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[Fay]

Thanks Fay, what do you use for bedding?

I currently don't own guinea pigs unfortunately because I've been moving around a lot and I wasn't financially stable. I had some before but they past away a while ago. I plan to get a couple more probably after the new year. When I did own them they were on fleece bedding with towels underneath it. This was before the uhaul/wood pellet revelation. I think when I do adopt a couple of pigs I'll probably put them on fleece flippers because it seems easier to manage than wood pellets but the idea of not cleaning anything but just fleece blankets for 3+ weeks sounds tempting as well.

 

[barbaramudge]

The thing is, if you don't have the couple minutes it takes to spot clean at least once a day, you shouldn't use fleece at all. You can use aspen bedding you just need a better place to buy it. The has got to be a small non-chain pet store in your area that doesn't carry live animals. That's the problem you have with Petco and Petsmart right? Walmart carries bedding and pellets. I think target has that kind of bedding too, but I'm not positive.

 

[kairi26]

If I remember correctly, the company that makes fleece flippers does not make any that fit the Midwest cage because they believe that it's still too small to house guinea pigs. They also won't make customer sizes, so they only work if you have a c&c or other cage based on 14 inch units. I think that's on their FAQ.

I found that I can get away with less intensive spot cleaning by using a litter box with paper bedding in 1/3 of my cage, with fleece covering the rest. They tend to poop where they eat, so I put their hay in the litter box and the fleece stays pretty clean. It costs a lot less than filling the whole thing with paper bedding, and it helped with odor control.


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[Fay]

If I remember correctly, the company that makes fleece flippers does not make any that fit the Midwest cage because they believe that it's still too small to house guinea pigs. They also won't make customer sizes, so they only work if you have a c&c or other cage based on 14 inch units. I think that's on their FAQ.

I found that I can get away with less intensive spot cleaning by using a litter box with paper bedding in 1/3 of my cage, with fleece covering the rest. They tend to poop where they eat, so I put their hay in the litter box and the fleece stays pretty clean. It costs a lot less than filling the whole thing with paper bedding, and it helped with odor control.


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As far as I'm aware the fleece flipper store is owned by the owners of this forum and the C & C cages store (Cavyspirit). According to their store you can buy fleece flippers for Midwest cages but they do point out that it's the bare minimum space requirement. I already linked the page for it earlier in the thread: https://www.guineapigmarket.com/fleece-flippers-midwest-cages

 

[kairi26]

As far as I'm aware the fleece flipper store is owned by the owners of this forum and the C & C cages store (Cavyspirit). According to their store you can buy fleece flippers for Midwest cages but they do point out that it's the bare minimum space requirement. I already linked the page for it earlier in the thread: https://www.guineapigmarket.com/fleece-flippers-midwest-cages

I did a quick Google after you replied, and I'm not seeing the old FAQ that I remember from last year, so maybe they took it down. I found the Midwest size option on the second page of their store, so thanks for the update [emoji2].

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[barbaramudge]

If I remember correctly, the company that makes fleece flippers does not make any that fit the Midwest cage because they believe that it's still too small to house guinea pigs. They also won't make customer sizes, so they only work if you have a c&c or other cage based on 14 inch units. I think that's on their FAQ.

I found that I can get away with less intensive spot cleaning by using a litter box with paper bedding in 1/3 of my cage, with fleece covering the rest. They tend to poop where they eat, so I put their hay in the litter box and the fleece stays pretty clean. It costs a lot less than filling the whole thing with paper bedding, and it helped with odor control.


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You'd still need to spot clean poops once a day. Once vs twice, sure, but still once. OP said they didn't have time.

 

[Fay]

You'd still need to spot clean poops once a day. Once vs twice, sure, but still once. OP said they didn't have time.

Very true and if they truly don't have the time, there really isn't anything wrong with aspen. I just wanted to let the OP know of the options so they can figure out what works best for their situation. I'd imagine fleece flippers are really easy to clean pretty quickly, especially at the end of the week. Compared to aspen which is so messy, sticks to everything, and drags all over the house no matter how much you try to avoid it. With fleece flippers you wouldn't even have to take your pigs out of the cage but I know that if you don't have the 10 minutes to spare or you work all day and you don't want to come home and have additional chores like this then aspen is a perfectly viable option.

