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Cleaning Cage cleaning, hay everywhere, and a few pics.

BFGuru

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When I went out of town I don't believe the gal watching my girls changed out the bedding. To make it easier, I ditched the fleece and just told her to replace the puppy pads every day.

I came home to matted stool everywhere and completely covered pads that were wrinkled and shoved out of the way. It's not perfect and I'm still working on a perfect bedding plan, which will lead to other questions later. Anywho...their feet had caked on stool all in their claws and they stank to high heavens. As did my apartment.

I bought some cage cleaner as water wasn't doing the trick, but even spraying it I started to cough. I wiped it off with a damp cloth after scrubbing the hell out of it with steel wool, and kept rinsing my rag, but I still smell it and I'm worried about it affecting the girls.

Secondly...I hate hay. My once awesome, only thing that could handle the cat fur vacuum clogs all the time. Even if I don't see hay it seems to get all over the room and I spend more time digging hay out of the hosing than vacuuming. Is there help for this? Any vacuum cleaner suggestions?

And on to pics. Because they were covered in stool I caved and bought small animal shampoo. I've only ever used water one only of messy paws before so I was a bit nervous. Scarlet trembled but dealt with it. Navi screech like I was killing her the entire time (she also does this every time you remove her from the cage, but calms as soon as you pull her close to your body). I was able to really check out their paws and make sure there was no skin breakdown too. They are now super fluffy piggies that smell good. LOL

Now tubby pics!

Scarlet getting her shampoo and blow out.
IMAG0560.jpg

Navi waiting on the water to get to the right temperature.
IMAG0561.jpg

Everyone enjoying snuggles and mini bells for being such troopers.
IMAG0562.jpg
 

pigger123

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That's really not acceptable for a pet sitter. If the bedding wasn't working for her, she should have contacted you rather then letting it get that bad.

Use a 50/50 mixture of water and white vinegar to clean the cage. It's safe for piggies and is fantastic for removing stains and odors from coroplast. It does leave a vinegar smell, but that goes away after a little while.

I keep hay in a huge cardboard box right next to the cage, so hardly any gets on the floor. My vacuum has no problem picking up what does though.

What cute clean piggies!
 

Legume Family

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I'm sorry your pet sitter was so awful, I can't imagine how she thought that was an acceptable condition to leave your pigs in :(

I've had problems with hay all over the place and have killed multiple vacuums because of it. My new method is to get Small Pet Select hay and leave it in the box. I use Piggy Bedspreads and a Cavy Kitchen insert (which I fill with Carefresh). I put the hay directly into the kitchen in a large pile. Keeping it contained helps it from spreading everywhere, and I use this handheld vacuum to vacuum the fleece daily: (broken link removed) Then I change out the litter pan every 2-3 days (I live in an apartment and just take the whole kitchen outside to dump under bushes).

I love the handheld vacuum-- it even gets the fur from my long-haired silky up off the fleece.

This is my most recent household vacuum, and it seems to be holding up rather well (though less hay has been getting everywhere due to the precautions stated above): (broken link removed) Try bagged vacuums for hay-- they usually hold up better.

Hope this helps! Your piggies are adorable!
 

BFGuru

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This is the one I bought six months ago because my cats kept clogging up the vacuum. It cane recommended and looks a lot like the hoover.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002..._SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=pet+vacuum,+shark

I may go get that hand held and see if that helps.

In the mean time just find something to tide me over fleece wise until the landlord fixes my washer...which I'm off to tell him about now lol. When it rains it pours.
 

Legume Family

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This is the one I bought six months ago because my cats kept clogging up the vacuum. It cane recommended and looks a lot like the hoover.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002..._SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=pet+vacuum,+shark

Does your Shark have bags or is it bagless? That might be the only difference. If you have a hard time corralling the hay (so to speak) in one area, you could try using a broom for the longer pieces-- I do this on my carpet (and look like a weirdo to my family, but who cares). My local vacuum shop also declogs and cleans vacuums for $20, so you can try that to get yours working again.

Renting is so much fun, huh :)
 

BFGuru

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It's Bayless, and I can declog it. It just takes 10-15 minutes and clogs up five minutes later lol.
 

Simpsonspiggie8

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I use this Bissel pet handheld vacuum everyday for cleaning hay and hair and stuff off my carpets It is the absolute best!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001EYFQ2...71657051&sr=sr-1&keywords=handheld+pet+vacuum

It has so much power and the cord is so long! It picks up everything and is bagless!It never ever gets clogged and the filter also never needs to be replaced when it gets dirty you just tap it on the side of a garbage can to get all the stuff out! the only bad thing is that it is too powerful to use on my fleece so I still just use a dustpan and mini sweeper thing to spot clean my fleece!
 

lunarminx

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The next time just buy a bag of bedding like carefresh, there is no changing or anything for a week. As for getting the hay off, that is why i switched back to bedding. I found fleece looked too messy and too much of a pain in the a$$. I buy a bag of mini flake, kiln dried 40 lbs. It costs under $7.00 and last me for the month. I also do not have a washer/dryer so fleece cost me more at the laundry mat. I doesn't smell, no vacuuming hay up. 100_0831.jpg100_0508 (Medium).jpg100_0403.jpg100_0465.jpgFor using fleece, I found the flippers worked best, brushing them was easy compared to trying to brush the whole sheet of fleece. I love carefresh but for a large care it is spendy. The mini flakes are cheap but stick like glue to the fleece covering the tunnels and awnings.
 
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