Dealing with poopies on fleece

[CinnamonSugar]

Hi - I'm a newbie. I just made fleece bedding for my piggy. I understand that you wash it weekly (or more) and that you just scoop up the poopies during the day. He's been in there for two hours and there is poopie ALL over the cage. (I guess with the wood chips I didn't realize how much he was going.) Is that just the way it is with fleece? Do I remove them as I see them? Or stick to a certain time each day for removal? (I'm ok with it but don't want friends to be grossed out when they come over.)

[AnimalHouse36]

I only really need to spot clean my fleece every other day. But we have a kitchen area with bedding in it that they go in. They aren't completly litter trained but I have a few tricks to get them to go.

I know some people clean it out twice a day. Other more. I think it's up to you. Alot of people are fine with poopies. Of course they have their limits. I think it's a personal choice on your part.

You could always just clean it out before you have company and things.

[Deenanicole08]

I hand vac my cage daily. It helps alot. I clean the kitchen area weekly and wash fleece weekly.

[gooberific]

I clean it up once before lunchtime.

[CinnamonSugar]

Hey - Thanks for the responses. What are the tricks for litter box training? Are there any links for that?

[Deenanicole08]

It's almost impossible. It's all in the personality of the pig really. Just put their food, water, and hay in the Kitchen area, and pig disposable bedding in it, and hope they'll go in there and poop. Normally they'll poop and pee when they eat.

[crazywiggy]

I have 2 girls in a 2x5 on fleece and they get poops swept daily. I didn't bother trying to litter train, but I do give them their hay in a hay box I made from leftover coroplast with newspaper in the bottom, which gets changed daily. They pee and poop a lot in there as they spend so much time in it eating.

[Myspoiltpiggies]

I would get a really dark or really patterned fleece so the few poops that the piggy does do whilst people come to visit are not so noticeable!

[CinnamonSugar]

That's exactly what I told my mom this morning!! I said, "I need to go to the fabric store and look for a brown patterned fleece!"

[guineapigluver1]

The only way you can litter train is if the pig wants to be trained. The only way I know of doing it, is if they go in certain corners and then you put litter boxes in those corners, and even then they won't be 100% litter trained. Another thing you can do is put a tray under there hay and/or have a "Kitchen" where you have all they're water bottles, hay, and food dishes.

[CinnamonSugar]

I guess I should take it in stride and look at it like my 4 1/2 year old. He got all upset at me when I vacuumed the fleece - "Mommy! You're sucking up all the rocks from Cinnamon's cage!!"

So place your bets - who will be "trained" first - the guinea pig or my stubborn 2 1/2 year old boy? Hmmm......

[Toadies]

I try to vacuum up once a day but, being piggies, they are always 6 dozen poops ahead of me. It never stays un-pooped for more than a few minutes. What goes in comes out in almost direct proportion. They're just doin' what piggies do.

[gooberific]

My bets are on the pig. Why? Because my single piggy was litter box trained the instant he had a box put in his cage. My will-be-3-in-March son is still too stubborn. Good luck on both counts!

[CinnamonSugar]

What kind of "litter box" did you use for the piggy?

[guineapigluver1]

You can make one out of coroplast, you could use a small cat litter box, or you could get one like this.