Fleece Vs. Others ~ Confused....

[Guinea Granny]

Hello Cavy Lovers,
My daughter has been a wonderful mamma to her "Timy Man" for about 5 years until seizures took him from her this past summer. With Christmas around the corner, I was thinking about getting her a new one.
Anyways, I was browsing the forums and found lots of discussions on Fleece bedding, and totally confused.
We were using a layer of newspaper then about a 1-2" layer of "Critter Care" (looks like shredded newspaper) on top of the newspaper in the entire cage. Timy seemed to do well but it did seem laborious to clean his cage every week.
Browsing through the forums I’ve read several posts about using fleece, (I did read the fleece study) and am still a bit confused. Are you saying to use fleece instead of the bedding we’ve been using or in conjunction with the other bedding?
Also, not sure if this goes in this forum or not, but we’ve been using a store bought cage with a lid due to cats, space and funds, but when I went to the cavycages.com site it said that it should be bigger-I just measured it and it’s inner dimensions are 36” wide X 18” deep (not counting hay cage & hiding place) with a small upper level for food. Should we consider another cage? I know that Timy was almost never in his cage, my daughter always had him with her, so I don’t expect the new one to spend too much time in the cage either…….?????? I’ll try to upload a pic…..
Any advice on giving the new little one a great life & home would be appreciated!
Thanks a Bunch!

[Tessa Bea]

I'm pretty sure 36" x 18" is too small. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, the cage doesn't look like it'd get that good of ventilation, it looks like a tub with wire across the top, am I right?

Fleece was the greatest choice I ever made regarding piggy care. I know what you mean about it being laborious to clean with bedding... I almost always was asphyxiated by shavings, and they go EVERYwhere. Plus, I'd have to use a whole thing of Carefresh just for one change!

With fleece, I just vacuum poops 2-4x a day, and shake out the fleece and wash it 1x a week. Much easier on both me, and my wallet.

There are lots of good pictures on here of people's cat proofed home made cages. I've seen most commonly people hinging together shelving units to make a lid. Hopefully someone can come along and give you some tips, all my cages are open topped.

Where are you planning on 'getting' a new pig from? I do hope you'll adopt.

[1frankie7]

Welcom to GPC.

[Guinea Granny]

Thanks for the reply Tessa,
The "tub" part of the cage is about 6" deep with an overall height of about 12" and has ventilation spots throughout the top 6"-is this still no good? If not, will it accommodate until we can make other arrangements? I actually found a supplier here in town who sells the coroplast and am looking into finding the grids as well....

I was not even sure where to start looking for a new one, we got the last one at a pet store, I'm assuming not a good choice...? If so, any suggestions in or around Colorado Springs, CO would be awesome! I browsed through the adoption part of the forum and didn't find anything. We would like to see about getting the youngest possible as to have the most time possible with it, as the vet said that the average life span was about 3-4 years and we were lucky that Timy lived so long.

[Guinea Granny]

Welcom to GPC.

Thanks Frankie!

[Catayn]

I am sure it's too small. And I think you should think about getting 2 piggies too.
I don't use fleece, so I can't help you make up your mind. But as for the cage, I'd say: yeh, get another one.

[snickers]

The size of your cage is too small. For one pig a cage size should be 30x36. I also would recommend getting another pig so he/she can have a companion.
Your best bet is to build a cage out of cube and coroplasts. Check out the home page for more information. You can also look at the photo galleries to see what the cages look like. You will see a complete difference in the way your pig acts in a bigger cage. It's wonderful to see how happy they are when they are running around doing laps, popcorning just overall really really happy in a bigger cage.
As for your question regarding fleece. Fleece is used instead of regular bedding all together. You have to layer the cage with absorbent bath towels alone or with a combination of a mattress pad cut to fit the size of the cage. Then you put down the layer of fleece. It is suppose to be very absorbent and wick away the moisture. The main thing to do is wash the fleece about 3-4 times before putting in the cage that way it works well at wicking.
I find though the main problem I do not like is the pigs will get a wet butt and need butt baths from sitting on fleece. Dont get me wrong, it does save alot of money, and is super soft for the pigs, and also you change the look of the cage just by switching designs of the fleece. I just dont like dealing with a wet butt when I hold them. It's all up to preference.
Here is a link to help you understand the cube and coroplast idea.

Cubes and Coroplast

[akstrohm]

Cage size: Yes, he absolutely needs a bigger cage, regardless of how little time he spends in it. Guinea pigs do not sleep through the night, and they need to be active on their schedule, not yours. For two boars, I would make a cage that is 13 square feet (that's a 2 grid by 5 grid cage, or 30" x 62"). Guinea pigs need space to run laps, so upper levels do not count toward the space requirements.

New pig: Guinea pigs are social animals and should always be kept in groups or pairs, regardless of how much attention they get from people. Before you adopt a new one, make sure of the sex of your current pig and get another of the same sex. Be sure to adopt your new pig from a rescue or shelter (or Craigslist if you are comfortable sexing pigs). Pet store pigs are very often sick, pregnant, and missexed. Be sure to quarantine the new pig for three weeks behind closed doors, and read up on how to do a proper introduction. You cannot just put the new pig in the cage.

