Bedding Help with new bedding ideas, please?

[rachrachrach]

I have always used fleece with a towel underneath in my c&c cage. I also have 2 litterboxes, which I use "Yesterday's News" in. When I only had 1 guinea pig my cage was pretty clean, as my boy was litterbox trained and would only have a few poops outside of the box. Then I adopted another female piggy and my cage became crazy gross. I clean at least 1 time a week, with spot cleanings during the week but they still manage to DESTROY the cage. The towel underneath is disgusting, as the fleece is on top. There is hay and poop everywhere. I would love some suggestions on what I can do to help this situation. I've seen some cage where there is a "kitchen" of some sort to keep the hay isolated. Can you throw out some suggestions on how to build this? Also, how to keep the cage (& towel underneath) cleaner? Is there something more absorbent (or disposable) that I can put under the fleece? The hay everywhere is killing me also because of my asthma. My husband is really good about giving them hay so that I don't have to, but I still encounter the problems when I clean.

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but any of your suggestions could help. Thanks!

 

[hurleyslave]

I'm actually experiencing the same problem as well. When it was just my Hurley in the cage, he was a very good boy about using his litterbox - specifically that was where I put his water bottle, his food bowl, and hay rack - and there were only a stray poops outside the litterbox. So I could've gotten away with cleaning the cage completely for at least 2 weeks but I always manage to clean it 1x a week. Then I adopted Butters and ever since his arrival, my cage has been turned upside down. There are poops everywhere, hay everywhere, pee everywhere. It stinks and it's totally gross. Obviously I try my best to pick up stray poops but after I'm done cleaning, Butters decides that it's TOO clean and decides to mark his territory by pooping everywhere again. I have a litterbox as well but I don't know if Butters uses it.

 

[rachrachrach]

Wow. You really are in the same disgusting boat as me!

Hopefully there will be some suggestions on what we can do.

 

[myfirstcavy]

I just switched to using fleece as my bedding and this is what I did:

I have one layer of fleece, 2 layers of 100% cotton batting, and one towel sewed together as the bedding. Underneath that "mat" I use about 6-8 layers of newspaper (it's not ideally absorbent but the fleece, cotton, and towel take care of most of it). I do not have a litter box *yet*. I intend to get one though. I have also heard of people using puppy pads as their under bedding. I have used those before (for my puppy) and they are great. I don't use them now because they are not reusable and a little pricey, but they are a great disposable option.

For the food I use one sheet of newspaper folded in quarters as a "place-mat". I use a metal utensil holder I got from Wal-Mart (about $5). I got the utensil holder idea from searching through the "hayrack" pictures on this site (there were a lot of very inovative ideas I suggest taking a look there too). I had the utensil holder zippy tied to the side of the cage but my piggy just kept pulling all the hay out, so I took it down and just have it standing up in the cage now which is working well.

As far as the poops, I scoop them up every morning. I vacuum the fleece about 2 times a week and I change *everything*, extensively cleaning the cage once a week.

I hope this helps y'all!! Take a look through the "tips" forum too there's some pretty great stuff in there too.

 

[rachrachrach]

Does anyone have any more suggestions?

 

[GPGuy]

I use fleece as well, 2 layers over 2 layers of towels or shammi type cloths I got at a dollar store. I add vinegar to the wash to help with odor as well.
I keep the hay in a grid rack (as seen in the pics section) and keep a 1 foot by 2 foot litter tray under the hay rack. I also have the food dish in the very corner of the litter tray.
The theory is that as Nugget is munching away he is also pooping and peeing, so since he is already in the litter, voila, less mess throughout the cage.
For litter I use a Carefresh/Aspen blend and scoop out any wet stuff each morning.
I've also found that there seems to be less mess within a larger cage.