Fleece Pigs in a blanket :( - Guinea Pig Cages, Care, Store, Photos of Guinea Pigs and More Forum!

**graycurse** · #1 02-03-09, 08:55 am

I have fleece bedding, and my pigs have become OBSESSED with running around underneath the fleece. It drives me insane. It's gotten to the point that the only time they come up above is to eat. I've tried velcro-ing the fleece down, weighing it down with bricks, I've sewn edges on that are clipped onto the side, but NOTHING keeps them from going underneath! They're constantly knocking their food/litter/hay over, which is a pain to clean up, but worse than that is all their poos are underneath now. As they run underneath it smears everywhere and is just an absolute mess to clean up.

Does anyone have any advice as to how to keep them from being pigs in a blanket?

**BubuCandyBlue** · #2 02-03-09, 09:12 am

First, you really need to secure you fleece better. All the fleece edges should be clipped over the edges of the coroplast, so they can not reach to go underneath. Second, build them a fleece hidey and they will stay there if they love it so much.

**tiggerinha** · #3 02-03-09, 09:18 am

I like to tape my fleece to the back of the coroplast kind of like wrapping a present. Then I also use small binder clips. I have heard that when theyurrow under their fleece it is becuse they need more hidey houses.

**lmarieaa** · #4 02-03-09, 10:11 am

My girls used to do the exact same thing. I clip the fleece to the cage and they kept exploiting the large areas that werent clipped. I just kept adding more and more clips untill they couldnt get under anymore. I ended up having alot of clips because by then they had developed a technique to get the fleece up and shimmy underneath

, but as long as they cant go under!

**graycurse** · #5 02-03-09, 12:28 pm

I've tried all of that, though! It's already been clipped; There are dozens of clips on my cage. There are also TONS of hidey-houses but they never want to go in them! There are 3 fleece tent-like constructions, 3 cozies and 2 pigloos. They avoid the pigloos at all costs, and only rarely can be seen in the cozies or tents. It really is driving me insane.

**tiggerinha** · #6 02-03-09, 01:18 pm

If you use an insert of coroplast for the bottom of your cage(one that is removable) you can place your towels or underlayment then you fleece on top. Turn it over and use packing tape to tape it to the cororplast nice and tight. Then turn it over and place it back in the cage. Your piggies willhave no way to get under the fleece. As an added measure you can use the binder clips to keep all layers from shifting. My piggies were ver similar and now they also have a sleep loft that is covered in fleece. THis has a roof so to speak and is now a new hide out place. Aslo mine like small fleece blankets that they can bury under. Here are two photos of what I am talking about. Hope this helps.

**Nelli** · #7 02-03-09, 01:59 pm

My piggies did the same thing when I first started using fleece. The solution that worked for me was using fleece that was long enough to fold underneath the mattress pad so that even when they tried to pull it up they couldn't. I also had to add a brick in each corner and center of the cage. So I had 8 bricks in a 3x3 C&C. It's to the point now where I do not have to add the bricks any more and they do not make any attempts to burrow under the fleece. I hope this helps. Good luck.

**Peggysu** · #8 02-03-09, 05:29 pm

I have a loose piece of fleece that my girls burrow under and they have no desire to burrow under the fixed piece of fleece.

**Noodles** · #9 02-07-09, 02:37 pm

Wow, your piggies sure seem like little trouble-makers! In order to completely avoid digging under the fleece, I suggest one of two things. First, you should clip the fleece to the sides of the cage. Like this:

That way, there is no way they can get under it. If you want to make it extra secure, measure out the coroplast so that you can fit the grids inside the base. If you already have a cage set up, this should only take a few minor adjustments. Then clip the fleece to the sides of the coroplast and set the grids inside the base. This holds down the fleece and prevents any digging or bunching. Here's a good example of this method:
http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos.../13540/cat/fav

Since your pigs seem to love to burrow, I would suggest putting in a loose piece of fleece as a tent or just lying down, or buying some type of cozy they can burrow into.

Good Luck!

**Shawnee** · #10 02-07-09, 03:03 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noodles

If you want to make it extra secure, measure out the coroplast so that you can fit the grids inside the base. If you already have a cage set up, this should only take a few minor adjustments. Then clip the fleece to the sides of the coroplast and set the grids inside the base. This holds down the fleece and prevents any digging or bunching. Here's a good example of this method:
http://www.guineapigcages.com/photos.../13540/cat/fav

Also if you don't want to put the grids inside the coroplast you can clip the fleece to the cage and then make a coroplast that fits inside your cage that you can just pull up and down. So that it's (outside to in) grids, fleece, coroplast. You can just slid the coroplast down over the fleece inside the cage. If that doesnt make sense you can PM me.

**Richjess** · #11 02-11-09, 08:32 pm

I'm having the same problem, we have two young GPs who've been on fleece for a fortnight, and suddenly today one (the hyperactive one) decided to disappear into the fleece

I didn't realise you needed to secure the fleece so well, so thanks for that

They have several hidey holes where they've been living, but nothing really cosy - I think I'll make a tent out of fleece for her to burrow in and hope there's nothing wrong to make her start doing this - seems pretty normal behaviour looking at the posts here

**Wheek Weak** · #12 02-13-09, 03:39 pm

Maybe you could try having different pigs-in-a-blanket like ours are.

We tie fleece tents to the sides of the grids for the piggies to go under. Just use 30" x 30" fleece baby blankets (we get ours at Walgreens for $1 each) and tie two of the ends about 5 grids up by about 14 grids across. Use as many as you want to make them enough to play and hide in.

Ours will still burrow under the main fleece sometimes (in the summer when it's hot and they're looking for a cool spot), but the tents have kept them from from doing it all the time.

**Paula** · #13 02-13-09, 04:46 pm

I have two pigs who do the same thing. It's infuriating actually, because I've given them tents, cozies, all kinds of things and they STILL find a way to get underneath the blanket. It drives me crazy.

Recently, I've started clipping the fleece to the coroplast AND putting bricks down in the same area, kind of like a double-proof method. This is the only thing that's worked this long, and keeps the little devils from getting underneath the fleece.