Me and My Pig(s): Newbie

[BekahsPiggies]

Hello,
I am a new piggie owner and new to this group. My mother bought my son a piggie for his 5th birthday and I AM IN LOVE!!!! My son is as well, of course
My son loves taking care of his new piggie, they are adorable together!!!!
He named her Honey, she is a very light tan and white chubby girl.
I, of course, am full of questions!!
I think right now the question I most want an answer to has to do with bedding:
Do piggies prefer bedding or the fleece I have seen so much of? The fleece looks so much cleaner, less messy, but how do the piggies feel about it? Do they like to burrow in the bedding at all?
Thanks,
Bekah

[Wodentoad]

My boys love the fleece, and since there is no "kick out" of the disposable stuff, it is far cleaner for the rest of my family, including my toddler. As for cleaning, I sweep up all the "bedded" hay, poopies and spilled food once or twice a day, and since the pee "wicks" through to the towels in 4 seconds (I timed it), it means that my boys don't have to live *in* the pee soaked disposable.

Let's add that my pocket book LOVES this! instead of 100 bucks on disposable which is clean for about 30 seconds, I can buy higher quality pellet and fancy orchard grass hay. I change it out twice a week, and each time I do, there is much popcorning and running about, which I never had when they were nose deep in shifting bedding.

[angiekay]

I also, because of this site, love the fleece! My boys do also, as they have told me so, HA! It's easier to clean, I have a small hand vac that I vac the poo's out with 2 times a day, the smell is almost non-existent (I have boars that are sometimes smelly), and I don't have to do a full change but once a week now.

They love just laying out completely flat all over the fleece, I mean it just looks so comfy compared to other options of shavings, carefresh or whatever else. It's easier for them to run about (without the "kick out" of other bedding material), I just can't say enough about it!!!

I am completely addicted to buying fleece once a week, looking for new, cute patterns for my boy's cages. You should read the fleece project study thread, it will get you started on how to prepare it properly and all that, here's the link: You should completely try it!!
http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/...ect-study.html

[GizzyandMe]

Gizzy has long hair and the toss out bedding used to stick to her all the time and that would make her (already hard to tame hair) even messier. So I think with the fleece she now has less issues with the hair brushing - so for that reason alone the fleece is already a winner. I hang quite a big piece of fleece for her as a tent in one corner and she will burrow underneath that when she feels like it.

[princesspoppy]

Welcome,fleece is great. Less mess,easy to clean,cheaper than the usual bedding and the piggies like it too.

[akstrohm]

No, pigs do not burrow like hamsters or other rodents. Some try to go underneath the fleece, but this is more to find a spot to hide.

[JD In Van]

I love the fleece too.

If your pigs like to hide under cloth you can hang a towel off the side of the cage (clip in place if nessesary) and they can snuggle up in that, it's called a towel tent. I use dish cloth sized towels from the thrift store and my boys love them. They can stick their noses out and see what's going on while all snuggled up in their towel nest.

[MissFormosa]

Welcome!

I love the fleece .

I have six boars and one of my boars was allergic to wood shavings, even when I got the expensive ones that were "non-dusty". And it was a nightmare to spot clean and the poos out of. We bought a large bag a week...about $32 a month!

Then we switched to Carefresh. Well, when the boars dragged their bottoms to put down their scent, the Carefresh would get stuck up in their perineal sac.

And both would get to smelling mucky real quick, not to mention you pay so much.

The fleece doesn't get too smelly. I have 3 boars to a cage and I change the fleece about every 5 days. I use 2 to 3 layers of towels under the fleece and then 2 layers of hospital type pads. I didn't know this until I asked on here - having a good absorbent under layer will help the urine wick better. I change the top towel every day - just lift up the fleece grab the towel, place a clean one in, and then binder clip the fleece back to the side. I sweep up the poos twice a day, which I think helps with the smell. Some people on here use litter boxes for the poos.

As for burrowing, I have one pig that used to love to burrow and become and absorbent layer. To fix that, I got a piece of fleece that was a little bigger, draped it over the sides, and binder clipped it into place.

[Peggysu]

Welcome to GPC!

I just want to mention that if you don't have an adequately sized cage fleece will not work well because it would need to be cleaned often. If you haven't already I would look into making yourself a nice C&C cage and then getting a buddy for your single pig.

[BekahsPiggies]

Thank you all so much for your responses!
I have learned that we are doing several things wrong & we are already in the process of changing them.
The C&C cage has been ordered. With 3 kids and Lyme I thought ordering would just plain be easier We have ordered 2x6.
We are looking for another little girl to adopt. We obviously want to get the new cage set up first though.
We have also changed the food, removed the store bought treats, and increased the veggies.
Lap time has to be our favorite time of the day!!!! Can we over-do lap time? I certainly hope not!!