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Fleece New to Fleece Qs

GPSinDC

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Hi everyone,

I have two adorable piggies, and I made the switch to fleece about a month ago. For the most part, I LOVE it. The piggies love it too! They run around much more and love snoozing in every spot.

I'm hoping for some advice on a few things, mostly about how you arrange your food and water when you have fleece. Prior to switching to fleece, I had the "bistro bar" insert for my C&C cage, but the fleece sections don't fit with the bistro bar, so I've had to stop using it. The water bottles drip a bit, of course, and the piggies aren't exactly neat drinkers, so the fleece under the water bottles tends to get really wet, and it spreads out on that fleece panel. I also find that the hay sticks to the fleece and is hard to get off. I've tried using hanging cloth bags of hay, which worked ok except that there was a lot more hay wasted. I've put the hay in large bowls that are heavy enough that they won't tip over and shallow enough that the piggies can eat out of them. It still makes a big mess. Also, since they poop and pee in that area more than the rest of the cage, that adds to the water wetness and hay mess, making it a gross area! If I have the hay and water in the same area, then the hay that gets on the fleece sticks even more, but if I have them in separate areas then I'm just making two fleece panels dirtier quicker than the rest, instead of just one. Any suggestions for how you provide the hay and what you do about water bottle drip?

I clean up he poos at least once a day, usually twice - first thing in the morning and then again in the evening. Still, I notice that there is a stronger poo smell. I have two air filters going in the room where the cage is, and prior to switching to fleece I never smelled anything as long as I changed the bedding often enough.

I'd love any advice the fleece pros have to offer!!

Thanks in advance,

Sarah (And Roo & Charlie, of course!)
 

Gandalf

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I'm newer to guinea pigs too, but since no one else has responded I can at least give you some thoughts. I learned a bit on piggybedspreads site about caring for fleece. I saw that they sell drip pads made specifically to go under the nozzle of a water bottle to catch those extra drips. They also recommend having 'pee pads' in the corners of the cage or wherever they tend to 'go' most. That way you can change out those pee pads and drip pads before having to change out the whole fleece liner.

Browsing through the link on this forum that shows photos of fleece cages also was helpful to me. I saw the different ways that people set up hayracks. I liked the idea of a separate level for the hay and food (I mean hay and food both on same level but separate from the main level). I'm in the process of doing my cage now. I plan to use a plastic storage box for the hay. I'm using fiddlesticks for the way into the hay bin. Hopefully this will help keep the hay mostly contained. If they poo and pee in there alot, then it's all the easier to clean -- just lift out the plastic box and wash it out. Of course this is just my plan and I haven't tried it out yet to see if it works as I hope.

So those are some thoughts that may or may not help.



I should say that I'm sure I will go through lots of hay this way, but that's ok because I buy it by the bale anyway for my rabbits.
 

kltohlman

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What size is their cage. I know that can make a difference.


Personally I just make a kitchen area by using scrap fleece&chosen absorbent layer ,I take it and put it where their hay area is on top of the whole cage fleece I already have down, and that way I can just grab the 4 corners lift,shake/sweep it clean and replace when I do daily cleaning.

i also suggest pee pads for high frequency areas
 

TwoMissPiggies

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Some people use a garden brick under the bottle to catch the drips & to help trim nails :)
 

Starthecavy123

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Try getting a squeegee and using that to get the hay off make sure to use small strokes. I got this tip from someone here but don't remember where. You could even use a sticky roler or lint roler (I think is what its called). Small strokes work best.
 

MochaAndMoo

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A lot of people use the bistro bar as a kitchen area (If your fleece sections don't fit with the bistro bar, you can always place it on top of them). This way, you can fill the bistro bar with disposable bedding (Wood stove pellets are a good option, they'll adsorb unwanted smells) and keep the water, hay and pellets there, which should stop the hay getting caught on your fleece.
As [MENTION=28349]Starthecavy123[/MENTION] said, you can use a squeegee to scrape hay and hair off the fleece (Credit to YourSoJelly for the wonderful tip). You can also use a small hand-held pet vacuum.
To avoid leaky water bottles, fill up your bottle to the very top so it forms a vacuum seal. Make sure the ball-bearing is big enough. You can also place a brick underneath the bottle to absorb the drips or make a fleece/u-haul bad to go underneath it. :)
 
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