What bedding is safe?

[petal]

I have had guinea pigs for years and have always used wooden cages with woodshavings and either straw or hay.
Now one of my piggies has red pads on her hind feet. I belong to UK forums and they have things like Megazorb, Vetbed to name some. All we have here in South australia is woodshavings, paper, towels.
Zoe has been a sick piggy for 10 months having surgery in january 2008 to remove her reprodcutive organs and because of all the Terramycin injections she had with out probiotics she has a permantely damaged tummy.
like 3 weeks ago bought some rocket leaves gave her half a leaf twice a day by day 3 (always day 3) she had soft poops like custard.
Anyway had to take her to the vet yesterday as she wasn't herself and wasn't really eating.
Vet spent ages talking about how she is happy for zoe to be healthy and lose weight and was talking about bedding and what is safe for her.
Like if we used vetbed would it cause her harm if she ate it? Would it do harm to my washing machine as heavy when wet?
I am going to enclose pictures of their cages (had to seperate as zoe has been bullied so much she is scared of other piggies).
I know cages are not suitable as they are not ventilated enough, both cages are inside. Jessie's cage bought of ebay, too small for half a guinea pig.
any help greatly appreciated, a lady from the UK who was great friends with Peter Gurney whose vet is prepared to email vets all over the world to help piggies has been helping me.
As you are in australia I thought i would join here and ask you all for opinions and advice.
thanking you in advance.
Jessie's cage first and then Zoe's. Sorry the pictures are too big.

[Haley0489]

Is the flooring made of wire or a solid material? If it's wire thats why you're pig has red feet. The cages really are quite small for a pig, and I hope you'll consider making a C&C.

I use fleece which the pigs and I love. It's nice on their feet and much easier for me to clean up every week. The pigs never chew on it and my washing machine is fine. I previously used carefresh, which is a recycle paper product. It was great, but so expensive!

Straw/hay isn't absorbent nor comfortable, so an alternative bedding would probably be much appreciated by the piggers.

[petal]

The first cage I bought from ebay in Australia it is 91cms the second cage we made ourselves and is 4ft x 18 inches the one with Zoe in the picture by the water bottle.
Zoe suffers from piggy panic attacks and is scared of other piggies hence the 2 cages.
We have NO room for C&C cages but are looking to try and get a 7ft wooden cage and half it up for each piggy giving them 3.5ft each. Cause as you can see we store things on top of the cages and we have a cat that wanders from room to room.
But finding suitable cages here in Oz is hard as it is in finding fleece for bedding. Both cages have wooden floors, then have paper, plastic, woodshavings and then hay or straw.
I am currently looking for Fleece bedding in Oz so if anyone knows where I can get some i would much appreciate it.
with this link once on the site type in pet bed and tell me if any are suitable.
thanking you so much.
http://www.cheapaschips.com.au/prodl...?action=search

[pigsforlife]

What are these panic attacks? I wonder if it is popcorning, or zoomies (signs of happiness actually).

Being an Aussie myself, it is not actually that hard to make a C&C cage. I have 2 girls in a 2x5, and 2 girls in a 2x4. The cages are stacked, the 2x5 on the bottom and the other cage on top. Both cages are on a table that I purchased from Target. I did have 3 girls in the 2x5, but recently Buttercup passed - she was diagnosed with ovarian cysts, spayed, started eating again by herself (I was also handfeeding her with CC), that night she took a turn for the worst and passed shortly after 5am. Last Sunday I picked up a little nuetered boy. He is by himself at the moment, whilst his sperm dies and also for quarantine. I have him in a pen about the size of a 2x3. This pen is made out of 4 huge grids, that I got at Bunnings. They are called storage waste bins. Because they were made to store garden waste etc the sides are quite tall. I know someone who, to solve this problem, cut the sides in half. This meant that they then had 2, 2x3s.

The grids for the other cages I got online at dealsdirect (though I do not know if they stock them any more). Most Bunnings stock them, they are in the storage section and you get a pack of 5 grids for about $8. Quite expensive until you sit down and work it out, for a cage that is likely HEAPS smaller you get a huge cage that is cheaper.

In Australia we call coroplast corflute. It is quite easy to locate companies that sell it. Corflute is the corrugated plastic stuff that they use for signs. Simply look up "signs" in the Yellow Pages. I got a huge panel for $15.

The brilliant thing with C&C cages is that you can build them to fit in with your home. They are extremely sturdy, and you can make a roof to pet proof them.

Do you have a Spotlight or Lincraft? Any fabric shop really. They will sell polar fleece. Alternatively coles, woolworths and $2 shops often sell fleece throws big enough to cover a 2x4 (I have a 1x2 kitchen area in each cage). I wash the new fleece with a little bit of bleach and after one wash it is ready to go. I use 4 layers of towel underneath.

[petal]

Have not got the room for C&C cages am looking for a 7ft wooden cage for the girls.
Zoe was bullied so much by first the late Choloe and then Jessie that when together Zoe would not come out to eat, her weight dropped dramatically and she would squeak out for no reason. But once on her own she is eating, weight going up and down and the silly goose has even tried to popcorn a couple of times.
I will look into fleece and bedding tomorrow when the shops are open I HATE shopping on a sunday. Thanks to all the replies.