Keeping everything separate?

[LennyPig]

Following from my post about my piggie couples increasingly not getting on with the "neighbours" I have put a non see-through barrier on the grids between then (old correx, towels, anything lol) and when my new correx arrives I shall be making a high correx divide between them. This is working brilliantly so far. Just not being able to see the neighbours is doing them wonders I think. The "original" couple are happily re-bonding and seem closer than ever and my new couple can concentrate on getting to know each other better without distrations from the neighbours.

My old thread - 2 "couples" next to each other... can be found below.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=32005

But my question now is, their fleece cuddle cups, tunnels etc... are obviously washed frequently anyway, but would you recommend keeping completely different sets for each couple?

Would this help to maintain the peace?

I know the beds may seem clean to us after washing but I don't know if any sign or smell of the previous "user" is left on the beds after washing?

Cheers

 

[Wiebke]

I think it would, as their sense of smell is so much better than ours! You can still wash everything together, tough!

 

[Nox]

I know Piggies are supposed to have quite a good sense of smell, but mine couldn't find a 4 week old kipper if it was strapped to their chest! rolleyes This doesn't mean that they don't occasionally get a bit snippy if I forget whose Tunnel or Bed belongs to who! It could be down to smell as I have two cages of girls that don't seem wildly keen on each other hence the need for two separate cages, or it could just be because they like being piggin awkward!

What do you wash your bits and bobs with? Do you use vinegar in your final rinse as this can really help with reducing odours? It's been a while since I had any Boars living here but I do remember their delightfully unique pong that could sometimes be a little hard to shift from certain bedding. You can also buy lots of preparations from the Vets to help kill odours too, but that would prove costly over time.

I think if it were me I would try a vinegar rinse (if you haven't already) and then if there wasn't any change, I'd try and keep one set of bedding per cage and see if there was any improvement then. If there still wasn't any improvement erm ... I'd withhold cuddles!!

 

[LennyPig]

nothing smells to me, I was concerned whether it might smell to them though.

I'm just trying to be cautious is all. |)

All the bedding smells ok after washing. my new boar can be a bit whiffy though , but all his bedding comes up fine. He will be a regular bath boar once his castration wounds have healed.

I wash all their stuff in persil non-bio (without conditioner).

I'd be interested to know how you do the vinegar rinse though? Do you put the vinegar in the washing machine? and if you do, at what stage? if you don't, how do you do it?

how much vinegar? what sort (white?)

cheers.

 

[Nox]

Have you ever taken a sniff of the bedding post washing and got a couple of rogue hairs stuck up your nose for the trouble? Maybe it's just me! I can never smell anything on my bedding once it's clean, but I do often wonder if the Piggies do ... I've had the situation where a Tunnel has been returned to the wrong cage and T-Spoon will spend nearly a full afternoon rumbling at it rolleyes and I do wonder if it's anything to do with the few rogue hairs that I can still sometimes find on clean bedding? One thing I do now do is use seperate WashBags for each cage so that there is no likelyhood of 'contaminating' T-Spoons bedding with Pimples for example.

I always use a vinegar rinse with the animal bedding, as I find it helps to soften the fleece, without compromising the wicking abilities of fleece and of course helps to reduce odours. I use white vinegar and as a guide I use a tad more vinegar than I would fabric softener if that helps. I pop a cup full of vinegar in the softener compartment in the drawer so that it (in theory) gets swooshed through on the final rinse in the cycle. I sometimes find that the bedding could stand a second rinse so I whizz it round once more with another cup of vinegar for good measure!

Hope this helps?

 

[LennyPig]

you're a star! thanks x