poopy feet problem..

[hailey123]

Just found this website a few weeks back, AWESOME IDEAS, we believe the fleece is a great choice. Our only problem is poop getting smeared on my pigs feet. Everytime we take her out we have to use baby wipes to clean her before handling. We use dust pan everyday and we only have one pig in a 2x5 C&C CAGE.There is barely any poop in the cage. We would love to get another pig for her but I am afraid of more poop! Does this come up often or are we doing something wrong? I am a new owner.We need all the help you can give, suggestions... thanks hailey123

[fourboys4now]

I have 2 cages and in my cage that has 4 boys there is never any poops on their feet, and in the smaller cage that has only 2 boys it seems like there is always poop on at least one of their feet. I've noticed that the cage with 2 boys they seem to pee and poop and just sit there and not move around, I think that's why they seem to always have it on their feet, guess my other piggies poop then run!

I also use fleece for both cages. In the smaller 3x4 cage I put down my towels and fleece like normal, but on top of the fleece I put down another layer of fleece baby blankets overlapped, that way when I notice the poops kind of mushy and gross, I just take out the dirty blankets and put down new blankets for them. This has seemed to cut down on the yuckiness of their feet. I found that Walgreens has a set of 3 fleece baby blankets for $3. They are working really well. Good luck!

[SerpentineSylph]

I have two boys in a temporary 2x4 (until the one gets a bit bigger - one's almost two months and the other is 3 years), using fleece, and I've never had anything like that happen. I, personally, don't know if it's something you've done wrong, something with your piggy's health, or just the hand you've been dealt, so to speak. Hopefully someone more equipped to answer these questions will come along, as my suggestions are purely speculative!

Sorry you're having such problems!

EDIT: I posted before I saw Fourboys' post. I wasn't trying to imply they didn't know what they were talking about.

[willowfaery]

I'm having this problem too. I have three sows. Willow and Bonsai's poo seems to be well formed and not mushy. But Tsunami's poo is mushy and she lays in it and tramples all over it. And when I pick her up, she smells like poo too. Sounds lovely huh? I've recently added a litter box filled with aspen and carefresh below a hay rack. This has cut down SOME. She still poos all over the place though. I don't THINK I'm giving her too many veggies. I've followed the chart on this forum, so I don't know what the deal is. Maybe it is "just the hands we've been dealt". If anyone has any suggestions, I would be glad to hear them as well.

[sanyka]

I would see this as a purely "personality" problem. I mean you notice certain characteristics varying from one cavy to the next. Maybe your pig likes the mushiness between the toes Unless the poop becomes looking like diarrhea, I wouldn't worry about the mushiness. When it gets too hard that the piggy has troubles defecating, that becomes a problem. I'd say you're just going to have to keep wiping your cavy's feet. May not be always pleasant but hey, people's personalities aren't perfect either Best of luck.

[camende]

I think this is just something your particular piggy is doing. My Roxy did that. She would mash her poop and form it into larger poop. Then she would step on it and get it all in ther nails...and she had very long hair...she always smelled like poop... I'm not sure why she did that. I ended not being able to use fleece with her. I switched back to carefresh bedding for her. (She was separated from the other piggies...she came from an abusive owner and I just could never get her to get along with the other piggies..) Switching her off the fleece made a huge difference...and I kept her on the carefresh for the rest of her life...

[Pumpkin_RIP]

I'm pretty sure it is just how your piggie is. My friends piggie poops A LOT more than most, and sometimes she just gets it on her feet from walking in the area that she poops in. It is kinda gross, but you have to just deal with it, unless you can litter box train her. Some pigs are easy to train, other just don't get it.

[Char-x]

I find one of my pigs does this but the other one keeps pretty clean. I have tried to find out why and noticed that the way they lay could have alot to do with it. Tallulah the one who gets poopy feet lays with her back legs stretch out behind her and puts them in the poop as a result, whereas Gypsey the usually clean footed pig lays on her side with the feet to the side and avoiding the poop. Check out how she lays and see if its simply that!

