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Fleece/Bedding Question

carrieh

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Hi all! We just got a guinea pig, yet to be named. He's so cute! We're working on our cage - right now it's pretty basic. I have CareFresh down, but I'd really like to do fleece. It looks like quite a few people have carpet and fleece. Is it possible to do fleece without having all the absorbent stuff inside? I was hoping to layer carpet and fleece, and then have a "litter box" with CareFresh. I have seen pictures that seem to show this, but I'm not sure if he'll pee on the fleece. Any advice? Thanks!
 

pawner69

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I am by far no expert as I am a new guinea pig owner (only a few months) and new to fleece (only on week 3) but I believe you MUST have something absorbant under the fleece. It does not have to be sewn in but fleece lets the pee go through so if there is nothing under to soak it up it won't stay dry. I use the absorbant bed pads (I get 20 from Walmart for about $7 and use 2 in the cage for each fleece change), then 2 layers of Uhaul furniture wraps to absorb, and then 2 layers of fleece. All I have to do is sweep the poops a few times a day and the fleece top stays nice and dry. I would think if you use carpet under the fleece that there is no way to clean it and then it will get really stinky. I am sure you know this but guinea pigs are not "automatically" litter trained like cats. My girls generally pee in the same areas but will still pee anywhere on occasion. So I would be willing to bet that he will pee on the fleece from time to time. Good Luck!! :)
 

Brandi0509

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Definitely need something absorbent under the fleece. I had a kitchen with bedding and they did a lot of their business there but there are still 3 corners of the fleece that they use all the time. I also use the Uhaul furniture pads under my fleece.
 

carrieh

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Thank you! So, if I am reading this right, I should have one big area of the cage with fleece with layers of absorbency underneath (Uhaul and/or bed pads), and then have another "litter box" with CareFresh? I know they are not litter box trained, but I see a lot of cages that only have fleece. Wouldn't those smell really bad very quickly? I definitely don't want to do laundry for this more than once a week. Also, when you launder, do you do all the fleece and all the absorbent stuff in one load and then just have a second set?
 

pawner69

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My cage is all fleece. I don't have a litter box or kitchen area and my cage never smells. You just have to make sure you keep up with sweeping the fleece of the little poops. I change out the fleece once a week without any issues. And yes, I have 2 sets so I can put one in while the dirty is washing. One BIG thing with fleece is before first use make sure you wash it at least twice but up to 4 times is best. ONLY use free and clear detergent and no fabric softener with a cup of vinegar and no dryer sheets either. That will get the fleece to wick away the moisture. The softeners and scents will "coat" the fabric and it won't work properly.

This is an older picture. I have a new ramp and the grids have been replaced but everything else is the same.

New Fleece Bedding.jpg
 

Brandi0509

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I just took out my kitchen with bedding 2 days ago. My cage is now all fleece and so far after 2 days there is no smell. Normally with the bedding, my cage smelled rather quickly so I am really liking not having the kitchen/bedding. The main reason I changed was just that they kicked the bedding out of the cage so much. It is really just a personal preference. You are just going to have to learn from trial and error what works best for you and your piggies. Yes, everything can go in one load (although I do two loads because my cage is so large lol) and I do have several sets so that I can put a fresh one in right when I take the dirty one out. I also use All Free and Clear and one cup of vinegar in the wash with no softener or dryer sheets. I do piggy laundry once a week.
 

Amy262

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I have fleece throughout our three story C&C cage, and our girls seemed to pee almost all the time at the bottom of the lower floor ramp. So, I put a corner litter box with carefresh right at the base of the ramp, with the ramp leading directly into the litter pan. It has worked like a charm. They pee almost all the time in the litter pan now. Poops are still everywhere, but those are easily swept up on the fleece. I sweep them up twice a day. Under the fleece I have one to two layers of towels and under the towels I have those baby proof sheet mattress protectors, which I'm now feeling are not really necessary, but do provide another layer of absorbency. We have nearly no smell from the cage. Like I said, I sweep up the poops twice a day, empty the litter pan and put in new carefresh twice daily, and then change out all the fleece and towels once a week. In addition to the fleece, I do have pee pads, which I made from two layers of fleece with a towel sewn in between, underneath their hidey huts. I change those out daily as well. It all makes for two extra loads of laundry a week...one for all the fleece and one for the towels and waterproof mattress protectors. It sounds like a lot of work, but it takes me about 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the evening. Then on the weekends I spend about 30 minutes cleaning the cage and changing out all the bedding. I actually enjoy doing all of this because the girls get so happy when the new fleece is put down. It always involves some popcorning and happy dancing. Lol
 

Amy262

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Oh...and I do have a kitchen area, which is actually the old store bought cage which I have attached to the bottom floor of the C&C cage with a ramp leading into it. I put fleece down in there as well. I use a bent grid upright and made a hay silo out of it so that the hay doesn't have to be on the floor. It has worked really well. I haven't had any problems sweeping the hay out of the fleece. There is always a bit of hay on the fleece during the week, even after sweeping, but on cage cleaning day I take that fleece outside and sweep it before throwing it into the washer.
 

carrieh

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This is so helpful! Thank you. What does a kitchen area mean? I assume food and water....is that where they usually pee? I can't tell at this point. Also, can I avoid sewing the fleece, or do I need to do that? I can if I have to, but I have to borrow a machine.
 

