Whats a good bedding idea

[TBSam]

hey so i have a Midwest guinea habitat and i was thinking of where i can get fleece liners that absorb great and are cheap that also ship to canada
recently we have payed alot for guinea pigs and their temporarily in pine "ugh i hate it too " so we are tryna dial is down last time i had fleece it became all icky and ew
and i had a decision to switch to shredded news paper bedding the ink is soy based but people said it smells i even tried making my own carefresh bedding but too much paper is being used my mom yelled at me
so idk what to do now my dads making a fuss how i put guinea pig pee in the washer saying thats where we put human cloths not pee! i even thought of getting them protable washers idk what to dooo its all adding up to very expensive prices

[bpatters]

Your best bet is to find someone in Canada who makes them so you don't have to pay a tariff at the border.

What did you parents do about diapers when you were small? Did they not wash all the diapers in the same washer as the other clothes?

FYI, your posts will be easier to read and you'll get more responses if you'll punctuate them and break them into paragraphs. It's very hard to figure out what you're saying with one very long run-on sentence.

[TBSam]

ya ik i was rushing oops

[sallyvh]

Not sure where you are in Canada, but in Southern Ontario there are a couple good places to get fleece liners and accessories.

Budget bunny (you can find her on facebook) makes all kinds of custom fleece items for guinea pigs. There is also a store section for piggles guinea pig rescue and I believe the woman who makes the fleece items does custom orders.

However, you will obviously need to wash them, so make sure your parents are on board with the laundry situation.

Also, be aware that buying fleece liners can be very expensive, I see them sometimes being sold for $60-$80 depending on the size. It's definitely something to keep in mind, they are worth it but the initial investment can seem daunting.

[Marie1234]

I'm in Canada and just ordered vet bedding. It stays dry on top, you can go for a week without washing. So that would reduce the amount of washing. You do need a layer underneath such as newspaper or uhaul. I'm going to try wood pellets underneath as my friend swears by them as both a very cheap and completely odour free option that you only need to change every 8 weeks or so.

[Marie1234]

Also my friend gets her wood pellets from Canadian Tire, one bag is heavy but only $5, should fill the cage no problem....Then set it and forget for 8 weeks (just spot clean poop daily and wash the fleece or vet bed you have on top) and you don't need a fleece liner for this set up, just one layer of any old cheap fleece, so you could buy several and change them out every other day if you didn't want to put the $$ up for vet bedding.

[bpatters]

The pellets will last a good bit longer than 8 weeks, depending on how deep they are in the cage. I've had mine in the cage nearly six months.

[Marie1234]

Six months! Really? Do you spot clean and mix in new pellets or just leave it?
I didn't even believe my friend when she said 8 weeks with no smell. She made me come over this weekend as it was week 8 to show me...

[bpatters]

They pack down into sawdust pretty quickly, and I usually just brush that like I would brush fleece. About every 3-4 weeks, I stir the whole cage. There are always plenty of fresh pellets underneath the top layer. Full disclosure: I have about 3.4-4 inches of pellets in the cage.

[Marie1234]

So you don't put any fleece on top? Do the pellets bother their feet? I heard they can be loud, how long does that last?

[bpatters]

I do put fleece on top. The pellets don't bother their feet, and I don't think the free pellets are loud. But, my pigs drag their food all over the cage, and if there's no fleece, they're dragging it through sawdust. That's the main reason I put the fleece down. It gets changed like any other fleece would -- when it needs it. Usually about every 3-5 days.

[2198lindsey]

I do put fleece on top. The pellets don't bother their feet, and I don't think the free pellets are loud. But, my pigs drag their food all over the cage, and if there's no fleece, they're dragging it through sawdust. That's the main reason I put the fleece down. It gets changed like any other fleece would -- when it needs it. Usually about every 3-5 days.

Do you have the fleece pinned to the sides of the cage? That's such a good idea

[bpatters]

No, I just roll it out. The litter box sits on it at one end, and I put bricks on the other end. But my pigs have never shown any interest in burrowing.

[Crazycavy1]

I’ve never heard of using fleece before. My concern would be having intestinal issues if they were to eat it and obtain a blockage. I would also worry it would hold too much moisture and ammonia.

What ive always done is to use the compressed wood pellets or newspaper pellets under pine shavings with a small amount of good straw bedding or grass hay.

[bpatters]

They don't eat the fleece. It doesn't ravel, so there are no threads to ingest. Fleece has been around for a number of years, and not one pig that I know of has had an intestinal blockage from it.

It also holds no moisture at all. The whole purpose of the fleece is to wick the liquid through to the absorbent layer underneath. The fleece stays dry unless the owner doesn't change out the absorbent layer regularly enough.

There are plenty of threads on here about fleece and the pros and cons. In fact, there's a whole subforum on fleece.

[Crazycavy1]

Thank you for the information and reply. Admittedly, I’ve been out of the circle regarding newer bedding options for cavies. I will be sure to look into it more closely. Thank you

[ItsaZoo]

Just for clarification, we’re talking about polar fleece and not the fleece used for sweat shirts. I’ve noticed in clothing catalogs it’s starting to get confusing since they are both called fleece and they are very different fabrics.

[Gandalf]

^^ Here's fleece fabric....

[ItsaZoo]

Wow! That’s a lot of fleece! I was at Joann Fabrics today and they had plush polar fleece for $4.79 per yard. It’s thick with a silky texture and the hay doesn’t stick to it as much. The dog and cat are going to get new quilted blankets. Piggy, of course, already has the largest supply of bedding.

[Gandalf]

Yeah. I wait for their sales on fleece which they seem to have fairly often. At Christmas time they had some 60% off!!