[cavyinhawaii]

Pigs are weird. My pig Flash will get in the litter box and find the spot with the most poo and sleep on it. He also likes to hang out in the litter box.

[Wheek Weak]

Originally Posted by fourboys4now

I also use fleece for both cages. In the smaller 3x4 cage I put down my towels and fleece like normal, but on top of the fleece I put down another layer of fleece baby blankets overlapped, that way when I notice the poops kind of mushy and gross, I just take out the dirty blankets and put down new blankets for them. This has seemed to cut down on the yuckiness of their feet. I found that Walgreens has a set of 3 fleece baby blankets for $3. They are working really well. Good luck!

We use the Walgreens fleece baby blankets too! We use them to make fleece tents on the sides of the cage and put another one on top of the main fleece under the tents. That way I can just change the baby blankets twice a day, sweep up the poos that are on the main fleece, and just do a total cage cleaning once a week.

No matter how much you try, some piggies will just be prone to having poop shoes, while other ones won't. But, never forget that, even though you think the poop is gross...it's an essential sign of the health of the piggy. The more good, solid, well-formed poos...the better. It's when you notice fewer, smaller, mushier, discolored, softer, darker, lighter, etc. poos - that you should be aware of a potential problem.

Plus, piggy poos are just (basically) recycled veggies. You don't have to worry about the same possible contaminants of the meat/dairy based waste of some other animals. Not that you don't still have to be careful and use proper precautions and sanitary procedures. That's just good common sense because there are still bacterial issues.

[Wheek Weak]

Originally Posted by hailey123

Our only problem is poop getting smeared on my pigs feet. Everytime we take her out we have to use baby wipes to clean her

Do you mean her poop is soft or mushy? It shouldn't "smear" on her feet. When our pigs get a poo on their feet, it just falls off because it's solid. We never have to wipe them off.

What kind of diet are you feeding? Does your pig have fresh hay 24/7?...plain pellets?...do you feed a lot of water-based veggies (cucumber, iceburg lettuce, etc.) that would cause soft mushy poos?

Check out the diet/nutrition info in the stickies at the top of the Nutrition forum. It's possible that just an adjustment in her diet would help.

Diet/Nutrition Chart

[sophistacavy]

I think the litter box idea is a good one, maybe you could try that!

I tried that a little while ago, but now that I've decided on fleece, I may try it again. I'll probably have a litter box under a hay rack too. My sows seem to have a fetish for peeing on timothy hay in the pelleted form. Its just timothy hay, not a diet, and its compressed into pellets. I had tried hiding some in a pile of hay for them to forage, and they decide to wee on them every time, making me remove the whole pile of hay too. Maybe you could try those as cavy litter.

Carefresh would be good to use as litter too! My girls like to soil that stuff up pretty quickly too. In their current cage, which will be fleece C+C tomorrow(whoot whoot), they have carefresh. Whenever I put them back in there after a total weekly cage cleaning, they walk around alot, and poo just randomly appears within seconds of putting them back inside. Maybe, your cavies will take a liking to weeing and defecating on carefresh.

Good luck!

[catzeye21138]

Maybe you aren't doing something right dietary wise. What are you feeding her?

[Toadies]

I've noticed that my boys will have poos on their feet more often when I'm not johnny-on-the-spot to clean their cage. They tend to poo where they are the most, as they poo and pee on the run. Most of the time it just brushes off. I wouldn't use baby wipes though. Piggs lick their feet and the chemicals in the wipes probably aren't real good for them. A dry tissue should do the job. I put an old towel on my lap when I hold them, then the poo doesn't matter. As for the amount of poo x 2, what goes in one end comes out the other in about the same volume, it's what they do. A companion for your little one really isn't going to require that much more effort and a sister would probably make your little girl very happy. They are a lot of fun to watch when they play. The world of piggs is wonderful. Wecome!