Newbie Cage Setup Help!

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StevenP

StevenP

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Hi folks,

Only my second post on here so bear with me, still trying to get the hang of being a first time piggy dad!

Okay, so my question is regarding the setup of my cage. I currently have hay to line the bottom of the cage with some carefresh bedding.

I feel like I am missing something - is it okay just to have hay on the bottom of the cage or is there a better setup?

Thanks!
 
you might want to add something else.. have a look at the housing section here.. personally i used care fresh for the first few weeks with newspaper underneath but i soon switched to fleece cos it cost me so much in care fresh ( £30 in 2 weeks )....
Lots of different ideas on this forum though...
 
artcasper said:
you might want to add something else.. have a look at the housing section here.. personally i used care fresh for the first few weeks with newspaper underneath but i soon switched to fleece cos it cost me so much in care fresh ( £30 in 2 weeks )....
Lots of different ideas on this forum though...
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Thanks! I was having a look at fleece too, a lot of people seem to like it!
 
I love fleece.I have towels with fleece on top.The fleece wicks the wee away to keep the surface dry.I then have litter trays with aubiouse then their hay.Works great for my guinea pigs and bunnies
 
Where are the best places to buy fleece? I'm going to give it a try, looks like it would work out a lot cheaper for me.
 
I bought mine from b&m store and ikea I prefer the ones from ikea they seem a bit thicker
 
I'm an avid vet bed fan :)
Love the texture for little feet and find it can be used for around 7 days. It reduces the risks of UTI's/URI's, wee wicks to the base so the bedding is never wet and have been using it for years now.
Lots of lovely colours and designs available, can be pricey but is more cost effective for us having so many piggies, saves a lot of changes/washes etc.
I like hay buckets...we use the small dog plastic beds, line with paper and load with hay :) The piggies love diving into it and dragging hay everywhere...:doh:
Try what you think is suited - fleece are great but I found it needed changing daily :(
 
StevenP said:
Where are the best places to buy fleece? I'm going to give it a try, looks like it would work out a lot cheaper for me.
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B&M, The Range, Primark all sell fleece.. Initially you might think it expensive but when you work out how much care fresh costs per bag.......
 
I use a 3 layers of news paper, 2 layers of towels, 1 layer of puppy pads, and 1 doubled over fleece, so cleaning is a breeze, I just replace the fleece and puppy pads daily in the sleeping area and the other areas alternate every 3 days. Towels and fleeces from Primark are very BIG, good and cheap, Puppy Pads from the PoundShop, News papers from the curtesy of Mum and Dad.
 
ayemee said:
Asda also sell decent fleeces, :)
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Yup I got 3 fleeces in the asda sale the other day for less than a tenner :) although they are blue with mermaids on I don't think my two boars will mind :D

I have put towels underneath that, but toying with the idea of a litter/hay tray. I'm waiting too see what works best for me and them :D
Xx
 
We had ours on hay for a week, but one of our piggies got a UTI from it, so I switched to fleece as soon as I could. We have a layer of newspaper, a layer of puppy pads, a folded towel and a layer of fleece well washed in non-biological powder. We use a hay box/litter tray lined with newspaper, carefresh and hay where, thank goodness, they seem to do most poops and wees. I clean the towel and top layer every four days and strip and sterilise the entire cage every week. It makes for a fun Saturday morning. The fleece was really cheap on ebay, and in a whole range of colours.
 
Anarchybmc said:
Yup I got 3 fleeces in the asda sale the other day for less than a tenner :) although they are blue with mermaids on I don't think my two boars will mind :D

I have put towels underneath that, but toying with the idea of a litter/hay tray. I'm waiting too see what works best for me and them :D
Xx
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So I figured out quite quickly that a cat litter tray with hay in works for my boys :D I have a layer of puppy pads, towels and fleece now and that seems to work well everything is washed every two days.
Xx
 
It's always tricky when you first suss out bedding, so expect a bit of trial and error :nod: - I find my pigs do well with a big pile of hay in a litter tray with either a puppy pad under to soak up the pee, or now I use a fleece liner (with the towel built in) which can be washed. The hay is easily brushed off my purpose made liners, I find separate towels and fleeces are more time consuming for me, and don't brush as easily - I found newspaper wasn't absorbent enough under it as they pee loads if munching on hay.

