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A few bedding questions

WildKingdom

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We recently added a Guinea Pig (Porky) to our ever growing family zoo. What is the best kid of bedding to use? We have tried aspen wood and carefresh. Right now we have the cage lined with an old towel. I'm curious to hear what some experienced pig owners use.
 

mncavylover

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I line my cage with newspaper. Then, I put a layer of CareFresh on. I've also heard of lots of people who put newspaper, then a layer of Aspen or other safe wood, then a thin layer of CareFresh to keep the dust under control. Hope this helps! =)
 

WildKingdom

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Thanks! I just noticed the "bedding" section. Guess I should have posted this there :)
 

cavylover_76

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I use Critter Care. It's Wal-Mart's cheaper version of Carefresh. I really like it!!!
I have a 2x4 cage and it costs around $12 a week to change. It's very absorbant, and it still looks and smells fresh even at the end of the week!!
 

kerrysko

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Forget the shavings--use fleece!

If you buy nice thick fleece material from Walmart or any sewing store, and line the bottom of your cage with it, over newspaper perhaps, you can skip all the mess and dust from shavings. I have a few pieces so I can rotate them out as they soil (about 2-3 days) and machine wash them. What a way to save money!
 

Piglet

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2-3 days? Doesnt the poop start getting stuck and smeared over the fleece!
 

mncavylover

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Hmmm... that is an idea, but I think I'd be a bit disgusted when the fabric gets all soiled. Just a thought. Oh, and I thought I saw someone else say that if you have fleece bedding you have to change it every day. Is that right? Thanks!
 

MommaCavy3160

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mncavylover said:
....I thought I saw someone else say that if you have fleece bedding you have to change it every day. Is that right? Thanks!
No not really. To tell you the truth, towels need daily changing more than the fleece does. The fleece dosen't absorb all the urine like regular towels do, so the urine evaporates while just alittle is absorbed into the fleece.

Poop dosen't really get stuck to it (unless one of my trio has a case of soft stool). I use a combo of fleece and corner litter pans along with daily spot cleanings of stray poops and hay. It really cuts down the changing period.

And also as a double bonus, since i'm using the fleece as bedding, I really don't need a coroplast base. I have a piece of plywood (47" x 52") that's covered with a plastic bookshelf liner with the cubes as the frame (there's a picture of the cage I have under "Decorated Cages" in the photo gallery, I might be changing the theme soon ).
 

mncavylover

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Ok, I see. Your cage looks great, by the way... I love pooh! =) Thanks for answering about the fleece. I still think I'll stick to bedding though, since my piggies like to dig in it a lot. Thanks again for the idea! =)
 

MommaCavy3160

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You're welcome.

It's great that you're going to stick to what works for you. Unfortunately, There really is no perfect bedding choice (but thank god there are some that can be eliminated from the choices thanks to careful research).

It's all a matter of trial and error when it comes to bedding, thats how I learned about using fleece as bedding along with corner pans.

I use to use just Carefresh, since I lost my piggie, Cher, awhile ago to a very nasty URI. After that, I literally became so afraid of wood bedding or anything made of wood, that I even took away their wood toys. But with the cost of Carefresh and at the time I was unemployed (since I was a full time student), i had to find a cheaper solution.
 
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mncavylover

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Hmmm... Have you looked for CellSorb or the paper bedding made by any other company? More and more manufacturers seem to be coming out with them now, maybe it's worth a look! =)
 
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