Amy262

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This is so helpful! Thank you. What does a kitchen area mean? I assume food and water....is that where they usually pee? I can't tell at this point. Also, can I avoid sewing the fleece, or do I need to do that? I can if I have to, but I have to borrow a machine.

Yes, the kitchen area has their hay (in our case, a silo of unlimited hay that I refill every few days), a bowl of pellets (I use oxbow brand), their water bottle, and their bowl which I fill twice a day with veggies. They do pee around the hay silo, but our girls are pretty potty trained now. The place where their ramp ends happens to be near a corner. They were going almost consistently in that corner, so I put a corner litter box there and they have been going in there ever since. It's wonderful! I will never change the configuration of their cage in that area because of this. I had thought about moving the ramp from inside to outside, but then realized that it would change their potty spot. I can't mess with that!

I sewed fitted fleece liners, same as the poster above...three sets, which I rotate. I followed directions from a youtube video. Just go to youtube and do a search for "guinea pig fleece liner" and watch the video with the Hello Kitty fleece...very helpful. I have seen some pretty creative ideas on here, though, using a towel and fleece clipped onto another piece of coroplast with those black binder clips, and then just set inside the cage. Look through some of the threads in the fleece section and you should be able to find that thread because it was fairly recent.
 

Brandi0509

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You don't have to sew the liners. I personally like that my layers are seperate. I just feel they get cleaner being washed seperately but that's just my personal feelings.
 

Agrimony

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@(broken link removed) I just want to say I LOVE your cage!! Zebra print is my favorite, I actually have a zebra print duct tape border going around my cage lol If I ever do fleece for bedding you can bet that's what I'd have for them too! Mine is just bordered bright blue instead of red.
 

carrieh

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Thank you. That's so helpful. I have looked at MANY pictures, but I could not figure out how to search for a specific topic. I am definitely spending some time looking at everything for several days. I hope to get it all together this weekend.
 

Amy262

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You don't have to sew the liners. I personally like that my layers are seperate. I just feel they get cleaner being washed seperately but that's just my personal feelings.

One thing about the liners that I sewed...they are just two layers of fleece. I have the absorbent layers of towels and mattress protectors UNDER the fleece. If you find that video on YouTube, you will see what I mean because I made my liners just like the way she explained. I like to wash the fleece and towels separately, also.
 

pawner69

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I also do the same as Amy262. My fleece is sewn to fit my cage but the absorbant underlayers are separate for easy of washing and drying. I am going to attempt to make fleece flippers in the next few week though because I think the smaller pieces will be much easier to wash and dry. :crazy:
 

carrieh

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Making the no-sew one - thanks for that! Off to buy fleece now. Do I also need to wash the towels in vinegar?
 

Amy262

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I wash everything in vinegar after it has been used because it helps to reduce odor. As far as beforehand, I only washed the fleece in scent free detergent and vinegar (3 times) because it helps it to wick properly. I didn't go through that process with the towels beforehand. Make sure you don't use fabric softener on the fleece.
 

YourSoJelly

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If you use the "search engine" on the Forum, you can locate all sorts of wonderful information that will answer your questions. Try to be reasonably specific such as "fleece liners" or "kitchen area", etc. There are also many pics in the Gallery of very creative cages. I highly recommend that you spend a couple of days just reading through previous posts to get up to speed.

A kitchen area can mean different things to different individuals, but it generally means a separate area for hay, food, pellets and water. Some folks create this on the main level, but mine is the loft area. I'll post a pic below so that you can see how I designed it. There is fleece on both levels with an addition of a litter box in the loft. The loft contains the litter box, pellets, hay rack, and water bottle. As you can see in the pics of the cage when if was first built, I tried adding a small litter box on the main level. Chester would have nothing to do with it until I put the large one in the loft. They really need room to turn around and find a comfortable position.

Many people don't sew their fleece liners, but it is really worth the time it takes IMHO. I made three sets of very good quality liners a year ago, rotate them weekly, and they are barely showing any signs of wear. (I'm not the person to comment on using fleece without being sewn into liners to fit the cage because I wouldn't even consider it.) My liners are two layers of fleece with a layer of uHaul pad in the middle. If uHaul pads aren't sewn into an enclosure, they will begin to disintegrate in the wash. Under the fleece liners, I use puppy pads that I buy for a very good price at Ocean State Job Lot.

I have one cavy who is almost totally litter box trained and one who is only partially trained. Chester pretty well trained himself (with a little help from Mom) and will get out of his cozy, go up to the loft, use the toilet without snacking on anything, and go back to bed in the cozy. He's such a delight! He did a pretty good job of training baby sister (Maya) by example, although she still doesn't always make it to the litter box. We're hoping that she will get the hang of it as she gets older.

I'll post a couple of pics, but keep in mind that the one of the entire cage was when it was first built. The pic of the loft in use is more recent and will give you an idea of how it is used.

Your cage is awesome!
 
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