Safety of fleece cage liners

[charliej]

Hi everyone!
This is my 1st post on here so hopefully get it right!
I'm having issues with my (rabbits and guinea pigs) current bedding - respiratory and bumblefoot - no changes I've made but the bedding itself seems to have changed and causing issues across all my cages. So, I'm wanting to switch to fleece liners. For instance: guineadad, kavee or candecosies.
Having never used or know anyone personally that has I'm worried about a couple of things:
1) dangers of suffocation? If one of them went under it (full length cage liner not a blanket) and couldn't get out...what is the likelihood of this ?
2) and toxicity of the materials: one material thats used as a middle absorbing layer I've seen is Zorb™ Silvadur®. This sounds amazing however I can't find toxicity safety upon chewing/digestion.
Obviously, if one of my boys decided to be a rebel, I'd have to confiscated and change to something else....but not watching them 24/7 I'm scared about the 2 things above.
Many thanks for anyones help/knowledge/experience in advance from one very worried and protective guinea pig and rabbit mum!

 

[Tigermoth]

Mine would live underneath if she could. No chance of suffocation. It’s like putting your head under the duvet. It’s made from bamboo, cotton and a bit of polyester and won’t do them much harm if they eat it. You don’t want them eating it particularly but it’s not a disaster if they do have a nibble. It’s not toxic but could slow down their gut in high volumes probably.

I just use a cut up mattress protector with a cut up blanket on top. Proper budget option but mine go under nice pads so I’ve had to be creative with pins.

Oh and welcome!

 

[piggieminder]

Members recommended UK and US sites for fleece cage liners and accessories

I linked a thread about fleece which you may find interesting.
I make my own liners and have used them for years over the lifetime of many piggies. I've never encountered any problems related to your worries. I did have one boy who liked to sleep under the liner but he just wiggled out when he woke up. I use cotton quilted wadding in my liners and pee pads (usually a cut up mattress cover). Lots of members use Zorb liners though.

Edited to say - welcome to the forum. There are lots of threads about fleece where other members have asked questions. If you go to the search icon at the top of the page you may find some threads that put your mind at rest.

 

[piggl]

I can totally understand your worries, I suffer from anxiety personally, and my brain overthinks everything especially when it comes to my boys.

For the suffocation, the state a guinea pig would have to get themselves in to suffocate from fleece, would be practically impossible. My pigs go under their fleece all the time, and many of us use fleece items where they snuggle in and they love to mess up their cage the second you clean it, they have never come to any harm from this in years.
Many of us on the forum have used fleece, many for years and years, and I have never heard of any complication with such. Fleece is a great bedding and will help with things like bumblefoot when used correctly.
As for the inner lining, I could not tell you, but if you are really worried about it I use bath mats instead. Just plain bobble bath mats, you can get them from ikea or amazon. They work well and are a cheaper option.
These are the ones I use - TOFTBO grey-white mélange, Bath mat - IKEA

Under it I have a base layer of newspaper, then puppy pads and then the bath mats. This gets changed fully once a week and spot cleaned twice a day.
I have a piggy with a small nasal canal who is very susceptible to irritants, and when we switched to bath mats I have seen a great improvement in this.
Remember to wick your fleece/bath mats before using, wicking is what allows the pee to go through to the absorbent layer, leaving a dry and comfy space for your pigs to lie. I also recommend getting a horse bag for washing your fleece, or the hair will basically kill your washing machine.
You can find more about this here - A Detailed Guide For Fleece Bedding

 

[piggieminder]

Thanks @piggl I was looking for that fleece bedding guide and couldn't find it. I looked in search but had the wrong title.