Worried about bedding now.....

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StannyUK

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Argggh! Sometimes reading is a bad thing!

We have 4 piggies (2 over 1 years old and 2 who are about 3months old) For bedding we use newspaper with woodshavings and then hay in the sleeping area.
Should I really be looking to move from the shavings cos of their breathing? I really want to prolong their life as much as possible so if it means changing bedding, I'm doing it tomorrow!

Any suggestions?

I'm thinking:

Newspaper on bottom

New stuff on top of that (should I just use hay?)

Lots of hay in sleeping area cos they love to burrow....

Also am i best trying to find local farm to buy a bale off? The stuff ive been getting recently seems to quite short in places and ive seen one of the girls dive into the long stuff, only to come out covered in small bits :(

My head is swimming now, all i want is the best for my piggies (as we all do 98))
 
When Duke was well i had bubble wrap on the bottom to help insulate, then thick layers of newspaper, then thick layer of hay and in his sleeping area a small handtowel for him to either sit on or bury himself underneath :)

Don't stress too much, it sounds like you're doing a fab job anyways O0
It is a worry with short hay as it can also get stuck in their coats and irritate or piece the skin and this can give them abscess' :tickedoff:

As i'm in OZ i don't know what your hay is like, i'm sure somebody from your area will be on later today and help you out :)
 
I would look and see if you have a horse feed supplier near you - there are lots of great beddings you can get from them like Aubiose, Megazorb, Medibed etc. You should be able to get hay from them too.

If you only have a few piggies Russel Rabbit bedding is very good and cost effective.

I really don't like shavings at all having seen first hand the damage they can do.
 
I have always used shavings, and I dont believe have ever had any problems directly linked to using them... :)

Now I use shavigns on just over half of my cages, and there is no difference in health from using them IMO :)

Pet shops usually sell the longer stuff, but when it comes to the end of the 'season' all thats left starts to be the shorter stuff methinks... :-\
 
cool, might try some of this other stuff you guys are recommending...

the only thing is, for every 5 star review of one product i read with comment like "dust free etc" there is another with 1 star and "its very dusty)
 
Hi Stanny!  :)

I have an indoor 'nero' cage and I do exactly the same as you (half hay half shavings with a newspaper base). Ive been thinking about doing away with the shavings and just use hay all around the cage as Ive heard so much bad press about shavings - although as yet I havent had any probs using them. One good thing about using shavings I have found - is that you can see the colour of their wee alot easier. My little Ruby had some blood in her wee and it was easy to spot and give a sample to show the vet.  O0

But I can see peoples point about resporatory problems and getting in their eyes which is why I thought I might try just using hay and newspaper.
 
i use vet beds and have been for a few years now. best thing on the market
 
i use a thick layer of newspaper and then lots of lovely long hay, mine like burrowing too. getting hay locally sounds good, thats what i've done, cos the stuff on the market is usually very short and not very good quality. (with the exception of a few such as pampered piggies, wich is v good quality :smitten:). p.s. i shouldn't get too fussed, your arrangement doesn't sound so bad! :)
 
mine have thick newspaper and hay from a farm always used this and never had any reason to change to anything else thats been the same for over 30 years
 
cool so I will use up the remainder of my shavings and convert to newspaper and hay!

Ill take some pics to show the difference...

one thing i will have to watch is that some naughty piggy keeps ripping up the newpaper, the wee ! 98)
 
mine shred the paper as well its perfectly normal and i race to lay the hay on top of the paper before its shredded up ;D
 
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