Cage Wood Pellets "Wheekly" Update

Here are Before and After photos of the wood pellets:


In the before picture you can see where the piggies went (broken link removed) (no particular spot just yet, mostly across the front of the C&C).
In the after picture I have mixed up the dust and brought some fresh pellets from the center and the back to the top. This is a super easy process and only took me about 5-10 minutes. I placed the fleece back onto the pellets after washing it. The pigs are very happy!!

Did you have any issues with the pellets sticking to the underside of the fleece? If so, any tips on how you got them off without making a big mess? I actually just switched from fleece over wood pellets to fleece & U-Haul liners because I was sick of the pellets sticking to the fleece and feeling generally messy to me (I might just be a neat freak...).

CavyChrissy said:

Did you have any issues with the pellets sticking to the underside of the fleece? If so, any tips on how you got them off without making a big mess? I actually just switched from fleece over wood pellets to fleece & U-Haul liners because I was sick of the pellets sticking to the fleece and feeling generally messy to me (I might just be a neat freak...).

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Hey @CavyChrissy , so far I have not had any problem with pellets sticking to the fleece. I washed my fleece before placing onto the pellets for the first time. I did read somewhere on here where someone was using a shower squeegee to clean those off. Do you think it is a static cling issue or something else?

Hmmm, I did wash the fleece several times first. It's not a static thing, it was almost like Velcro - the fleece was the soft side and the pellets were the stiffer side. And it was mainly the pellets that had gotten a little wet and were partially broken down. I was using my small hand broom (that goes with the dust pan) to brush them off. It got them off ok, but then some wouldn't land back in the cage, they'd end up on the floor. And it was making dust. I wonder if it's the type/brand of wood pellets I had. Oh well, I've already made the switch so we'll see how the U-Haul works out! Good luck with pellets!

I love wood pellets.

Yea, I pellets stick to the back of my fleece. No biggy, I grab the corners pull up, shake the pellets off as much as I can, plop the fleece in a bucket and take it outside to shake off.
No issues. Much better then the uhaul liners and fleece. I do one load of fleece laundry a week.

I started using wood pellets back in June 2015. I am gonna do a full change out this week.

Wood is good!

@CavyChrissy I am wondering if it was a specific brand then, hmm. I used the stiffer side on the pellets as well. When cleaning out the cage I followed the same steps as @mamaduck71 , Shaking off any dust left over outside then washing in the laundry with the rest of the piggie fleece (every Friday).
@mamaduck71 I am interested in seeing how your pellets look now after all that time! How many lbs did you use in your C&C?

I have done full change out since then, sorry if I worded that poorly. I use about 50-60 pounds. I did 40, and I learned it is not enough. You want a good 2.5-3 inches of pellets. I do not have fleece that 'fits like a glove" I don't have OCD like that. I have a piece of fleece that is cut to the same size as the footprint of the cage. I just lay it on top of the pellets. I change out my fleece about every 3 days. That is cuz my piggies will not eat out of hay rack. They are hay ninjas, they like to hide in the hay while the eat/pee/poop in it. Kinda like being in the wild, I guess. Hay that gets soaked with urine is pretty bad and stinky. I have a big pile of hay in there cage. It's the way we roll. I am sure if had a like a hay manger it might be different story. I have used a tray, they will jump in it and pee/ate, which is worse cuz the fleece cannot do it's job.

@mamaduck71 Thank you, thank you! I will keep that in mind the next time I do a full change of pellets!

How often do you clean your cage? I want to get pellets now

piggy.addict said:

How often do you clean your cage? I want to get pellets now

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There really is no straight answer to your question however here is my response:

Full wood pellet change out, which includes taking out all pellets, wiping down the corroplast, adding 60 pounds brand new fresh pellets ($6.00 for 40 pound bag): about every 2 months/8 weeks

I take out all pigs/gear, pull up fleece, shake it outside, Stir in saw dusty pellets with center pellets (most urine is on sides) add new fresh clean fleece and pigs (this is my personal choice due to hay see above post) about every 3-6 days. Most owners do this once a week.

