Soon To Be Owned By Piggies

[Lemmy]

I'm reading as much as I can, you cant be too prepared for these things...

A couple of quick questions...

1. With a litter tray, do the piggies generally prefer the substrate in there to be different to in the rest of the cage? If you use Papelit type bedding what do you put in the tray?

2. What is the general consensus on the best bedding, I have read the pro and cons article but assuming all are available to be, what is generally felt to be the best

thanks

 

[Wiebke]

Hi and welcome!

Whatever substrate you use, put some soft meadow or orchard hay on top (soft hay cuts down on the risk of eye injuries). Piggies love to sit in hay and to toilet while munching on hay. They cannot be litter trained, so the more incentive they have to go to a litter, the better.

The choice of bedding is down to what works best for you on a very practical level, for your piggies and your individual setting. There is no ideal "one size fits all" solution, but there is at least a lot more choice these days. There are also alternatives to wood chippings.

Fleece tends to be the most popular indoors bedding; it is much easier to change, but you need to poo patrol daily. I couldn't have all of mine without fleece and hay trays.
When choosing fleece, be aware that not all fleeces are equally good. I have found anti-pil micro or polar fleece the best. You also have to pre-wash any fleece a few times so it completely softener-free and wicks well. Never overfill a machine if there is too much absorbent fleece for the amount of water in the drum, your fleece will come out absolutely stinking.

 

[flowerfairy]

I love having fleece in the guinea pig cage. It looks pretty and is fun to make them extra cushions and pads for in their hiding places.

They have litter trays with hemparade (hemp based bedding from zooplus) and lots of hay.

 

[TheBoarsBaggins]

When I first introduced my pigs to their cage, I had the entire bottom lined with Carefresh bedding so they got used to the feel of going to the bathroom in that. Then I switched the bedding into a litter pan covered with a wood hut and lined the rest of the cage with fleece. Luckily, 95% of their poop is contained within the litter pan!

 

[SkinnyPigRiver]

I started with paper bedding I already had. The next was fleece, which I bought from sellers on Etsy, as I didn't really have time to put together the proper "sandwich" of fabric myself. I really, really prefer the fleece. BUT, if you don't want to put piggy peed/pooped on bedding in the same washer you do your clothes, stick with the disposable bedding. I haven't had a problem so far, but I've only had pigs on fleece for a couple of months!