Why fleece instead of bedding?

[love4guineapigs]

I'm new to this site and I was wondering why so many people are using fleece instead of regular bedding. Is fleece better for the pigs? Is it just a personal matter. I have had my guinea pig for a year now and I have been using low dust pine chips that I buy bulk at Wal-Mart. It doesn't seem to bother him, but I may be wrong. I am also going to build a C&C Cage hopefully this weekend, if I can find a coroplast for less than $45 a sheet. Can anyone give me suggestions on any of these items please. Thank you so much. :ashamed:

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Fleece to be effective needs something underneath it to absorb the urine. It doesn't work well by itself. There are many things you can use under fleece. Mattress pads, puppy pads, towels, newspaper, cloth diapers, etc.

It's higher maintenance than regular types of beddings. It needs to be spot cleaned (all poo picked up) daily or it gets gross. Also how often the whole cage needs changed depends on how the big the cage is, how many pigs, how much they poo and pee and the type of fleece used.

But in the long run, it's healthier for pigs because they aren't breathing in dust or oils from typical type bedding materials. Also fleece is washable so therefore it saves money in the long run. You just need to invest in at least 2-3 changes so you have clean to put down while the other is being washed.

The kind of pine chips you are getting most likely aren't kiln-dried so they are releasing a lot of aromatic oils that your pig is breathing in. Pine is an acceptable bedding if it's kiln-dried or you air dry it for at least a week or two before use.

 

[love4guineapigs]

Thank you so much, I am going to do this instead of the pine shavings now. But I am think about going to Home Depot or Lowes to buy that thin tile like flooring since I can't really find any coroplast that I can afford. Do you think that would work underneath the fleece along with puppy pads in between the flooring and the fleece?

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Are you talking about linoleum or peel and stick vinyl tiles?

 

[lilcavy]

you are absolutly rite! :cheerful: lol

 

[Paula]

If you're gonna put the C&C cage on the floor, you could try something like a tarp or shower curtain to protect your carpet. I use shower curtains for floor time - I just tape them to hold them in place and it works great to keep the carpet dry & clean.

Fleece definitely takes longer to keep up with but it is very much worth the extra time because you'll find that your piggy just loves the soft fleece. And it's so much brighter and cheerier than plain old shavings or Carefresh.

 

[love4guineapigs]

I am talking about linoleum tiles, I think. I don't know flooring that well. It's the ones that are on the big rolls at Home Depot, that they have to cut for you there. About the whole protecting your carpet thing, since all I have is concrete flooring (in process of laying wood flooring) I really have no clue what to do. I know I need him up off the floor so the coldness don't get to him, so I was thinking about make a storage area underneath the cage. But going from there to make a sturdy bottom I have no clue. Can some one help me.

 

[Slave to the Wheek]

Here goes:

Fleece Bedding System:
I think there are lots of reasons why fleece is first choice. Lots of good comments here, just like to add that many of us have large CC cages, and the cost for using regular bedding adds up FAST. Fleece is the least expensive option, but the highest maintenance. Before switching to fleece I strongly urge folks to research old fleece threads on the site and read what others have written. There are so many ways it can be managed and so much depends on your situations

Cage Flooring:
Yes, you can use "linoleum" flooring. It's harder to work with than coroplast and not as attractive in a cage as far as I'm concerned. Personally, I searched for a month to find a place that had it for 20 a sheet. I also like to have extra bits around for crafting cage accessories as well.

Height:
I find that pigs who are table height are so much more friendly that pigs on the floor. I have 3 CC cages one currently on the floor that needs to be reconfigured, one on a table and one that has a grid base (one cube high). The cage on the table is just so much fun to talk to the pig, as well as to clean and feed him. I'd spend some time looking at cage designs in the gallery to figure out what works for you. My gallery does have detailed pics of how I assembled mine. I think I'm going to go 2 grids high on my next reconfiguring of cages. One thing I have PLENTY of and that's grids! Man, for awhile there we just couldn't stop picking up a box when they were on sale at Target.

 

[Ziggy&Herald]

I'm new to this site and I was wondering why so many people are using fleece instead of regular bedding. Is fleece better for the pigs? Is it just a personal matter. I have had my guinea pig for a year now and I have been using low dust pine chips that I buy bulk at Wal-Mart. It doesn't seem to bother him, but I may be wrong. I am also going to build a C&C Cage hopefully this weekend, if I can find a coroplast for less than $45 a sheet. Can anyone give me suggestions on any of these items please. Thank you so much. :ashamed:

That is the pine shavings I used to use. They are kiln-Dried. But, when I used it as bedding my boars who like to rumblestrutt the most would end up with the shavings in their anal sacs more then the others. That is another reason I like the fleece a little more.

 

[bettykiddospigs]

fleese is better enviromentaly, cheaper and comfier to pigs.

 

[Harrys Dad]

Try it and see just how much your piggies love it

 

[opie&lily]

Have you tried calling sign shops in your area to get chloroplast sheets. I just bought an entire sheet of chloroplast and had them cut it for me and it only cost $25. $45 Seems ridiculous to me and I just thought I would offer a suggestion for where to look for reasonably priced chloroplast.