Fleece: Fleece should be used on top of towels or another absorbent material (not newspaper, and not loose bedding). Many people also use a litter box with loose bedding in it, but it's not necessary. Fleece will get dirty and smell very quickly if you do not have a proper size cage. With a proper cage, it is an excellent choice and much cheaper than loose bedding.

Welcome to the forum! Be sure to check out the diet and nutrition stickies if you haven't already--they are very helpful!

[Catayn]

Just to make myself clear: I had written a very nice long post for you, but my computer just logged me out and I was too lazy to write everything again.
I didn't want to sound imperative, think of a very nice person saying what I said, OK?

[MyZoo2]

The initial cost of fleece was more expensive for us (I decided to make piggy bedspreads), but we have had them for the past month and we have saved a ton of time & money with them. I'm sure the garbage man is quite appreciative of no more bags of loose bedding too! Several people here have much more simplistic fleece bedding arrangements than I do. I just made another set of piggy bedding this weekend, using a thick waterproof mattress pad instead of a towel & plastic. The fleece with a mattress pad is working significantly better for us, and it was easier for me to sew.

As others have said, cage is too small and has poor ventilation. I would personally consider a larger cage. We have a 2x4 cage (C&C style) for 2 boys.

[Guinea Granny]

Wow, you guys are awesome! Thanks for all the amazing feedback, I am definitely on the hunt now for the grids to see if I can fanagle a bigger cage and now am considering two as opposed to just one, I know this might sound like a dumb question, but what the heck is popcorning? LOL

[Tessa Bea]

The "tub" part of the cage is about 6" deep with an overall height of about 12" and has ventilation spots throughout the top 6"-is this still no good? If not, will it accommodate until we can make other arrangements? I actually found a supplier here in town who sells the coroplast and am looking into finding the grids as well....

More ventilation is needed. It'd work as temporary housing until you make a larger one, but be sure to note the word "temporary". I'd say 3 weeks max, some people use old pet store cages as quarantine areas, and that's how long quarantine is.

I was not even sure where to start looking for a new one, we got the last one at a pet store, I'm assuming not a good choice...?

Almost everything at pet stores is not good for small animals. Yogurt drops, seed mixes, junk food pellets, aromatic bedding, etc. You'll probably spend less money anyway making a cage, if that's a concern.

My cubes were $20 for a 16 pack of grids, I got them at Fred Meyer- don't know if you have those in Colorado? You can also order them online through Walmart.

If you were talking about getting a piggy from a pet store- where ever there are pet stores, there will be homeless pigs. You just have to look- sometimes harder than others. Petstore Pigs tend to have health problems and socialization issues, and Petstores support backyard breeders and breeding mills.

I browsed through the adoption part of the forum and didn't find anything.

As far as adoptions go, some good places to look are www.petfinder.com and www.craigslist.org.

[luvmycavies]

I find though the main problem I do not like is the pigs will get a wet butt and need butt baths from sitting on fleece. Dont get me wrong, it does save alot of money, and is super soft for the pigs, and also you change the look of the cage just by switching designs of the fleece. I just dont like dealing with a wet butt when I hold them. It's all up to preference.

Not to detract from this and the OP but if you are having a wet butt issue then maybe the fleece isn't wicking correctly or the underneath layers are not absorbing. I have 4 piggies and adore using fleece and have never had a wet butt on any of them.

[SLS5173]

Not sure if you got my message but I figured I would post here to for other people. There is a guinea pig rescue in Aurora Co called Cavy Care they seem really nice.

[snickers]

but what the heck is popcorning? LOL

Popcorning is when the pigs are excited and very happy. They kinda jump around and its called popcorning. Whenever I give mine fresh hay they jump around all over the cage squeeking with joy! They also start popcorning when they hear the veggie bags while I am making them breakfast and dinner.

[snickers]

Not to detract from this and the OP but if you are having a wet butt issue then maybe the fleece isn't wicking correctly or the underneath layers are not absorbing. I have 4 piggies and adore using fleece and have never had a wet butt on any of them.

Sorry to take away from this post, but I had 4 towels down, mattress pad, anti pill fleece and they got a wet butt. It wicked away everything I made sure of that , but it was always damp afterwards. Thats how they would get the wet butt. I cant figure out what I was doing wrong. I dried it with no dryer sheets, and used vinegar to wash it.

[AmandaErlandson]

I really don't have anything to add to what has already been said here. Most everything has been right on. I am so excited for your new pig(s). When you see your pigs popcorn for the 1st time there is nothing like it.

You have come to the right spot. Their are some incredibly smart & cavy savvy people on this site. Take the time to read through this site well. It will change your cavy's life & the amount of enjoyment you get from them. Welcome to GPC forum!!!!

[Guinea Granny]

Thanks everyone for all the awesome feedback, after careful consideration we're going to be working on getting a larger cage and happened to find someone here locally expecting some babies in the next few weeks, which gives us plenty of time to prepare. If anyone has any other advise for us, we'll gladly take it, especially about new babies-diet, special needs etc! Off to read more posts!