COVID-19 The Coronavirus Bedding Debacle

[alexr]

My guinea pigs think this lockdown is absolutely wonderful. 1) I am constantly at home to cater to their every whim, 2) Sunshine = cavorting and eating the wonderful long grass in the runs, 3) I stocked the fridge full of greens not realising the glorious weather was on its way meaning they don’t need as much. They are enjoying the challenge anyway!

HOWEVER, the problem I’ve encountered is what I’ve called “The Expensive Bedding Crisis.” I have 12 piggies across 6 cages bedded on lots of hay. They get cleaned out twice per week with tidy ups in between. This mission produces many bags of waste that I take to our local refuse tip.

The tips are now closed and, when I phoned up to see if the normal bin collection could take excess waste, they said no and even hinted at the collections stopping!

I don’t want bags of rubbish piled up for weeks and attracting other critters and we do not have a garden that can cope with that amount of waste for compost.

So, the credit card took something of a beating when I ordered two rolls of fleece and some trays to store their eating hay. Hopefully this will reduce waste for the bin.

So today will be spent cutting fleece to size, sewing a piece of colour-coded thread on each piece to keep track of which bit belongs to which set of piggies, washing the fleece and locating old towels.

The pigs will either decide this is the ultimate step in their luxury retreat or will revolt and turf the whole lot upside down. @furryfriends (TEAS) I bet you can guess what Fernando & Barnaby’s reaction will be.

 

[Swissgreys]

I love the fleeces - well done for coming up with a fast solution!

 

[sport_billy]

This thread made me lol so much - thank you

A great idea, I am hoping for no piggle revolt.... that is not what you need at the moment.

 

[LunaOreoPigz]

 

[Merab]

Lovely fleeces.
I'm in the same position as you @alexr - our tip is closed.
I am so glad I took 2 carloads last Saturday.
Ours will just pile up wherever I can find space for now.
I may resort to fleeces again but I struggled to keep up with the laundry.
Now where's my credit card?

 

[LunaOreoPigz]

I'm fuming that pet stores arent classed as essential stores though! Where am i supposed to get the pighies stuff?

 

[Posyrose]

I'm fuming that pet stores arent classed as essential stores though! Where am i supposed to get the pighies stuff?

Pet shops are included in the essential list. Your pet shop may have decided to close though.

How about using online suppliers. I just ordered a few months' supply of hay online.

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

Fortunately I know someone who has an allotment. He takes some piggy waste from time to time and has kindly said he will take it all.

 

[LunaOreoPigz]

Pet shops are included in the essential list. Your pet shop may have decided to close though.

How about using online suppliers. I just ordered a few months' supply of hay online.

There are none open in my area though.

 

[anyar.dris]

One area of my piggies' cage is paper bedding. Looks like I have to change back to using fleece in that area for the meantime coz our tip will be closed indefinitely because of covid-19. We usually go to tip to throw our guinea pig wastes coz it's not recycled by the council. More washing then.

 

[PigglePuggle]

We usually have a 3x2 area of the main cage (the hay room) with newspaper, disposable paper bedding, then hay... I am thinking we will swap the newspaper and paper bedding for a washable puppy pad on the next cage clean, also maybe use washable puppy pads in the playpen, as we also usually take 2 bags of piggy waste to the tip every week!
I dont have space in our small city patio garden for proper composting, but I might try put the daily poop scoop poops into a big garden planter I have then put a layer of soil over the top, see if we can create some fertiliser to grow a few lettuces for the piggies in there if my seeds ever get delivered!

 

[Swissgreys]

There are none open in my area though.

Where are you based in Yorrkshire @LunaOreoPigz
I just did a quick Google and found lots of open pet shops.

 

[eileen]

I'm in the same situation with piggie waste,ive switched to fleece for inside piggies,i do not feel it is not approipriate to use fleece on outdoor piggies.my garden will be piled high with waste !

 

[VickiA]

Before our council took hay waste we used to burn ours in a garden incinerator (posh word for a tin bin with a chimney on it). So that’s what we will go back to doing if bin collections stop

 

[Qualcast&Flymo]

We usually have a 3x2 area of the main cage (the hay room) with newspaper, disposable paper bedding, then hay... I am thinking we will swap the newspaper and paper bedding for a washable puppy pad on the next cage clean, also maybe use washable puppy pads in the playpen, as we also usually take 2 bags of piggy waste to the tip every week!
I dont have space in our small city patio garden for proper composting, but I might try put the daily poop scoop poops into a big garden planter I have then put a layer of soil over the top, see if we can create some fertiliser to grow a few lettuces for the piggies in there if my seeds ever get delivered!

This thread may be helpful for making compost or fertilizer from piggie poop:

How To Make Fertiliser Out Of Guinea Pig Waste

I guess I'm lucky, my piggie waste can go on my compost heaps. If I had too much, or waste that didn't compost well, I could bag it up and store it somewhere in the garden for a few months, but hope it doesn't become necessary.

 

[alexr]

This thread made me lol so much - thank you

A great idea, I am hoping for no piggle revolt.... that is not what you need at the moment.

Glad it made you chuckle. With all this time on my hands, I’m struggling to keep myself in check with their grand designs! Who knows, with the remaining fabric, I might dig out the sewing machine (last used circa 1996) and knock up some cosy items!

 

[alexr]

Lovely fleeces.
I'm in the same position as you @alexr - our tip is closed.
I am so glad I took 2 carloads last Saturday.
Ours will just pile up wherever I can find space for now.
I may resort to fleeces again but I struggled to keep up with the laundry.
Now where's my credit card?

