Where People & Piggies Thrive

Newbie or Guinea Guru? Popcorn in!

Register for free to enjoy the full benefits.
Find out more about the NEW, drastically improved site and forum!

Register

Fleece Fleece.....FRUSTRATED!

Menanie77

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Posts
76
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
76
Cleaned the cage yesterday morning and replaced the carefresh bedding with 2 towels and a folded fleece blanket on top.

I was so excited...loved the look of it, Max loved running around on it etc.

By the end of the day it was so stinky I couldn't stand to sit next to his cage!

I took it all out and put carefresh back in!

TIPS on doing Fleece and not having it stink within a few hours? I can handle every few days but not every few hours!
 

bpatters

Moderator
Staff member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Posts
29,251
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
29,251
How big is your cage? Fleece doesn't work well in a small cage.

Do you have a litter pan under your hayrack to catch a lot of pee and poop?

You don't want the fleece folded on top of the towels, just one layer of fleece is all you need.

And last, are you sure the smell is the fleece and not the peed-on hay?
 

skinnyguineaus

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Posts
218
Joined
Aug 30, 2011
Messages
218
Make sure you don't "fold" the fleece! You want a thin layer of fleece so the urine can run through and reach the towel! The fleece should stay dry and not allow much odor from coming back up.
I personally do not like towel. I rather have puppy pads. Much more absorbent and controls odor better. Another option is Uhaul pads, Zorb, poliester Rayon fabric.
 

guineapikhs

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jul 17, 2011
Posts
49
Joined
Jul 17, 2011
Messages
49
I'm working on that, too. First -- folded fleece blanket? Everyone swears that 2 layers doesn't work like 1 layer. I fold my bigger fleeces either under the pads (harder to do with towels than with sewn-together pads) or over the sides (binder clips help). Folding fleece under sometimes makes it hard for the pads to absorb the liquid when my girls do their business in a corner (more about that later).

My belief is that other beddings have their own scent -- wood chips smell like wood (obviously), and some people think Carefresh smells like cardboard. So the beauty of fleece is that you smell nothing else -- but then there's nothing to cover the smell. When I use aspen in a litter box, I smell the piggies less, but I smell the wood more -- not really an improvement for me.

I've been struggling with fleece smell, and others say that when it's "too clean," their cavies stink it up ASAP (especially with boys). They suggest putting something "smelly" back in (cuddle cup, pad, etc.). My forest stays "smelly," so I'm not sure if that's happening with me.

If you really want to make the fleece work, pay close attention to how Max is using it. I actually found that my girls (I blame Gloria, but I usually do -- she's the "big mama" of the cage) had a poo pile that they were keeping "fresh" by peeing on it. I had my fleece forest in the hard-to-reach corner of the cage, so although I thought I was sweeping all the poos from it daily, they were hiding them from me. I stuck a wooden (i.e., hard for them to move) hidey house in that corner (so they can't really get at that corner to do their business) and moved the fleece forest to a more accessible corner. They're trying to defy me by just moving their business to another corner. I'm going to make more pads and maybe even add "corners" to the pads to catch the liquid, because right now some of it isn't being absorbed by the Uhaul pads. Worse case scenario, I'll pick up more wooden hidey houses to protect my corners!

I've only done fleece (sometimes with a litter), so I don't really know what the smell is like in a regular cage. I plan to stick it out with fleece, but I might start changing it every day or two.
 

Menanie77

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Posts
76
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
76
How big is your cage? Fleece doesn't work well in a small cage.

Do you have a litter pan under your hayrack to catch a lot of pee and poop?

You don't want the fleece folded on top of the towels, just one layer of fleece is all you need.

And last, are you sure the smell is the fleece and not the peed-on hay?

I have a 2x3 cage. I have a hay rack and then I have a cut cereal box underneath it with more hay in it. He doesn't climb in it too often. He pee's/poops the most by his water bottle and under the upper level.
 

Menanie77

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Posts
76
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
76
Make sure you don't "fold" the fleece! You want a thin layer of fleece so the urine can run through and reach the towel! The fleece should stay dry and not allow much odor from coming back up.
I personally do not like towel. I rather have puppy pads. Much more absorbent and controls odor better. Another option is Uhaul pads, Zorb, poliester Rayon fabric.