Clean piggy poop /soggy hay old veggies: Daily spot clean

There is a video from Cavyguy posted on youtube:

https://youtu.be/zgk6jPJ6JhI

piggy.addict said:

How often do you clean your cage? I want to get pellets now

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Hey @piggy.addict , pellets are a great choice with minimal weekly clean up. As I said in the first post it only took me about 5 to 10 minutes to move the dusted areas to the bottom and the untouched full pellets to the top. NO smell from my cage and that alone is a keeper lol. I also like how there is only one load of fleece laundry a week instead of multiple with uhauls. Wood Pellets are on sale at Tractor Supply Co. this time of year and I received two 40 lbs bags for around $9. These bags should last me months! Another great choice for costs and the piggies!

I used these these pellets: (broken link removed)

And only used one and half of the bags. I plan to add the other half of the bag over the months when needed. I hope that helps!

Those are the same pellets I use. I have used 2 others and did not care for them. They were more $$ too, go figure. Cheaper was better in this case.

I have experimenting with different sized sifters/scooper. I would like to be able to sift out the good pellets from the sawdust pellets. I would like to use every pellet til it dies. I have not been able to find a good sifter. I went to the dollar store, got a kitty scoop and it's too small. I dont know if the pellet dust would to thru window screens. Anyone have any ideas?

I just LOVE wood pellets I will never go back to uhual pads under the fleece especially with multiple pigs.

mamaduck71 said:

Those are the same pellets I use. I have used 2 others and did not care for them. They were more $$ too, go figure. Cheaper was better in this case.

I have experimenting with different sized sifters/scooper. I would like to be able to sift out the good pellets from the sawdust pellets. I would like to use every pellet til it dies. I have not been able to find a good sifter. I went to the dollar store, got a kitty scoop and it's too small. I dont know if the pellet dust would to thru window screens. Anyone have any ideas?

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Maybe a stainless steel mesh kitchen strainer?? https://www.restaurantsupply.com/winco-ms3a-8s?gclid=COKhqLODnskCFdc9gQodemcCeg

Keeps the pellets and the dirt falls through, then vacuum up or wipe out the left over dust and ta-da! I am surprised that you found that the cheaper pellets were better! I do love the TSC brand and have not had any issues with them yet.

mamaduck71 said:

I would like to be able to sift out the good pellets from the sawdust pellets. I would like to use every pellet til it dies.

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I want to make this for the whole cage. https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-Feline-Pine-self-cleaning-litter-bo/?ALLSTEPS
If only I could find cheap material for a 2x7 cage. I've thought of using perforated metal sheet for the sifter, but it's too expensive.

If you're going to scoop out and sift, you can use something like this.
(broken link removed)

I tried this before and I used a plastic strainer that came in a bag of kids beach toys! It worked great! But the staining process created a ridiculous amount of dust in the room. So being a neat freak and all, I decided straining wasn't for me (especially when you can buy wood pellets so cheap).

I'm starting to like this wood pellet under fleece idea more than my U-Haul blanket and fleece idea.

My bedding was made so that my mom and I bought 3 yards of fleece then cut them down into 3 different sized "pillow cases" that we would slip on over pieces of coroplast and U-Haul blankets that would fit to the different sections of the cage. It worked really well the first 3 months but eventually cage cleaning day became really difficult and very messy as the U-Haul blankets would become stiff with pee and smell really bad, and some of their fur would somehow get past the fleece and get stuck in the U-Haul blanket. They absorbed the pee so well that if my pigs peed too much in the same spot the smell builds up within days, and by the end of the week the pee would go through the blankets and to the coroplast base underneath. Also I would have to do two laundry runs with all the fleece and blankets, and sometimes I end up putting the wrong size of U-Haul blanket into the wrong size cage section and the bedding would be off.

My only concerns are: finding cheap wood pellets (the previous owners used paper bedding that you get in the large bags, which I started using at first but switched to fleece after seeing how much I went though in a month), redoing the coroplast bases (as the current ones have too many slits and holes that the wood pellets could fall through), and finding a way to reduce the amount of dust produced when cleaning the pellets. I have a poop sifter I got at the Dollar Store along with a handheld dust pan and broom for cleaning and I have a trash bag and trash bin next to the cage at all times.

Maybe I'll switch to this method after I redo the cage into melamine wood and Plexiglas, as the cage layout right now makes cleaning certain areas hard unless I take apart half the cage. Might make a post about this later.