Litter Training Litterbox Help! - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**CuteRoxy** · #1 10-30-09, 03:22 am

I have gotten my guinea pig a litter box with extra obsorbent pellets as the bedding inside the litter box. The rest of the cage is sawdust. I have had the litterbox in the cage for a week, and she hasn't even sat in it which is amazing since she loves to sit on everything. Please help!

**princesspoppy** · #2 10-30-09, 03:36 am

Hi and welcome. Sawdust is a pretty bad bedding and can contribute to URI's. It won't absorb the piggie pee and will smell very quickly. The litter box, what type of pellets is this ? You can put some hay on the pellets along with some poop to encourage them to use the tray. Try also moving the hayrack up close to the litter tray as pigs usually poop and pee in the same area they eat.

**CuteRoxy** · #3 10-30-09, 04:57 am

Thanks! I'll move her food closer and she doesn't have a hay rack just yet, I bought one for christmas for her. Thanks for noticing me about the sawdust, my guinea pig tends to sneeze all the time. It's probally the sawdust!

Thanks so much!

**princesspoppy** · #4 10-30-09, 05:09 am

Oh dear. Sneezing all the time. Does she have a runny nose ? I'm really only a learner when it comes to the piggies but I have been on this site evryday for the past 2 months and trying to learn everything I can. Constant sneezing is not a good sign of a healthy pig. Do you have a fleece blanket at home ? if so,take all the sawdust out and lay down newspaper,towels and the fleece blanket ( make sure it's been washed several times without fabric softner) .

Is your piggie eating normal ? Does he/she have plenty of hay to eat. Sorry for all the questions, most members are sleeping now so i'll try to help in anyway i can.

**GizzyandMe** · #5 10-30-09, 05:20 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by CuteRoxy

I have had the litterbox in the cage for a week,

It will take longer than that for her to start using it totally as a litter box. My Gizzy is on free range but she has a Kitchen/litter box and she started on her own to use it as the sole place to take a wee! She will poo in the rest of the "Pool"

However I think remove the sawdust first and find a Vet to examine your piggy to get her sneezing sorted out first. Gizzy also sneezed quite a bit and now I know to look out for things like certain perfumes and such as she has a very sensitive nose. (Found out just last night that hairspray makes her sneeze like crazy)

**CuteRoxy** · #6 10-30-09, 06:27 am

I will not use sawdust anymore. I am cleaning her cage tomorrow. Thanks for the help! She doesn't have a runny nose, she seems quite healthy. Only sneezing. I had another guinea pig once and he lived in sawdust, but then he was really old and died of old age. Is straw and hay alright? Thanks for the help! I'm going to put hay in her litterbox right now. She eats fine. My guinea pig, Roxy, also isn't too fat nor skinny. She goes for a run on the floor about 4 times every weekend and she ussauly runs around her cage popcorning, so I think she gets enough exersize. She aslo goes out in her run every 2 mornings to eat some grass. I cut her nails weekly and also clean her cage weekly, but wash it every 3 weeks. I havn't washed her yet, my mum won't let me becuase we have been getting rain lately. Does she sound like a healthy piggie? Her water bottle is also always full.
-Goldenz

Thanks so much for the help!
EDIT:
She also gets enough vitumin C!

**GizzyandMe** · #7 10-30-09, 06:38 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by CuteRoxy

I havn't washed her yet, my mum won't let me becuase we have been getting rain lately.

Because she is short hair you do not need to wash her very often. You can do what they call "Buttwashes" if she has been sleeping in her own pee and gets a bit dirty in the behind area but other than that I would wait till its warmer. (I know this contradicts what I do but due to health issues and being the mom to a very messy long haired piggy I was my Gizzy every month - adding that it is blazing hot here!)

And you are right she does sound healthy and sounds like she gets out a lot. The sneezing might just be the same as Gizzy - and be an allergy to something. I have to say though that fleece around the litterbox has helped a lot at our house.

**CuteRoxy** · #8 10-30-09, 06:43 am

Thanks!
(I know this is random, but I am so happy because I am looking for an edible christmas tree for Roxy (My Guinea Pig) and I have finally found one! Roxy has her own veggy patch and one of the lettuces are growing straight up! It looks just like a christmas tree! Utterly perfuct for Roxy!)

Roxy has also been acting a bit, different. Not towards me, but to my mum. My mum spends alot of time with Roxy during the day, but lately Roxy seems to always runs away when my mum comes into my room. She is fine with me, but why is shy so strange around my mum?

**JD In Van** · #9 10-30-09, 08:08 am

If she's sneezing a lot she needs to go to a vet. Cavies are prey animals and hide their symptoms of illness until they can't.

Saw dust is problematic because it gets urinated on and then the cavy can asperate the urine and other particulate which invites serious infection into the lungs (for you as well when you're handling it). If she's already got a URI she needs anti biotics, just getting rid of the saw dust won't cure it.

**rahunter** · #10 10-30-09, 08:42 am

I think everyone else has advised you on the sawdust issue. As for the litterbox, try putting the food dish IN the litterbox. Also put some hay in there as well. This will force her to get into the litterbox to eat. Hopefully she will eliminate while she is eating. This is what I have done and it seems to work well. They poop everywhere but not as much as I clean out if the litterbox.