I folded it because that is the only way it would fit and I didn't want to cut up this particular blanket, just yet.

I may try ONE layer of fleece and puppy pads. This was a last minute change yesterday and I only had towels available.

He pees/poops a TON in the area underneath the mid/upper level. Of course it is super hard to get to!
 

Menanie77

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Posts
76
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
76
I'm working on that, too. First -- folded fleece blanket? Everyone swears that 2 layers doesn't work like 1 layer. I fold my bigger fleeces either under the pads (harder to do with towels than with sewn-together pads) or over the sides (binder clips help). Folding fleece under sometimes makes it hard for the pads to absorb the liquid when my girls do their business in a corner (more about that later).

My belief is that other beddings have their own scent -- wood chips smell like wood (obviously), and some people think Carefresh smells like cardboard. So the beauty of fleece is that you smell nothing else -- but then there's nothing to cover the smell. When I use aspen in a litter box, I smell the piggies less, but I smell the wood more -- not really an improvement for me.

I've been struggling with fleece smell, and others say that when it's "too clean," their cavies stink it up ASAP (especially with boys). They suggest putting something "smelly" back in (cuddle cup, pad, etc.). My forest stays "smelly," so I'm not sure if that's happening with me.

If you really want to make the fleece work, pay close attention to how Max is using it. I actually found that my girls (I blame Gloria, but I usually do -- she's the "big mama" of the cage) had a poo pile that they were keeping "fresh" by peeing on it. I had my fleece forest in the hard-to-reach corner of the cage, so although I thought I was sweeping all the poos from it daily, they were hiding them from me. I stuck a wooden (i.e., hard for them to move) hidey house in that corner (so they can't really get at that corner to do their business) and moved the fleece forest to a more accessible corner. They're trying to defy me by just moving their business to another corner. I'm going to make more pads and maybe even add "corners" to the pads to catch the liquid, because right now some of it isn't being absorbed by the Uhaul pads. Worse case scenario, I'll pick up more wooden hidey houses to protect my corners!

I've only done fleece (sometimes with a litter), so I don't really know what the smell is like in a regular cage. I plan to stick it out with fleece, but I might start changing it every day or two.

Thank you!

I have been using the white carefresh bedding and it doesn't smell like anything to me. What is a fleece forest? lol If you stuck a wooden hidey house in the corner, wouldn't they just go in the hidey house and continue to do their business? How does that help? I really want to deter him from doing so much of his business underneath the top level....it is hard to get to!

Could you attach a pic of your cage?

Also...LOVE your piggy's name Gloria. That is my beautiful 5 year old daughters name :) I named her after my amazing Grandmother. I am so surprised at how many "animals" are named that...lol (Hippo on Madagascar, Penguin on Happy Feet and she has been a character in many books) She is a HUGE animal lover and gets such a kick out of it. I can't wait to tell her we found a guinea pig (her fav. pet in the world!!!) named Gloria also.

Ok, back to the subject at hand...lol Thank you for your help. I am back to the carefresh for today and until I can figure this out but I really want to make fleece work!
 

guineapikhs

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jul 17, 2011
Posts
49
Joined
Jul 17, 2011
Messages
49
They do love targeting the hard-to-get-to areas! I think that the people who have the most success use "reinforcements" in the most-used areas. There's also the advantage that you can pull the pad/cloth out from the area! Just learn from my (stinky) mistake and watch the corners!
 

bpatters

Moderator
Staff member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Posts
29,251
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
29,251
I have a 2x3 cage. I have a hay rack and then I have a cut cereal box underneath it with more hay in it. He doesn't climb in it too often. He pee's/poops the most by his water bottle and under the upper level.

So you don't have a litter box under the hay? I'd put one there, one at the litter bottle, ad one at the upper level, all with aspen, carefresh, pellets, or something like that in them. You can then change just those areas more frequently than the whole cage.

You don't have to cut the fleece to fit, just wrap it around the inner layer so that there's only one layer of fleece on top.
 

Menanie77

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Posts
76
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
76
So you don't have a litter box under the hay? I'd put one there, one at the litter bottle, ad one at the upper level, all with aspen, carefresh, pellets, or something like that in them. You can then change just those areas more frequently than the whole cage.