I know, I’m not looking forward to the washathons! Never mind, it’ll hopefully keep them happy.

 

[alexr]

Fortunately I know someone who has an allotment. He takes some piggy waste from time to time and has kindly said he will take it all.

I should have made a connection with our local allotment group. “Free poo in return for veg.” I asked the guy at the tip last time I went why it can’t go in green waste. Apparently it’s to do with the amount of ammonia and he went on a whole training course about it. I bet that was a thrilling day.

 

[alexr]

We usually have a 3x2 area of the main cage (the hay room) with newspaper, disposable paper bedding, then hay... I am thinking we will swap the newspaper and paper bedding for a washable puppy pad on the next cage clean, also maybe use washable puppy pads in the playpen, as we also usually take 2 bags of piggy waste to the tip every week!
I dont have space in our small city patio garden for proper composting, but I might try put the daily poop scoop poops into a big garden planter I have then put a layer of soil over the top, see if we can create some fertiliser to grow a few lettuces for the piggies in there if my seeds ever get delivered!

That’s a good use of poop! I hope you get a lovely supply of lettuces!

 

[alexr]

We usually have a 3x2 area of the main cage (the hay room) with newspaper, disposable paper bedding, then hay... I am thinking we will swap the newspaper and paper bedding for a washable puppy pad on the next cage clean, also maybe use washable puppy pads in the playpen, as we also usually take 2 bags of piggy waste to the tip every week!
I dont have space in our small city patio garden for proper composting, but I might try put the daily poop scoop poops into a big garden planter I have then put a layer of soil over the top, see if we can create some fertiliser to grow a few lettuces for the piggies in there if my seeds ever get delivered!

That’s a good use of poop! I hope you get a lovely supply of lettuces!

 

[alexr]

I'm in the same situation with piggie waste,ive switched to fleece for inside piggies,i do not feel it is not approipriate to use fleece on outdoor piggies.my garden will be piled high with waste !

We’ll all be going on a clandestine midnight mission to deposit bags in neighbours bins the night before they’re collected.

 

[alexr]

Before our council took hay waste we used to burn ours in a garden incinerator (posh word for a tin bin with a chimney on it). So that’s what we will go back to doing if bin collections stop

I did think about a bonfire but I’d probably set fire to the fences!

 

[Betsy]

We’ll all be going on a clandestine midnight mission to deposit bags in neighbours bins the night before they’re collected.

I used to do that! Only problem is in the morning if they are saving a bin bag to go in the bin in the morningand find that your's is taking up the space, they take yours full of piggy waste out of their bin and dump it unceremoniously in the middle of the road!

 

[alexr]

I used to do that! Only problem is in the morning if they are saving a bin bag to go in the bin in the morningand find that your's is taking up the space, they take yours full of piggy waste out of their bin and dump it unceremoniously in the middle of the road!

I must admit I’ve done it to but only with the odd extra bag. To be honest, I’ve never been rumbled yet.

 

[Eriathwen]

My nosy neighbours would throw a fit if I started burning bedding. I'm planning on digging a big pit and burying it...hopefully they don't think I'm hiding bodies

Other than that..bags will just have to build up, if they don't like it they can go dispose of it for me

 

[Pound Shilling & Pig]

I should have made a connection with our local allotment group. “Free poo in return for veg.” I asked the guy at the tip last time I went why it can’t go in green waste. Apparently it’s to do with the amount of ammonia and he went on a whole training course about it. I bet that was a thrilling day.

My tip are fine about it going in the green waste. Odd what yours say given that I thought people say if you wee on compost it makes it better

 

[alexr]

So I gradually changed all the piggies over to fleece. Some absolutely love it but Claudio & Maurizio had a complete freak out which made me cry. They’d had a lovely few hours in the garden and came into their new bedding. They were absolutely terrified of it and racing around in terror. At one point poor Maurizio was panicking so much, I thought he’d had a stroke. Their strange reaction really took me aback and I had a big sob! Claudio used to live on fleece so he should be used to it!

I tried stroking them and speaking calmly to them to reassure them but they just huddled together in terror.

I got them out for a cuddle on my lap on a piece of fleece and they enjoyed that but when I put them back in their cage they freaked out again. They have places to hide and a hay tray but they are still scared. Perhaps they don’t like the pattern! I hope they get used to it quickly.

 

[Shelley anne]

I'm fuming that pet stores arent classed as essential stores though! Where am i supposed to get the pighies stuff?

In New Zealand the pet shops are considered essential stores so they are still open. We are lucky. When this all began I stocked up on heaps of pet food and hay. I didn't need fortunately to but it makes me feel safe anyway.

 

[Shelley anne]

So I gradually changed all the piggies over to fleece. Some absolutely love it but Claudio & Maurizio had a complete freak out which made me cry. They’d had a lovely few hours in the garden and came into their new bedding. They were absolutely terrified of it and racing around in terror. At one point poor Maurizio was panicking so much, I thought he’d had a stroke. Their strange reaction really took me aback and I had a big sob! Claudio used to live on fleece so he should be used to it!

I tried stroking them and speaking calmly to them to reassure them but they just huddled together in terror.

I got them out for a cuddle on my lap on a piece of fleece and they enjoyed that but when I put them back in their cage they freaked out again. They have places to hide and a hay tray but they are still scared. Perhaps they don’t like the pattern! I hope they get used to it quickly.

Thats an interesting reaction. I wouldn't have thought they would be so bothered. But you never know with a piggie, they are quite complex at times. Good luck, I hope that they adjust soon. If only they knew you are just doing your best for them.