Some advice, please!?

[Nosecage]

Hello, friends.
Just joined and I need some advice. My Wesley (just the one--a beginner's mistake) and I recently upgraded to a C&C cage and he simply won't litter train. I've shifted and changed, but he pretty much insists on having so many 'spots' that it seems impractical to keep adding litter pans. The cage itself is 5.5' by 2' with an upper deck. Anyway, I'm down to two little pans and he uses them a lot, but continues to go pretty much everywhere else as well. I live in an apartment and it's really hard for me to justify $2.25 a week just on washing his towels/fleece, on top of replacing them frequently, buying litter for his pans, etc. So, I've started just laying out newspaper on top of towels so there is more absorbing and less slipping. He seems to be able to run on it pretty well. He's always eating it which is a little concerning, but I feel relatively confident that he isn't being poisoned. He has his comfy spots (bed, towel-covered platform, and hide-away with litter), but the main floor is covered in newspaper.

So, what's the deal? Are all your pigs really that well litter-trained that they don't pee and poop on their fleece? Is it worth it for me to suck it up and spend the quarters, or is newspaper okay? Pros and cons, please?

THANKS!

[bpatters]

News flash for you -- you can't litter train pigs. Some will sort of train themselves, in that they have a favorite place in the cage, usually in a corner or under the hayrack, where they pee and poop the most. If your pig does that, then put the litter boxes where he goes.

If he doesn't, and pees and poops all over the place, then try to put extra padding where he pees, and just scoop the poops out.

Newspaper is not very good litter material for pigs. It's not all that absorbent, doesn't keep them dry and thus leaves them in danger of UTIs, urine scald or bumblefoot, and smells awful.

Fleece works well, but so do aspen or kiln-dried pine shavings, carefresh, and wood pellets. Since you're already using some towels, I'd buy one piece of fleece slightly larger than the cage floor, prepare it properly, and then wrap it around the towels. See how you like it. You may decide the cost is worth it, or you may want to try something else.

[PIGGYandCHILLI]

only a few can train their gps. what i do is i put towels under their hiding place and just "shiny surface newspaper" like the magazine paper every other place. fleece would be good because they absorb the pee and it keeps your pig warm and it makes your pig's palm feel comfy. but it's up to you

[pinky]

None of my guinea pigs are litter box trained. One of mine loves her plastic hay bin and sleeps in there a lot so it tends to be the spot where she goes to the bathroom. I empty and clean it out at least once a day. I have one male that's really tidy and he has a couple of spots he likes to go. My 2 x 6 with three guinea pigs is pretty messy. They poop in their pigloos while they sleep and also poop everywhere else. I shake out the fleece at least twice a day and launder it every 2 to 3 days. Newspaper is not absorbent and will get really wet and smell. If any of your pigs are white, their fur will get soiled from the ink.

[KiwiCavyAdorer]

I've had Maximus von Lichtenwalder (yes just the one) on kiln dried pine about 3 inches deep. I found that any thinner and the pee seeps out quite far, but when thick and pressed down very firmly the pee spot is very contained and it doesn't soak all the way to the cage floor. Where he goes often around his kitchen that soaks to the cage bottom. I spot clean my cage twice during a week, taking out all the pee spots, and once a week remove everything scrub with water and vinegar all over the bottom.

I've just started to use U-haul pad two layers with material on top. I've noticed that if I lay a facecloth on the main two area's in the dining room, I can take the facecloth out once a day and give it a good rinse in hot water, then a vinegar soak, hang it out to dry and replace with a clean dry one in the meantime. This way the bottom material is saved. But of course I am hand washing facecloths once a day. He likes the fleeced material section of his cage more than he likes the shavings. I notice he avoids peeing on the shavings side now that the material side is in place.

There is a cost, and perhaps coming to terms with spending the quarters is a fair exchange for keeping a healthy piggie.
A bag of shavings costs me 40, and I have to hoover every two days minimum but it lasts me 10 weeks. Washing fleece at 60 to 90 degrees celcius costs but I don't have the same hoovering needs. So it's swings and roundabouts as far as I'm concerned. There is a cost I've got happy with spending the pennies knowing I'm saving on vets bills and products needed for skin problems associated with damp bedding.

I wouldn't put mine on newspaper, or a cotton cover left in there for days on end, it's just not able to wick away the urine and I'm not prepared to risk avoidable vet visits. I'm just going to try out different options and configurations until I feel that something is working best for piggie first and me second. The nice thing is that everyone gets to choose what works best in their own environment, I'm still figuring mine out...

[lissie]

only a few can train their gps. what i do is i put towels under their hiding place and just "shiny surface newspaper" like the magazine paper every other place. fleece would be good because they absorb the pee and it keeps your pig warm and it makes your pig's palm feel comfy. but it's up to you

Using "shiny surface newspaper" is going to end up with wet smelly pigs if they pee on those paper. It's better to use fleece or other types of bedding.

[PIGGYandCHILLI]

Using "shiny surface newspaper" is going to end up with wet smelly pigs if they pee on those paper. It's better to use fleece or other types of bedding.

i thought that those are better than newspaper...anyway thanks

[CavyMama]

No, newspaper (shiny or otherwise) isn't absorbant. You only end up with sopping wet paper that's difficult to clean up.

[Nosecage]

Thanks for your advice, everyone. I'll take all this into consideration while continuing to figure out what is best for Wesley.

[Hhbean]

Piggies will poop everywhere! But my guys only pee in 2 corners and the kitchen area (every blue moon in their houses). I use newspaper(black and white) in the affore mentioned areas. I put down a lot of layers, then I can just pull the top 2 layers out every day. As far as it staying wet I haven't had that problem, maybe because they pee then move on to another area? I am in the process of sewing up pads(fleece&mattress pad) for the high traffic areas.