Australia What bedding is safe?

petal · Aug 22, 2008

I have had guinea pigs for years and have always used wooden cages with woodshavings and either straw or hay.
Now one of my piggies has red pads on her hind feet. I belong to UK forums and they have things like Megazorb, Vetbed to name some. All we have here in South australia is woodshavings, paper, towels.
Zoe has been a sick piggy for 10 months having surgery in january 2008 to remove her reprodcutive organs and because of all the Terramycin injections she had with out probiotics she has a permantely damaged tummy.
like 3 weeks ago bought some rocket leaves gave her half a leaf twice a day by day 3 (always day 3) she had soft poops like custard.
Anyway had to take her to the vet yesterday as she wasn't herself and wasn't really eating.
Vet spent ages talking about how she is happy for zoe to be healthy and lose weight and was talking about bedding and what is safe for her.
Like if we used vetbed would it cause her harm if she ate it? Would it do harm to my washing machine as heavy when wet?
I am going to enclose pictures of their cages (had to seperate as zoe has been bullied so much she is scared of other piggies).
I know cages are not suitable as they are not ventilated enough, both cages are inside. Jessie's cage bought of ebay, too small for half a guinea pig.
any help greatly appreciated, a lady from the UK who was great friends with Peter Gurney whose vet is prepared to email vets all over the world to help piggies has been helping me.
As you are in australia I thought i would join here and ask you all for opinions and advice.
thanking you in advance.
Zoe's cage first and then Jessie's. Sorry the pictures are too big.

linda_chicha · Sep 8, 2008

Sorry if I bump old post.

Your enclosure is too small. How big is it? Hay and straw are not good for bedding. Wood shavings are okay but I much prefer fleece.

petal · Sep 8, 2008

First box which you can see Zoe in is 4ft by 18inches as for Jessie's cage yes it is too small bought it of ebay but am getting a bigger one built.
Had Petal and Rosie before now and they had hay and straw for bedding and they lived for 5.3 years and 6 years.
Am buying half a roll of drybed (same as UK vetbed) and will get towels and fleece blankets to go underneath it.
I do NOT think Zoe's cage is small as it is 4ft long by 18 inches wide and she is in it all by herself as she hates other piggies in fact she is scared of them.
Jessie am getting a 4ft wooden cage made for her this week.
Thanks for your post and feel free to post on my post anytime.

pigsforlife · Sep 8, 2008

I actually think it is too small. It would be 122x45cm. This would be about 0.55sq m. 1 pig needs 0.7sq m.

petal · Sep 8, 2008

Will have to disagree as there is another forum who claim 4ft X 2ft is big enough for 2 piggies. This forum is based in the UK and the king of guinea pigs claims 4ft is suitable for two piggies.
We all know the saying bigger is better but there is no way my cage is small. The question to this post was what is safe bedding not is my cage too small. I was told that acges was all this site was interested in but i refused to believe it. I have had the RSPCA check my cage and it met their standards. So thank you for your post and have a great night.

pigsforlife · Sep 8, 2008

I wouldn't call them the king of pigs if that sort of size is what they are recommending. Personally that cage is so small I wouldn't put 1, let alone 2 pigs in there. You can stand there with your fingers in your ears and ignore everything anyone says but in the end the fact is that your cage is too small.

Read the info on this page - https://www.guineapigcages.com/

I have gone from having 3 pigs in a 6sq ft cage with a 6sq ft upper level (which they didn't even use) to 3 pigs in 13sq ft cage, and 2 pigs in a 10.5sq ft cage. It was clear to see the massive impact - and for the better, the increased cage size had on the pigs. It is also heaps easier to clean.

petal · Sep 8, 2008

The question was what is the safest bedding NOT is my cage too small. I have NOT got my hands in my ears, I do NOT mistreat my animals by keeping them in a too small a cage.
The RSPCA has approved my cage and it's size, my piggy is happy and that is all that concerns me.
You use the C&C cages, have 20ft cages the main concern here is to make sure the piggy/ies are happy and I know mine are.
I have now unsubsribed to this post as it is getting out of hand and has gone off topic by a lot.
Ridicule my cage, think what you want, my piggy is happy the RSPCA are happy and to me that is the main thing!

pigsforlife · Sep 8, 2008

I never said that you were mistreating your pigs.

If you want my opinion on the RSPCA's info on pigs, it is pretty shocking in places - things like they should live outside, have vitamin c drops added to water etc. And even then they (RSPCA UK) recommend a cage 20cm longer then what you said 2 pigs could live in - though still wayy to small.

How do you know your pigs are happy?

I have already answered your questions on bedding in a different thread. I recommended fleece with towels underneath.

linda_chicha · Sep 8, 2008

I'm sorry to tell you that I have to agree with pigsforlife. I have complained to RSPCA about their standard of enclosure.

petal · Sep 8, 2008

we have a 4ft X 18 inches cage that hubby made way back in 1999 when sweet petaql and rosie were alive. they lived happily in this cage for many years lost petal at 5.3 years and rosie at 6 years old. we then had zoe and the late choloe in this cage till choloe slipped away age 2 in 2006 and we got jessie. after zoe's surgery zoe is now scared of other piggies and she has the cage to herself.
we sadly bought jessie a cage from ebay which was a big waste of money so we are going to get jessie a 4ft cage made. here is a picture of zoe's cage and if you look hard enough you may find someone looking back at you

have no idea how to start a poll on this subject so guess i will just have to keep count of opinions. thanks for reading.

each end has a bedroom for each piggy to sleep in but for now zoe is in cage by herself.

FoolOnTheHill · Sep 8, 2008

I think hay/newspaper is fine actually, as long as you change it often so it doesn't stay wet. Perhaps not straw though as that can sometimes poke in their eyes.

Stay away from woodshavings, even ignoring the studies about their problems, the smell of them is horrible imo, especially as pigs noses are so close to the ground. I'd suspect your piggies red feet is irritation from the shavings, so something soft like a piece of fleece blanket with either towels, a mattress pad or thick newspaper underneath(changed often) would be nice for her. Vetbed is also a nice option, I haven't used it personally but it looks really nice and cosy especially if one of your pigs is a bit poorly. I haven't heard of pigs eating it, they much prefer hay lol I think you just brush hay/poop off and pop it in the washing machine, I wouldn't imagine it'd damage it. (someone else might be able to clarify that).

Hope this helps a bit!

petal · Sep 8, 2008

Thank you for your reply foolonthehill, am looking into getting some drybed(vetbed in UK-drybed in oz). Will certainly do as you say and get rid of the shavings. You have helped a lot and many thanks. Have just got back from the vet and Zoe has an unusal dot on her eye so has to go back Friday but good news is she has finally put on 25grams in 4 days. Again thank you FOTH and hugs to you and your furries. lol

Arlee · Feb 8, 2009

Your cage size and using hay for bedding is fine. Using fleece for bedding and having cages the size of the grand canyon is all well and good but not essential nor practical for everyone...

organicsab · Mar 23, 2009

I never thought ur cage looked too small, it looks great for one pig. I had mine in a tiny cage yrs ago as i wasnt aware of things like cage sizes, when i moved him to a different cage and got him a mate he totally changed, he lived til he was 6. Other forums i've been on in aust use hysorb or fleece. I am concerened that the fleece will get too hot in summer as my piggies are out side. they've been out there forever and have been fine. I dont have air-con or cieling fans so they cant be inside. i hope everything goes well for your gorgeous piggy!

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