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Cleaning poop machines

emilyspiggies

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I just recently switched from CareFresh to fleece. Piggies love the fleece... BUT I never realized how much these piggies poop! With CareFresh I spot cleaned once maybe twice a day.
NOW with fleece I spot clean about 6 to 8 times a day. I hate the poo and I hate being able to see it so easily! Ha.
My 2 year old nephew comes over every day and he helps me give the pigs veggies and watches me spot clean and talks to the pigs. Even he noticed the poop. As soon as he saw them today he said "icky poop evvywer!" and plugged his nose (no it didn't actually stink).
So, I was wondering, how many times a day do you spot clean? And did you notice this at first when switching?
 

MaggieMae

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When I switched to half carefresh half fleece I was able to get her to potty mostly in one little area. But then instead of cleaning a lot of guinea pig poop off of her fleece I have to brush the carefresh off. I just made sure the carefresh and the fleece were both purple.. ;) I scoop the carefresh potty area out twice a day, move the okay stuff to the empty spot and fill the usually not soiled areas I have moved back with new carefresh. I change everything out once a week and wash everything completely depending, but I only have one guinea pig in a temporarily very small cage. This way she can keep her fleece clean minus maybe 5 stray poops a day. Not all guinea pigs are going to be like that though. Some will just go everywhere.

Also, if you have tried that before and it didn't work, something to consider is dark purple fleece. I got a yard of it at walmart last week for $4.77 here. Due to the color contrast between her poop and the fabric it makes the mess less noticeable at first. This however, can be a pain for FINDING the poop on it depending on how great your lighting is but it is refreshing to me because I would rather look in her cage to see my cute guinea pig rather than look in and think "wow she poops a lot". ;)

I know this didn't really answer your question exactly but I thought maybe it would offer some suggestions on how to cut back on the unsightly poop that has surfaced between the two types of bedding.
 

emilyspiggies

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When I switched to half carefresh half fleece I was able to get her to potty mostly in one little area. But then instead of cleaning a lot of guinea pig poop off of her fleece I have to brush the carefresh off. I just made sure the carefresh and the fleece were both purple.. ;) I scoop the carefresh potty area out twice a day, move the okay stuff to the empty spot and fill the usually not soiled areas I have moved back with new carefresh. I change everything out once a week and wash everything completely depending, but I only have one guinea pig in a temporarily very small cage. This way she can keep her fleece clean minus maybe 5 stray poops a day. Not all guinea pigs are going to be like that though. Some will just go everywhere.

Also, if you have tried that before and it didn't work, something to consider is dark purple fleece. I got a yard of it at walmart last week for $4.77 here. Due to the color contrast between her poop and the fabric it makes the mess less noticeable at first. This however, can be a pain for FINDING the poop on it depending on how great your lighting is but it is refreshing to me because I would rather look in her cage to see my cute guinea pig rather than look in and think "wow she poops a lot". ;)

I know this didn't really answer your question exactly but I thought maybe it would offer some suggestions on how to cut back on the unsightly poop that has surfaced between the two types of bedding.
But I like my fleece... Its X-Men.
 

MaggieMae

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1frankie7

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I just clean of poops whenever it gets poopy? I don't know how often I actually do it but. Like 1-2 times a day? But My cage is a 2x7 WITH a kitchen and they are only in there during the night time.
 

JD In Van

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Get a little hand vac. I just vac it all up every time I feed them. :)
 

TwitterPopcorn

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I agree with the little hand vac. We vacuum at least twice a day. If you can build a kitchen area they go more in there so the poop isn't spread as much over the cage. But with four girls in a 2 x 7 it is everywhere.
 

emilyspiggies

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lol How cute!!!!! I would keep the x-men then! I wish I had some kind of theme for my fleece...
Just go to Target and in the kids room decor they have like a dozen themed fleece blankets!!
 

emilyspiggies

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Get a little hand vac. I just vac it all up every time I feed them. :)
I'm scared of hand vacs... Well terrified.
When I was 7 and was using a hand vac my hair (my hair went down to my butt) got stuck in it and all tangled and we had to cut about a foot of it off :'(
No hand vacs.
 

xoLauraox09

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I use a dust pan and brush :)
 

lesley825

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I'm so glad I found this thread... our guinea pigs are seriously poop factories!! We say "a pellet goes in, a pellet comes out". It feels impossible to keep up with all the ah, jellybeans they produce in a day. I didn't think of the hand-vac thing. Is it safe to vacuum the poops into it? I know they're hard and don't really smell so I'd imagine there isn't much risk of bacteria getting expelled from the exhaust of the vacuum, but does anyone know for sure? I know it's dangerous to vacuum up things like spills that may have contaminated meat juices and whatnot because it gets expelled microscopically into the air from the vacuum.

I feel sad having the poor guys effectively sitting in their own stuff. Even in just a couple days' time we'll lift off their little woodland hideaways and there will be a big pile. They have fleece as well.
 

lissie

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crystalllynn

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I vacuum with a hand vac while they have floor time in the morning. They FREAK out if I vacuum while they are in the cage, so I try to spare them the stress. I then scoop with a spoon a couple of times a day. There usually isn't that much since I have a kitchen area with Yesterday's News and most are in that.
 

Froggirl009

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I spot clean at least once every day and twice if I have time before school.
 

WildRye

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I scoop poop twice a day. I got rid of my litter box (buying disposable bedding was a cost that I could do without), so now there's obviously a lot more poop on the fleece. Still, it's not that bad.
 

Peggysu

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I sweep at least twice a day. If I don't the cage gets a little funky and I don't like the idea of them laying in their poops. They poop a ton, but they are practically always eating.
 

JD In Van

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I vacuum with a hand vac while they have floor time in the morning. They FREAK out if I vacuum while they are in the cage, so I try to spare them the stress. I then scoop with a spoon a couple of times a day. There usually isn't that much since I have a kitchen area with Yesterday's News and most are in that.


Mine were horribly afraid at first they've gotten used to it though since the vacuum means food will be coming soon. :)
 

jeananne

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I clean several times a day, just by reaching in with a paper towel and picking it up and putting in another then toss in the trash. My piggie has gotten so used to me doing this, that now she tries to climb all over my arm and tries to get on my shoulder ! Good way to bond ! I also use fleece, by the way.
 
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emilyspiggies

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I'm so glad I found this thread... our guinea pigs are seriously poop factories!! We say "a pellet goes in, a pellet comes out". It feels impossible to keep up with all the ah, jellybeans they produce in a day. I didn't think of the hand-vac thing. Is it safe to vacuum the poops into it? I know they're hard and don't really smell so I'd imagine there isn't much risk of bacteria getting expelled from the exhaust of the vacuum, but does anyone know for sure? I know it's dangerous to vacuum up things like spills that may have contaminated meat juices and whatnot because it gets expelled microscopically into the air from the vacuum.

I feel sad having the poor guys effectively sitting in their own stuff. Even in just a couple days' time we'll lift off their little woodland hideaways and there will be a big pile. They have fleece as well.
I dont know if it is safe.. I'm not gonna try it though. Just imagined if they got smooshed in there.. ewy.
 
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