 

[barbaramudge]

I don't disagree @fay, I just have concerns given the previous comments by the OP that fleece may be to much work.

 

[PeanutnCookie]

I get my bedding at Walmart. I use kiln dried pine though, not aspen. I don't think they sell aspen, actually. If you go to Walmart, they have a very large bag of bedding for like under 7 bucks. (Don't buy the small bag, its 1/5 of the size and 1/2 the price of the bigger one.) If you clean out the cage once a week, it will probably last you around 2 months.

 

[DroidGuineaPig]

The thing is, if you don't have the couple minutes it takes to spot clean at least once a day, you shouldn't use fleece at all. You can use aspen bedding you just need a better place to buy it. The has got to be a small non-chain pet store in your area that doesn't carry live animals. That's the problem you have with Petco and Petsmart right? Walmart carries bedding and pellets. I think target has that kind of bedding too, but I'm not positive.

That is my problem. And im going to walmart today ills see if they have bedding

 

[DroidGuineaPig]

IM SORRY BUT MY MOM SAID WE ARE NOT USING FLECE SHES LIKE "IT SMELLED SO BAD WE ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THAT AGAIN" im like "MOM PLZZZZZZZZZZZZ ILL SPOT CLEAN EVERY DAY" and then shes like "NO AND THATS FINAL"

 

[barbaramudge]

Don't be sorry, fleece isn't for everyone. It's extra laundry for your mom as well and maybe she just doesn't want to add to her workload. My Walmart carries several kinds of bedding. They had a pretty nice paper bedding I used while I was on vacation and my pig sitter said it worked fine on odors. I was gone for just over a week. He scooped out the heavily peed on corners every day and added a handful or two of fresh. One of my pigs thought that bedding was more fun than fleece. He'd roll around on it and try to kinda tunnel through it. You have to do what works best for you.

 

[DroidGuineaPig]

Don't be sorry, fleece isn't for everyone. It's extra laundry for your mom as well and maybe she just doesn't want to add to her workload. My Walmart carries several kinds of bedding. They had a pretty nice paper bedding I used while I was on vacation and my pig sitter said it worked fine on odors. I was gone for just over a week. He scooped out the heavily peed on corners every day and added a handful or two of fresh. One of my pigs thought that bedding was more fun than fleece. He'd roll around on it and try to kinda tunnel through it. You have to do what works best for you.

That's awesome when I go again I'll get some!
P.S. I GOT A BAG OF OXBOW PELLETS ��

 

[lunarminx]

At a feed store you can get a 40lb bag of bedding for like 8.00 give or take. I use the mini flakes, it's softer and I just lay down pieces of fleece for them to lay on if the want. Some do, some do not. If you have a tractor supply they should sell it.

 

[DroidGuineaPig]

Ok sounds good!!!

 

[Fay]

IM SORRY BUT MY MOM SAID WE ARE NOT USING FLECE SHES LIKE "IT SMELLED SO BAD WE ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THAT AGAIN" im like "MOM PLZZZZZZZZZZZZ ILL SPOT CLEAN EVERY DAY" and then shes like "NO AND THATS FINAL"

Did you tell your mom it was because you didn't use an absorbent layer and it doesn't normally smell like that?

 

[DroidGuineaPig]

I did and she dint care but in her defense it did smell TERRIBLE

 

[Comely Guineas]

Try not to have a negative outlook on fleece just because your experience was unpleasant because you didn't do it properly. If you had used a absorbent layer, it wouldn't have smelled.

 

[DroidGuineaPig]

"We had a cloth" Says my mom "THAT ISINT AN ABSORBENT LAYER" I say "Yes it is and we are not going back to that" says my mum

 

[Comely Guineas]

Oh okay that's unfortunate. Oh well you can do bedding it's okay