Please Help

[Smelba]

Well Fred and George have been living with me for nearly a week now and things seem to be going (mostly) well. I have built them a 2x4 CandC cage.

I work during the week, but was at home all day yesterday, and they were the most lively I have ever seen them . They were even 'popcorning' which made me feel much better, as they have been very quiet and timid when I have arrived home from work during the week. They are usually still asleep when I leave for work in the morning.

I have opted to use fleece method - which seems to work very as they hardly do any poos on there and there is only a very small sign of peeing on there too. I have brought a litter tray in which there food is located near and they seem to be doing their buisness in there which excellent.

The only problem I have is that they mainly pee in there hidely house(Note I do not have the fleece extending under the hidey house as I would have to change it every day). I have extra newspaper under the house, then shredded newspaper with lots of hay on top of that which I change twice a day. But it always seems saturated in there and makes me feel very sorry for my little fellas (as well my boyfriend makes me feel bad about this too).

I was thinking of making a correx base to put around their hidey house (which would make changing the bedding much easier and hopefully eliminate some mess) and then to put some more absorbent bedding but am confused on what to use??? which is where I hope you guys come in. Can anyone reccomend the best combination of bedding which will keep Fred and George dry?
I need to get this sorted as I am going away next weekend and a friend of mine is coming round too feed and clean out the pigs, but is only able to do it once a day so I need something that will last for 24 hours.

I hope some one out there can help.

Hayley

[Maisiepaisie]

Originally Posted by Smelba

I was thinking of making a correx base to put around their hidey house (which would make changing the bedding much easier and hopefully eliminate some mess) and then to put some more absorbent bedding but am confused on what to use??? Hayley

Thats a good idea, I'm going to do that too as I'm having the same problem. I'm going to try a towel covered with a piece of fleece which can all be washed daily. Any other bedding will just spill out onto the fleece and make extra mess I reckon.

[ArtisticRainey]

The correx would be a good idea. I can't find any here yet, but another option is a thick layer of woodshavings. That's what I'm doing at the moment, and it's really effective; very absorbant.

[muffin]

Although woodshavings are a commonly used bedding for guinea pigs they are actually very bad for them. they are usually mad efrom pine wood, and the strong oils which give them their smell can acsue serious breathing problems and lung damage for guinea pigs, because their noses are so sensitive and close to the shavings all day long. Also, the shavings really dry out piggie's skin. Because they are so absorbent, they take the natural moisture from piggies feet, which can leave them dry and cracked and sore. the rest of your pig's skin can also become dry, leaving them more vulnerable to skin problems, such as fungal skin problems, which are especially common in the UK. If you can, the towel and fleece pad which has been suggested is a good method. Otherwise some form of recycled paper pulp bedding such as carefresh or megazorb would also be preferable to shavings. (Don't use the jaycloth shredded animal bedding which is often sold as suitable for guinea pigs). I know you're only planning on using shavings in the hidey, but they will be on them a lot, sleeping and sitting and breathing all the oils in an enclosed space. Also be warned about a correx tray-some piggers like to chew the edges. Mine do this and they swallow any bits they nibble off (hence why the correx divider between my main cage area and kitchen area had to be removed only a few hours after it went in! Cat litter trays are a bit big, maybe you could get a small bunny litter tray?

[Smelba]

Thank you for the advice . I have brought some back 2 nature litter but i hasn't arrived yet. I didn't want to use woodshavings as i know they are bad for guinea pigs. Even tho I'm sure wood shavings work well for some people.

I think I'm going to try the correx round the hidey house as it is a funny shape and i cant get a tray big enough to fit it!!

Thanx again for the advice, it is much appreciated.

[muffin]

You're welcome

[Suisan]

All my pigs have an extra towel under each hiding space. Just a small handtowel. That gets taken out every morning and replaced with a fresh one. Depending on the day, sometimes the towels are replaced at night too. (If it's wet -- sometimes it seems fine.) That way they always have something fairly dry to sleep on.

I bed on fleece, but I used to do the same thing when we were on carefresh.

Edited to add: I found that the edges of the wooden hidey houses were absorbing a lot of urine, which was hard to get rid of, so I started with the small towels. The edge of the towel goes up the side of the house a little bit and get most of the urine before it soaks into the house.

Although now I don't seem to use the wooden houses so much -- lots of tents and stepstools these days.

[wheeky-UK]

I also use fleece, but then under each hidey I lay down a kitchen hand towel which I change everyday (sometimes twice a day). This helps them to stop sleeping in wet patches all the time and also keeps the fleece underneath quite dry.

[bee1101]

If no-one has mentioned it already, you could look at MegaZorb. We use it and it's great!