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is fleece that great?

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daleksarah

daleksarah

Adult Guinea Pig
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ok ive been using fleece with puppy pads towels and newspapers underneath seemed to all work well until about a week ago and ive noticed that the fleece is wet when i come to change them.how often does everyone change the fleece over?my boys wont use a litter tray and pee everywhere apart from just outside their house.is it that my fleece is rubbish and i need better fleece?i`l admit its cheap stuff.i also find getting hay off the fleece a big pain
any tips or advice is very welcome
 
I use the fleece and towels in all my cages and dont have too many problems, but mine get changed every 2-3 days.

As for the fleece problem I place an old tea towel/towel under the hay rack and its easier to get it off the towel then the fleece. My cages also get hoovered out twice a day

:)
 
wash the fleece three or four times before using it and never use fabric softener when washing it as this makes a difference as to how wet it gets, not sure why something to do with the washing breaking down this invisible layer on it? LOL someone will explain that loads better! sorry x

It needs to be changed every other day I find or it does get a bit urgh
 
ive been changing 2-3 days but I'm thinking i need to try and do it every day.all my fleece have been washed at least 3 times now and not with fabric softener. how many towels do you put underneath?
my boys like to get hay everywhere they go a bit mad with it and throw it about etc!so it gets over all the fleece!
 
daleksarah said:
ive been changing 2-3 days but I'm thinking i need to try and do it every day.all my fleece have been washed at least 3 times now and not with fabric softener. how many towels do you put underneath?
my boys like to get hay everywhere they go a bit mad with it and throw it about etc!so it gets over all the fleece!
Click to expand...

I have about 3-4 layers of towels :)
 
i use fleece as well and change it every 2 days but also do a clean up of poo's and hay every day.....i put some hay in a kitten litter tray and change it twice a day because they do wee alot in there xx
 
how big is a kitten litter tray and how much room does it take up?youve actually given me an idea of putting a large tray in one side of their cage filled with hay
 
kitten trays are not as deep as a cat litter tray and cleaned out twice a day ...i think they a great stops the fleece from getting covered in hay ...x..:) my piggy's popcorn in and out of it ....it's like one of there toy's :)
 
Fleece doesn't seem to work for everyone. I think it depends on what your pigs are like to some extent.

I have a big litter tray with their veggie bowls in under the hay rack, so they pee in that a lot, and I change the paper under their beds every day. That's the other place that gets peed in, but if they pee all over the place I can imagine it would be more difficult.

This is my set up with the litter tray.

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Oh wow, isn't changing it everyday such a pain, does that mean you'll need several fleeses and towels? I'm still a woodchip girl atm, hoping to moveovr when I getthe money.


For those who use littertrays, what do you use in it?
 
I use megazorb in my littertrays but in the past I have used both carefresh and woodbased cat litter both have worked well. I have a corner litter tray designed for rabbits / guineas and it is placed under their hay rack.

The great thing about corner trays is that they come with two little holes at the top which I thread string through and tie to the cage so my mischiefs are unable to move them. They had a habit when I firts got them of shoving them out of the way then toileting in the corner behind them :)) I swear they do it on purpose just to annoy us :))
 
Oh and as for the is fleece better or worse than other bedding debate......

I have had piggies since december started with woodshavings (i know i know but did not at the time).

Swiftly moved onto vet bed (couldn't stand it due to all the poo getting stuck in the pile).

Then to megazorb (i loved this but was going through too much due to 4 piggies and two cages my bin was overflowing).

I recently switched to fleece which I love for the quick easy clean (quick sweep, shake on the garden then bung in wash flowed by a wipe of the cage. I think fleece depends on the piggies as to whether it works or not. I've been trying to give it a go it is great for my downstairs two but my upstairs two stink after 24 hours so gonna switch them back to megazorb i think.

All in all if you have the right pigs it works great and is much easier, it just depends if you have boars which scent a lot i think.
 
i dont have many issues with mine but i do it differently to most, i use one layer of newspaper,one layer of towel and i get my fleece cut heaps bigger so i can fold it and have double-triple layer fleece.
the only pigs i have an issue with is Zanzabar and Baker,they insist on peeing and pooping all in one corner which makes it go all wet,and even if i put a toilet tray in that very corner they then use the opposite corner to wee in so i cant win,
i do have 9 toilet trained piggies though so my cages only really need to be done every 3 days but because of the few who arent trained and make a real mess i change them all every 2 days.
In my litters i usually use newspaper layer and then hay although the times i have not used the newspaper the litters get yucky quicker,they do tend to munch on the hay alot as well
 
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I use fleece in my cages but its big fleece so its folded in half for both of them and i clean mine out every other day and have no problem's.
As for brushing hay off you need a stiff brush from a dustpan and brush set.

x
 
I also fold my fleece so I have 2 layers and then either newspaper OR towels underneath. I may have a layer of newspaper over the top of the towels in certain areas where they wee the most.

I also have 2 corner litter trays (but my cage is gigantic) and above one is the hay rack and above the other 2 hay balls. Each litter tray is lined with newspaper and has cheap soft hay in them. They can only eat hay IN the litter trays and I empty them every day. I have 6 guineas in one cage though so they get VERY yukky in a day.

Every day I sweep out the cage with a small dustpan and brush and when I clean out (every 2 or 3 days) I give them a good shake in the garden and all that's left really is hair.
 
I actually change mine daily most days! I find it gets absolutely filthy and I have to keep mine super-clean as they have an infection.
 
Are we talking fleece (the sort of thinner stuff you might have a jacket/pullover made from) or vet bed variants? I use a really thick pile bedding I got from an e-bay supplier and no matter how wet the newspaper underneath gets the top is always dry.

Poos/hay tend to shake off easily although a few bits do remain. I tend to ignore them, but obviously have to clean out the washing machine filter fairly regularly. So far washing machine hasn't packed up (hope that isn't tempting fate :))).

Like the idea of having a litter tray under the hay racks to contain the spread of hay - off to P@H to check that out this pm. I've tried litter training my piggies in the past but not successful - don't think my lot are that bright rolleyes.
 
Are you sure its wee and not the water bottle leaking/bowl being splashed?

I bought a litter tray thing and have it in the run that Mabelle's in at the mo until I can put them back together. He used to poo EVERYWHERE. He's not so bad now at all. I put some newspaper in the bottom then hay then his bowl of dry food. His hay manger is hanging over the back of the tray (it has a high back). Although the tray is quite big, I think when they are back together they wont both fit in it with a food bowl and manger and comfortably eat without arguements (I don't think anyways!)

Hope yours get on well with the tray! I think they will be quick to learn. Mine still poo and wee elsewhere, but not nearly as much as before. Sasha has the toilet that came with the cage in her run.

xx
 
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