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Puppy Pads As The Sole Substrate In A Loft Area?

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DePolga

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I'm excitedly planning a nice C&C cage for my two boars (Ollie and Paddy) as soon as they are big/tame enough to be safe in one! At the moment I'm using megazorb with puppy pads underneath, but was wondering whether it is safe to use puppy pads on their own in the loft? I find that they very quickly fill their food and water bowls up with the megazorb at the moment, so was planning on putting those in the loft (secured to the grids so that they cant be pushed down!). Both boys are very confident with ramps and are happily using a two storey wooden house at the moment.

Thank you for your help :)
 
it depends on the piggies i think and whether they are likely to chew them. i would think it safer to cover them with the megazorb just incase.

you could try offering water bottles aswell as bowls just so they always have clean water to drink if they've been busy making a water megazorb mush! :roll::))
 
My pigs always have a sneaky chomp on the puppy pads if I even leave as much as an edge sticking out from under the fleece - for some reason they are very chompable!
 
My piggies were the same too when I used puppy pads, if they could get to them and eat them, they would!
 
Mine eat the puppy pads too, have to make sure every little bit is tucked under vet bed. Had a very anxious day once poop watching to make sure neither of them had a blockage when some puppy pad disappeared.
 
Years ago when I had my 1st guinea pig (snowball) it was common to keep guinea pigs on woodshavings but snowball developed what I now know was a "cauliflower willie" and the shavings used to keep getting stuck in it. So I had to think of an alternative bedding. So I came up with using "pampers baby change mats" (just exactly like puppy pads nowadays) he used to eat them so I had to fix them down somehow. Well this may not be the best thing but I used to use masking tape to secure the mats down. It worked and he never ate them after that. Lol.
 
Hello again everyone and thank you for your help - I'm really sorry it took me so long to get back on and say that! My C&C has now arrived and I've got some fleece fabric (can see an addiction starting...).

I'm now planning to use the puppy pads under the fleece, but I would anyone advise another layer in between or will that be fine as is? I could use the megazorb - but I'm guessing that will stick to the fleece - and I know a few people use towels, but my OH is not happy about the piggies taking over the washing machine, so I'd like to know if an argument about that is necessary!

Back off to spend more time drooling over the members C&C gallery...fairy lights and bunting were not something that I've ever considered before, but I'm rapidly getting obsessed lol :)
 
I use puppy pads covered with a single fleece when mine are having floor time and this work fine for a few hours. If you are using just puppy pads , I would check under the fleece each time you spot clean. You'll be able to see how much wee collects on the puppy pads. Without towels, you may want to change the puppy pads quite frequently - maybe even daily .
 
I use puppy pads covered with a single fleece when mine are having floor time and this work fine for a few hours. If you are using just puppy pads , I would check under the fleece each time you spot clean. You'll be able to see how much wee collects on the puppy pads. Without towels, you may want to change the puppy pads quite frequently - maybe even daily .

Thank you PiggyOwner, that's really helpful! If you use towels is it just one layer between the pads and the fleece, or is it another case of 'more is more'? ;)
 
Thank you PiggyOwner, that's really helpful! If you use towels is it just one layer between the pads and the fleece, or is it another case of 'more is more'? ;)

If you are going to use towels as a middle layer between puppy pads and fleece, I would start with one layer - you'll probably find that's enough !
 
Thank you! This piggy herding business is a lot more complicated than when I was a kid lol :) want to get everything just right for the boys this time :)
 
I use puppy pads then newspaper then fleece or vet bed. I put an extra paper in each corner where they wee and find most days I just change the top corner papers, the wee doesn't soak down to 2nd paper or pad. I change fleece every 3 to 4 days and turn puppy pad corners outside to inside as the pad rarely feels or looks wet. Change whole lot once a week, this depends though on how much outside run time we have managed and suspect I will have more to change in the winter. Using newspaper saves on washing towels and it goes in the recycling or compost bins but of course needs a good supply of papers, I get them from family and collect free ones when out and about.
 
Seeing as you are thinking of fleece... :D
Fleece needs to be changed every three to four days, without a fabric softener, but with non bio detergent and white vinegar(optional) at 60 degrees. Before first use you have to wash the fleece without any detergent at least three times to allow it to remove the water barrier. You can check this has been done successfully if a drop of water on the fleece sinks through, not stays on the top. If it stays, you need to wash it again.

Fleece also needs an absorbent layer underneath to hold the urine. This can be towels, which I find great. Or puppy pads. You can also buy cage liners which are fleece, but built in absorbent layer. You can buy these from:
http://ziggyspiggies.webs.com

Fleece needs to be spot cleaned (remove poop) at least once a day.

To avoid clogging up washing machine you will need to brush down the fleece and shake it to remove loose hay and hairs. And optional would be to have a horse wash bag, found on amazon/ebay which allows fleece to be washed well, but all hay and hairs keep contained in the bag.
 
Wow thank you for all that @Chief Guinea Pig :)

I don't have vinegar - is it just ordinary food stuff? Capful in softener draw? Or more?

I've got two sets of fleece (more to follow if all goes well!), washed and wick tested and cut to size yesterday as my C&C arrived.

Have got Pet Gator Vax hand vacuum and my trusty dustpan and brush for poo patrol, and a horse wash bag.

Off to IKEA today for cages stand and towels, then can finally get set up! Exciting! Pigtures to follow. Thanks again everyone for helping. Love this forum!

Ps sorry about the lousy typing. OHs ipad hates me!
 
Wow thank you for all that @Chief Guinea Pig :)

I don't have vinegar - is it just ordinary food stuff? Capful in softener draw? Or more?

I've got two sets of fleece (more to follow if all goes well!), washed and wick tested and cut to size yesterday as my C&C arrived.

Have got Pet Gator Vax hand vacuum and my trusty dustpan and brush for poo patrol, and a horse wash bag.

Off to IKEA today for cages stand and towels, then can finally get set up! Exciting! Pigtures to follow. Thanks again everyone for helping. Love this forum!

Ps sorry about the lousy typing. OHs ipad hates me!
White vinegar, which is just clear distilled vinegar will do :)
 
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