Even though my piggies now live in hutches outside (in a bike shed) I find fleece liners on the main floors and a big litter tray with a liner and loads of hay on top works really well - but used this set up when they lived indoors and it made cleaning easier too as they tend to poop and pee most in the litter tray! :)
 
smileyface:) said:
It's always tricky when you first suss out bedding, so expect a bit of trial and error :nod: - I find my pigs do well with a big pile of hay in a litter tray with either a puppy pad under to soak up the pee, or now I use a fleece liner (with the towel built in) which can be washed. The hay is easily brushed off my purpose made liners, I find separate towels and fleeces are more time consuming for me, and don't brush as easily - I found newspaper wasn't absorbent enough under it as they pee loads if munching on hay.

Even though my piggies now live in hutches outside (in a bike shed) I find fleece liners on the main floors and a big litter tray with a liner and loads of hay on top works really well - but used this set up when they lived indoors and it made cleaning easier too as they tend to poop and pee most in the litter tray! :)
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Yeah I'm finding brushing the hay off the fleece quite hard, I'm scared that my washing machine is going to get clogged up as I don't have any spare duvet covers to wrap them up in so I started to hoover them first but that's making me wonder if my Hoover will get clogged up :roll:
Where did you get your liners from? I'm currently building them a c&c cage so I would like to have things set up for them :D
Xx
 
I got mine from Ziggie's Piggies - and have had the same set for over a year and a half and the more you wash the better they get (it's good to have at least one set spare - I have three in total, so I can wash two at the same time when a clean once goes in the hutch) - I find that because they are denser, as they are sewn together, you can hold them up and brush them down with a small dustpan brush and everything comes off - seed heads are the only things that stick but I pull them out. And the more the fleece is washed the more the fabric is less fluffy and things stick to it less.:nod:

I found duvets a hassle as they are big and take longer to dry out - I think you can get horse kit bags which may dry quicker?
I just brush off as much as I can and then just make sure I clean the filter in the machine every now and then. I did try the hoover thing, but its another hassle to get the hoover out, and sometimes the poops can smell in the hoover even as you are doing it - that's what I found - so a small dustpan and brush seems to work best for me.

Also while cleaning I clean out the hay tray first and then refill - while the piggies are munching happily I lift off all toys etc and then I lift the liner up to roll off poops and then just brush the poops off what ever base you may have under. I find brushing poops straight off the liners too time consuming! The liners can usually be turned over too so that you get more days out them, I find if they have a hay tray then the liners don't really get peed on much - you can also get smaller liners to put under igloos so if they pee in there you can just change the pad daily too and not the whole liner.

My best tip ever though, depending on your taste, get the leopard and tiger print fleeces - its really hard to see the poops on them and so the cage will always look clean even after they poop all over it 5 mins after cleaning it out! :clap:
 
I've just ordered 2 liners from ziggys piggies and she recommended a pillow case for washing but I can't imagine them fitting in a pillow case
 
I use a horse wear bag and it works great for me. My fleeces are from b&m. They do have dog paw prints and bones on but the piggies don't seem to mind. Picked up a couple from car boots and charity shops as well.
 
I got a pet hair laundry bag
Pet Hair Washing Machine Filter Bags Size: Large & Extra Large Available
The large one is plenty big enough for 2 x 6ft liners

And my latest bargin find is a hospital grade single bed in continance pad for £1 from the charity shop. Its big enough for a cage liner and an absolute bargain for £1
Cant understand why my adult daughter had a funny look on her face at my find. Funny child. Lol
 
Vandamf said:
I got a pet hair laundry bag
Pet Hair Washing Machine Filter Bags Size: Large & Extra Large Available
The large one is plenty big enough for 2 x 6ft liners

And my latest bargin find is a hospital grade single bed in continance pad for £1 from the charity shop. Its big enough for a cage liner and an absolute bargain for £1
Cant understand why my adult daughter had a funny look on her face at my find. Funny child. Lol
Click to expand...

:lol!:
Thanks for the link I'm looking into that!
 
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