**JD In Van** · #11 10-30-09, 08:47 am

If putting the food in the litter box doesn't help put where ever they sleep in it with a layer of hay over the litter. I find my boys like to pee in private (in their hidies) so that's worked extremely well for me.

**princesspoppy** · #12 10-30-09, 08:57 am

As long as you are giving her plenty of veggies twice a day then she is fine for the Vit C.
Take a look at ly's diet chart and it will help you. The veggies are colour coded.
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...ants-list.html

Little Roxy needs a good hour floor time everyday so try to aim at that since her cage is small.
I would urge you to have her checked out at your vet as the sneezing can progress to something more serious. We can't assume she has an allergy.
Straw as bedding is pretty harsh on piggies. There feet are soft and it's not very comfortable. Heres some types of bedding you can use instead of straw,sawdust,carpet. Look out for Aspen,carefresh this can get pretty price . Many of the members use the fleece method. Cheap,no smell,cage stays dry.

Washing. Usually piggies don't need to have a bath unless very dirty. You can wipe her feet and butt with a wet towel if needed. A bath maybe 3 times a year is plenty. Unless she is very dirty. Roxy needs a friend also. I'd say shes pretty lonely by herself. But I think as soon as you can get a larger cage then maybe you could intouduce her to a piggie friend. Adopting .

**akstrohm** · #13 10-30-09, 08:57 am

Hay should be provided in unlimited amounts for eating, but not bedding. Hay and straw are not good beddings because they are not absorbent.

Good beddings include fleece (see the sticky the fleece project in the bedding section), carefresh, aspen, and a few others. Don't use non-kiln dried pine or cedar. Also, there is no reason to use newspaper with fleece. It just gets wet, smelly, and heavy.

You should bathe your pig at the most every 6 months, but since she is a short hair, you probably won't need to bathe her that often either. They keep themselves very clean, and bathing dries out their skin.

**Ly&Pigs** · #14 10-30-09, 01:38 pm

No straw. It's not good bedding nor something they need to eat. I'd ditch the straw completely.

Hay does not make good bedding either as it won't absorb. You need a good quality grass hay for them to eat though.

I'm glad you are removing the sawdust and getting more appropriate bedding.

**CuteRoxy** · #15 10-30-09, 04:10 pm

I just measured the cage then. It's actually 2 metres big and 1 metre wide. It also has a second floor. She has heaps of room to run around in, it's just that I guessed completely wrong! I have changed her cage around, and she hasn't sneezed since. I dout she is sick. I do a healthy check list daily that I got out of a book. She has bright eyes, not to plimb nor skinny. The only times she sneezed though was when cleaning herself. She doesn't nibble anymore, probally finds it yuck to eat. Where do I find 'Grass Hay'. Is that Timothy Hay? I can't find any timothy hay in the shops. The straw in her cage is soft, I'm not kidding. But the normally sleeps in the second level, which has fleece. Ignore all the times I said carpet, I meant fleece =P Also, she loves to sleep in her cuddle cup. She doesn't sleep in the straw. My mum and I are going shopping and we will look around for any better bedding. Thanks for all the help!

**princesspoppy** · #16 10-30-09, 04:22 pm

You said in a different post that she won't go up the ramp to the 2nd leval. How does she sleep up stairs ? Pig don't sleep 8 hours like humans. In spurts only. Correct me someone but they sleep in spurts that last a few minutes up to 20 minutes ?

**akstrohm** · #17 10-30-09, 04:55 pm

It doesn't matter how soft the straw is, it is still not a good bedding because it is not absorbent. Can you use fleece for the entire cage?

Timothy hay is one type of grass hay, but it is not the only kind of grass hay. Can you tell us what you have available to you?

**CuteRoxy** · #18 10-31-09, 01:24 am

She has walked up her ramp now. I think that that wasn't her first time going up the ramp, she just comes back down so I don't see her up there. The first time I saw her going up there was a few days ago. I am going to update that thread now. I have replaced the sawdust bedding with 'Soft Sorbant' stuff, but I will keep using straw beneith the soft sorbant like I was doing with the sawdust. I can't put the fabric around the whole cage, although she is sitting in her litterbox now and pooping in it, she still poops outside of it. The soft sorbant looks really good. I am going to clean her cage again today and add this in her cage. Thanks for all the info! She isn't sneezing at all niw exept for when she cleans herself! Thanks, you could of saved the piggies life because I didn't know how toxic sawdust was!

**lissie** · #19 10-31-09, 01:52 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by CuteRoxy

I just measured the cage then. It's actually 2 metres big and 1 metre wide. It also has a second floor.

I'm confused. You posted on your other thread that the cage is 20cm x 1m and on another one 50cm x 1m. So which one is the correct measurements? If it's 1m x 2m, then it has enough space, but 2nd level does not count towards the required space because guinea pigs need room to run laps.

**princesspoppy** · #20 10-31-09, 03:33 am

I was thinking the same . 100cm is =1 meter. so the cage is 100cm x 200cm . Which is very odd. What brand cage is this as I have never seen such a cage.

"Thank you, lissie, for this useful post," says:
princesspoppy (10-31-09)