Weekend away

[Ninarodders]

I'm going away for the weekend in a couple of weeks. I am hoping my neighbour can pop in 2x a day to feed them etc. I know she will do it if there are here and not away themselves. But i worry about cleaning them. They are on shavings and I use quite a bit of meadow hay. I use the meadow hay in the high poop areas as its easier to roll up the hay and most of the poops stay in the hay and then thrown away. I then just scoop wet patches. I normally do this daily. (They also get timothy hay in a bag). I feel like id be asking too much of her to do this everyday like I do. Could she just top up the meadow hay in the worst area daily? Would they be ok? I mean I feel like they smell if they aren't done daily but smell won't be a problem but I wouldn't want them getting poorly feet etc.

My other option would be to take them to my mums but this would be a hassle as I've got a tortoise too who's enclosure isn't easy to move. But if I did move them to my mums would this stress them too much? She's lives about 30 mins away in a diff town so her travelling 2x day isn't an option.

 

[Winniepeg]

I would give them a thorough clean out before you go ( you probably plan to do this anyway) and politely ask if your neighbour would mind doing spot cleans or clear outs while you’re away. Perhaps a spot clean on the second day and a clearout on the third. You can only ask your neighbour what she is prepared to do. Who knows she may enjoy engaging with your piggies . Reward her with something nice . It would concern me if she’s not at least willing to spot clean. That said piggies in the wild live in burrows full of poop so it probably won’t hurt on rare occasions. I’d be interested in what other forum members think. Fortunately I have a good friend who looks after my boys when I'm
away and he does a brilliant job. Good luck. At least you have a contingency plan in place . I hope you enjoy your break

 

[Swissgreys]

Ho long will you be away exactly?
E.g. from Fri night to Sunday night or....

Personally if it's less than 3 full days I would just put a super deep layer of absorbent bedding in their usual pee spots and tell her to throw more hay on them a couple of times a day.
They won't get too smelly in a few days.
Of course this does depend a bit on how many piggies you have an how big their cage is too.
Important is fresh hay, water and a few pellets (if you feed them), but not getting cleaned daily for a very short period shouldn't be an issue.