General Smelly Fleece Bedding

[TheWendist]

Hello fellow piggy-owners!

I recently adopted a sweet little piggy name Chester. I made him a fleece bedding with the uhaul inspired by all of your posts. But after 2 days it starts to smell of urine. Any advice on controlling the smell? Any products I can use to get rid of the smell?:?:

 

[alfonzpig]

I wash my fleece with a cup of vinegar in the wash, and I don't seem to have that problem, and I have 3 piggy boys who can get quite smelly when they want to lol. I think the vinegar helps neutralize the smell

 

[TheWendist]

Hi Alfonzpig,

Thanks for the response. So that means I would have to wash the fleece every 2-3 days? I thought they're suppose to last for like a week at most.

 

[alfonzpig]

I wash my fleece once a week, I just use the vinegar when I do the washing.

 

[Gandalf]

I wash my main liner once per week, but I also use potty pads (fleece and batting). The potty pads do get smelly after a couple days, so I switch them out for clean ones. That's what allows me to go a week between washings.

 

[lissie]

How big is your cage? How soon you need to wash depends on the size of the cage and if you have a separate feeding area with bedding.

 

[TheWendist]

My cage is 2x3 I made a fleeced layered with 2 uhauls and another fleece. I stitched them together and quilted them too. It was fun making them.

 

[mamattorney]

My cage is the equivalent of a 2x3 and I change the fleece every other day.

 

[GuineaPigster]

Is the fleece wicking?? You didn't change or adjust the instructions?

 

[Traysea]

Hey!! Im on Long Island too!!
So you have one boy in a 2x3 equivalent cage? Do you mean a 2'x3' as in (24" x36" inches) or 2x3 in grid (which would be 30x44). When I had my one piggy in a 2x3 I could go about 3 days between cleanings. If you are up for adding a kitchen with disposable pine shavings or pellet to the cage that will help you tremendously.

Hello fellow piggy-owners!

I recently adopted a sweet little piggy name Chester. I made him a fleece bedding with the uhaul inspired by all of your posts. But after 2 days it starts to smell of urine. Any advice on controlling the smell? Any products I can use to get rid of the smell?:?:

 

[TheWendist]

Is the fleece wicking?? You didn't change or adjust the instructions?

Yes it is, I washed it 3 times.

 

[TheWendist]

Hey!! Im on Long Island too!!
So you have one boy in a 2x3 equivalent cage? Do you mean a 2'x3' as in (24" x36" inches) or 2x3 in grid (which would be 30x44). When I had my one piggy in a 2x3 I could go about 3 days between cleanings. If you are up for adding a kitchen with disposable pine shavings or pellet to the cage that will help you tremendously.

Hi Neighbor!

Yes I mean I have a 24'x36' with one piggy. Chester is estimated to be around 2-3 years old so I think he's out of the teenage stage. I made him a small kitchen made out of a cardboard box which he loves.

I was thinking of using Fedreze spray or Lyisol spray, but I think it would be bad for them to breathe right?

 

[alfonzpig]

I honestly don't have much of a scent issue in my cage. My two boys (thankfully and I think by the grace of the gods) are the best of friends, when I first put them together, they bonded immediately, and its been happyland ever since lol.

I use towels in my cage, or old absorbant blankets under the fleece. If my apartment gets a little too warm, I notice a smell, but its usually from the hay, and not urine. My two are in a 3x4 cage, and one of my boys is in a 2x3 cage, (that's grids, the two together have 17 square feet of space) I just wash the blankets once a week, with a cup of vinegar as I said, and if the cage gets bad on its own, I wash it with a vinegar and water solution. I don't believe in any of the chemical sprays for cleaning pet cages, because I've had some pretty bad experiences with pets and chemicals.

 

[Princess_Piggie]

I think the most smell in my cage comes from soiled hay. I have a box similar to a litter box under their hay rack, which has shavings on the bottom, then a layer of hay, They graze the hay, but also use it as a potty box. Soiled hay smells A LOT. Especially if say, they drag hay out on to the fleece, and it's been peed on, it stinks. So I just have to do spot cleanings more regularly. Other than that, if you have a good underbedding, fleece doesn't really smell too bad if you change frequently enough.

