs now live outdoors though and so are bedded on hay. They seem to love this as much as their indoor fleece and enjoy burrowing underneath it all rolleyes.

 

[Wiebke]

I simply couldn't have as many piggies in my living room and clean them out every second day without fleece! They have several hay trays, so if a piggy prefers to sleep on hay, it still has the opportunity to do so.

 

[Bailey]

I was using shavings but it made my eyes really itchy when it was time to clean the cage out.
I saw a lot of people used fleece and thought I would try it out.
Well the piggies loved it, and I find it a lot easier to use. They mostly poop in their litter tray and any stray ones can be swept up when needed.
I can then give the fleece a shake into the bin before it's washed.

After the initial outlay of buying the fleece it works out cheaper too.


Oh and it's more fun to look at