You don't have to cut the fleece to fit, just wrap it around the inner layer so that there's only one layer of fleece on top.

The whole litter box thing was confusing me. People made reference to them but It didn't look like a litter box in pics...just a box with hay to catch the falling hat etc.

Here is a pic of how I had it set up yesterday. Same set up today except using care fresh bedding instead of the blanket.
mail.google.com.jpg

You can see my hay rack and then underneath is a box with more hay...so you are suggesting I take the hay out of the box and put bedding in there and then an other box under the water bottle and another box in the corner under the upper level? That seems like a lot of boxes and a great deal of floor space taken up?
 

bpatters

Moderator
Staff member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Posts
29,251
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
29,251
A litter box is a box with absorbent bedding in it, not just a box to catch the hay. Try moving your water bottle next to the hay rack and put a litter box under the whole thing. The litter box needs to be big enough for the pig's butt to be safely inside it while it's eating.

And yes, I'd put one under the upper level also if that's where the pig is doing its business. The whole object is to catch the output in something that can be easily emptied.
 

Menanie77

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Posts
76
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
76
A litter box is a box with absorbent bedding in it, not just a box to catch the hay. Try moving your water bottle next to the hay rack and put a litter box under the whole thing. The litter box needs to be big enough for the pig's butt to be safely inside it while it's eating.

And yes, I'd put one under the upper level also if that's where the pig is doing its business. The whole object is to catch the output in something that can be easily emptied.

I completely understand the concept and will try it but having a big box covering the hole end of the cage and then an other on the other end, takes up 1/2 his floor space for running and playing! :-(
 

lissie

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Posts
8,190
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Messages
8,190
If he likes to go under the loft. You can add a smaller towel wrapped with fleece and change them more often. I have these (broken link removed) in my piggies' sleeping area and change the pads everyday. The bed gets washed with the rest of the cage fleece once a week.
 

bpatters

Moderator
Staff member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Posts
29,251
Joined
Sep 23, 2009
Messages
29,251
I completely understand the concept and will try it but having a big box covering the hole end of the cage and then an other on the other end, takes up 1/2 his floor space for running and playing! :-(

Bigger cage?
 

SweetiePig

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Posts
595
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
595
Im sorry you seam to be having problem with the fleece. That sucks. Everyone seamed to give good advise on how to use it and some good tips.
I just wanted to say, I use 3 layers of fleece and towels underneath and I havnt had an issue with smell at all! to me, more layers of fleece seam to help with the smell. Try out a few different things and see what works best for you! If you need more help, ask :cheerful:
 

Menanie77

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Posts
76
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
76
Bigger cage?

I JUST built this one! It is pretty darn big sitting in my living room...LOL He is a very happy piggy with his space. I don't have the time, money or space to build a bigger one just to add litter boxes. Sorry :-(
 

lissie

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Posts
8,190
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Messages
8,190
You could keep using carefresh in the whole cage or experiment with other bedding.
Before using fleece in the cage, how many time did you wash it? Is the pee pooling on top of the fleece? And what type of fleece is it?
 

Menanie77

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Posts
76
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
76
(broken link removed)

Anyone use these? They are pricey but I can see the convenience if they work!
 

Menanie77

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Posts
76
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
76
You could keep using carefresh in the whole cage or experiment with other bedding.
Before using fleece in the cage, how many time did you wash it? Is the pee pooling on top of the fleece? And what type of fleece is it?

It was a fleece blanket I already had here so it has been washed numerous times and I never use fabric softener or anything. I cloth diapered all my kiddos and got used to not using it. :)
 

lissie

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Posts
8,190
Joined
Jan 25, 2009
Messages
8,190
Many people use them and like them. But if you sew, you could make your own. I believe those pads are made with fleece on the outside and terry cloths on the inside.
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.

Similar threads

gpihgos
Replies
6
Views
662
SSLee
SSLee
Guinea_Pigs_Are_A_lifest
Replies
6
Views
662
gpihgos
gpihgos
vivian5
Replies
2
Views
908
Z
a happy chick
Replies
5
Views
942
barbaramudge
barbaramudge
Top