 

[Artista]

Hi Neighbor!

Yes I mean I have a 24'x36' with one piggy. Chester is estimated to be around 2-3 years old so I think he's out of the teenage stage. I made him a small kitchen made out of a cardboard box which he loves.

I was thinking of using Fedreze spray or Lyisol spray, but I think it would be bad for them to breathe right?

24" x 36" sounds like the size of a pet store cage I have when I first got my girl, and if you have a kitchen in there too, it is even smaller for him to really have room. My girl is in a 2 x 4 C & C cage with a 2 x 1 kitchen, leaving her with 2 x 3 C & C area to play, do laps, and have 3 hideys in it. I'm lucky in that my girl instinctively knows that pee goes in the kitchen. I use wood pellets which are cheap and it really masks the odor well and absorbs great. Mine will occasionally pee on the fleece if she doesn't get her bum completely in the kitchen.

I also believe diet plays a role in stinking urine. Just like with humans. My girl drinks lots of water and I soak her lettuce with water before giving it to her. I think it dilutes the smell just like us if we drink a lot of water, urine comes out clearer.

And do not use any chemicals. It's bad for you, much less for an animal whose body size is much smaller than ours and therefore more affected by environmental stuff.

 

[bpatters]

A 24x36" cage is only six square feet, which is really too small for even one pig. Fleece works much better in a larger cage. I don't know of anyone who's been able to make fleece work in a small cage without having to change the whole cage daily, which really defeats the purpose of using fleece.

 

[TheWendist]

A 24x36" cage is only six square feet, which is really too small for even one pig. Fleece works much better in a larger cage. I don't know of anyone who's been able to make fleece work in a small cage without having to change the whole cage daily, which really defeats the purpose of using fleece.

I'm definitely going to buy him a bigger cage soon. I don't mind much cleaning his cage, I just love interacting with him. I must get him a friend after I get a bigger cage.

 

[Traysea]

What I would do to start is replace his cardboard litter box with a plastic one. Use pine pellets (feline pine ORIGINAL cat litter, NOT THE CLUMPING FORMULA!!, or small animal pine pellet bedding or horse stall pine pellet bedding, feline pine original pellets might be the easiest to find but most expensive) for the bet odor control. Put the food bowl in there and hang the hay and water bottle there too. Definitely don't use febreeze or lysol for the cage. During cage cleaning time use a mixture of vinegar and water or a product designed to clean small animal cages. For odor control, use an odor neutralizer gel type thing or activated carbon pouch outside of the cage where he can't reach it, or an activated carbon and HEPA style air filter helps if you have the money for one.

I agree that a 24x36 size cage is small for using fleece. At that size I'd think you would need to clean it every other day. If you want to get a second pig consider a C and C 2x4 cage which would be 30" x 60". So many people get confused by the difference between cages measured by inch and cages measured by grid. Grid is 14" square which is 2" longer than a foot. If you use the connectors, then you get another 1/2" at each connection.

If you can go bigger than 2x4 grids they will be happier for it and with boars bigger is better. But 2x4 is the minimum size you'd want to do for 2 boys. You can also use your existing cage for setting up a kitchen or you can use it for transport, emergencies or during cage cleaning so it won't be a total loss.

Hi Neighbor!

Yes I mean I have a 24'x36' with one piggy. Chester is estimated to be around 2-3 years old so I think he's out of the teenage stage. I made him a small kitchen made out of a cardboard box which he loves.

I was thinking of using Fedreze spray or Lyisol spray, but I think it would be bad for them to breathe right?

 

[GuineaPigster]

A 3x3 would be even better for two males.
I'd remove the cardboard too. Wet cardboard smells disgusting!! Does he have a hay rack, or do you put hay on the ground?

 

[barbaramudge]

The Colonels current cage is smaller and I use fleece with no problem. The only time it smells is if he spills a lot of hay out and pees on it. I spot clean it out every day, sometimes twice and I do a full clean once a week.