i’m leaving for 8 days for spring break and my grandma is watching my two pigs while i’m gone. she won’t be able to clean their cage so what would work best to keep it clean while i’m gone? i use fleece and I'm working on litter training them. their cage is a c&c 2 by 4. also just tips for cage set up when I'm gone for that long.
leaving for 8 days
- Thread starter csojka
- Start date
I'm afraid litter training them is not going to be possible - piggies just can’t be trained.
They will tend to pee where they eat so putting hay in trays can mean that they pee in there quite a lot but they are still going to per where they sleep and pop everywhere as they move about.
Is she going to be able to do some spot cleaning even is she doesn’t do a full fleece change - 8 days without any cleaning at all is not going to be sanitary.
The cage will need to be swept clear of poops and wet areas of hay are going to need to be removed every day.
They will tend to pee where they eat so putting hay in trays can mean that they pee in there quite a lot but they are still going to per where they sleep and pop everywhere as they move about.
Is she going to be able to do some spot cleaning even is she doesn’t do a full fleece change - 8 days without any cleaning at all is not going to be sanitary.
The cage will need to be swept clear of poops and wet areas of hay are going to need to be removed every day.
Pantalaimon
Junior Guinea Pig
That is a very long time to not be cleaned out for. Do you have a neighbour or someone you know who could come in (even if only 2-3 times during your absence) and just clean their cage?
Perhaps you could make some alterations to make it possible for your Grandmother to give them a very basic clean, would she be able to just remove the fleeces? Maybe she could remove them and tip off the poo/hay then put them back.
Perhaps you could make some alterations to make it possible for your Grandmother to give them a very basic clean, would she be able to just remove the fleeces? Maybe she could remove them and tip off the poo/hay then put them back.
poggle
Adult Guinea Pig
Do you have any pee pads she could pick up and shake into a bag? We keep pee pads under our houses and it makes things a lot easier 
In December I left my 88 year old MIL to look after my two boys for a week. I was really worried she might struggle but she was amazing.
A few tips:
If you have a hay area line this with newspaper with the hay on top so she can just roll it all up and throw it all away every other day.
Use pee pads under their hides so she can pick them up and shake the poops into a bin. Twice a day.
Use a dustpan and brush to sweep all other areas twice a day.
This will keep them nice and clean until you get back and clean them out fully.
Also are they on the floor? She may struggle with bending down. So if you can could they be raised onto a table while you are away.
A few tips:
If you have a hay area line this with newspaper with the hay on top so she can just roll it all up and throw it all away every other day.
Use pee pads under their hides so she can pick them up and shake the poops into a bin. Twice a day.
Use a dustpan and brush to sweep all other areas twice a day.
This will keep them nice and clean until you get back and clean them out fully.
Also are they on the floor? She may struggle with bending down. So if you can could they be raised onto a table while you are away.
jayne
Adult Guinea Pig
I clean my guinea pig s out every day ! Because they don't like being dirty ! And it bonds with them especially the little babies ! Just saying
eileen
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Disposable bedding maybe a good option.Aubiose or megazorb are the most absorbent beddings ive found.you can leave these for a week without changing.though i spot clean daily,but for a rare occasion it can be left a week.just changing the hay daily.it will probably be much more sanitary than ,leaving poos for a week on fleece.
its what works best for you,your piggies,and your family.
its what works best for you,your piggies,and your family.
Kyogre386
New Born Pup
Not changing the fleece for 8 days isn't ideal, but I think it's workable in a rare circumstance like this. But the poop in the cage will definitely need to be cleaned up. You can't really fully litter train guinea pigs. I wouldn't be surprised if you could at least reduce how much they poop outside of a designated area, though if you're just starting now I'm not sure even that could be pulled off. Realistically, guinea pigs won't ever poop in just one area because their metabolism is too fast. Cats can be litter trained, but bare in mind they'll only poop something like 10 times a day (I don't have a cat, but I did clean the litter for a friend's cat and that seems like a reasonable maximum from my experience). Maybe more than that, but it's nothing compared to a guinea pig. For one, their poops are smaller, and again, they have a much faster metabolism because smaller animals need a faster metabolism to maintain body temperature because of the cube-square law. They poop more on the order of 50-100 times per day. That's around once every 15-30 minutes, and it's just unreasonable to expect them to be going back to the same area that often, they frequently nap longer than that.
Probably one of the easiest ways to handle poop is to vacuum it with a handheld cordless vacuum, I've had good success with the Shark Pet Pro Plus. If the cage isn't already on a table, you could move it on to one so there's no bending down required. But even if you do that, hay can clog up the vacuum. The Shark is at least better than this than the other vacuum I tried, which would get clogged by the littlest thing, but you still have to empty it quite a few times. There is a button that opens the chamber for easy emptying, but if you pick up too much hay before emptying it, it will get stuck and will have to be pulled out somehow. I usually just sweep up the large piles of hay first and empty a few times and it's fine, but you still have to sweep or you'll be emptying constantly. You can also just try sweeping everything, but depending on the circumstance that can be even harder. Also a rubber brush is pretty much a must as hay will stick more to a regular dust brush and you will often just spread the hay around. Also, the guinea pigs may not like the loud noise. Mine weren't bothered by it even the first time I used it, I more had to keep them from trying to investigate it, but not every pig is like that.
If you have an area that is covered (perhaps by a second level), they will poop more there, so if you keep that further from where you put the hay, it'll at least reduce the amount hay gets in the way. But then you would have to move whatever is covering the area to access it while cleaning.
If that's not feasible, you'll have to find someone else who can handle the cleaning. 8 days worth of poop is an insane amount, that's just not workable to have the cage not cleaned for that long, it really should be at least once a day.
Probably one of the easiest ways to handle poop is to vacuum it with a handheld cordless vacuum, I've had good success with the Shark Pet Pro Plus. If the cage isn't already on a table, you could move it on to one so there's no bending down required. But even if you do that, hay can clog up the vacuum. The Shark is at least better than this than the other vacuum I tried, which would get clogged by the littlest thing, but you still have to empty it quite a few times. There is a button that opens the chamber for easy emptying, but if you pick up too much hay before emptying it, it will get stuck and will have to be pulled out somehow. I usually just sweep up the large piles of hay first and empty a few times and it's fine, but you still have to sweep or you'll be emptying constantly. You can also just try sweeping everything, but depending on the circumstance that can be even harder. Also a rubber brush is pretty much a must as hay will stick more to a regular dust brush and you will often just spread the hay around. Also, the guinea pigs may not like the loud noise. Mine weren't bothered by it even the first time I used it, I more had to keep them from trying to investigate it, but not every pig is like that.
If you have an area that is covered (perhaps by a second level), they will poop more there, so if you keep that further from where you put the hay, it'll at least reduce the amount hay gets in the way. But then you would have to move whatever is covering the area to access it while cleaning.
If that's not feasible, you'll have to find someone else who can handle the cleaning. 8 days worth of poop is an insane amount, that's just not workable to have the cage not cleaned for that long, it really should be at least once a day.