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Cleaning Carefresh or Aspen - Bedding changes

sandcv

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For those of you who have a large cage with carefresh or aspen bedding: Have any of you tried using a shopvac to remove soiled bedding? (Obviously not with pigs inside the cage!) We are planning on building a large C&C cage this weekend, and as I was changing the carefresh tonight in our current smaller cage I started thinking about how tedious bedding changes might become in a larger cage. I'm just trying to think of ways to speed up the cleaning process. Thanks for your thoughts!

(I've noticed that many here use fleece. I tried fleece years ago when I had pet rats, and I was not satisfied with it. I felt that odor control was unsatisfactory unless I changed it daily, and I don't plan on doing that.)
 

KatieT

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I have never tried a shop vac, I'm thinking dumping it out would not be fun! Haha. I just use a huge dustpan and scoop it all into a big black garbage bag, then use a small vacuum with a nozzle to get the rest of the dust and stuff out. Only takes maybe 5 minutes to scoop and vacuum, then I'm ready to scrub with vinegar! (I have a 2x5 with Aspen shavings.) It's always worth a try though!
 

sandcv

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We tried it tonight, and it worked really well! We had our new 2x6 cage emptied of Carefresh in no time flat. We made sure to use a shopvac with a pretty wide hose so it wouldn't get clogged up.
 

Deb's4Pigs

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I used a dust pan when I had bedding in the cage. I hated aspen and carefresh in that large an area was expensive.
 

Caviekisses

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I was thinking about doing this, do you need a special filter... Like a HEPA filter?
 

sandcv

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I honestly don't know about the filter - I know there is a filter in there, but my husband is the owner of the shopvac so I don't know if he put a special one in there or not! I just know it seemed to work well. :)
 
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