Fleece Is fleece bedding the best bedding out there?

[ferndalezoo]

I have 4 boars in a 3x5 cage (with an upper level as well). Shavings/carefresh/yesterday's news would be wholly impractical for me. It would cost a near mint, and I'd have to basically get in there with a snow plow to get it all out on cleaning day! We switched to fleece when we built the original c&C (well over a year ago) I LOVE it. I personally went a little nutso, and sewed several sets of bedding for my pigs, including matching beds, cozies, etc. We vacuum the poops daily, and wash the whole assembly about every 5 days or so. It works well, the smell is kept to a minimum (it does smell a bit "gamey" toward the end of day 5, but only in the rodent room) and is CHEAP.

 

[pigsforlife]

I am going to add my two cents. Personally it is impratical to use disposable bedding and very expensive. I would be spending over $40 a week to fill the cages with disposable bedding. I would prefer to spend that on veggies or putting it into the vet bill fund or some beds/toys etc for them.

I use about 6 layers of towels underneath the fleece. I attach the fleece by picking up the edges and bringing them down the "outside" sides of the corflute. I use my hand to make sure that on the inside, the fleece follows the shape of the corflute and does not go on a slope from the tops of the corflute sides to the base of the cage. To keep it in place I use clothes pegs.

In areas where they have beds or their cottages I have a pad underneath. I ordered the pads from CozyCavy. They last 2-3 days. I shake them out daily to remove the poops and when they are dirty they go into the washing machine. The pads extend the time between cage cleans. The pads are good to go in high traffic areas or areas where the pigs seem to poop alot.

I also have kitchen areas that consist of a 1x2 corflute pan. I fill these with 100% recycled kitty litter. I have their hay, pellet bowl and water bottle in this area. As pigs constantly eat, they tend to poop where they eat. I spot clean the kitchen area once a day, removing any soiled kitty litter and replacing with fresh. This also extends the life time of the fleece.

Every day I use a brush and pan to sweep up the poops. Then once a week I totally replace the kitty litter in the kitchen areas. I unpeg the fleece and roll it up before shaking it out directly into the garbage bag. That goes into the washing machine followed by the towels. I add a generous amount of vinegar to the washing machine and away we go.

I would recommend having two sets of everything. This way you don't have to wait for one set to dry - you can put the already clean set in straight away.

Asya - did you wash it several times first and test it to make sure that their urine wicks through? If you don't wash it enough to begin with the water barrier is not broken and their urine pools on the top. It becomes smelly very quickly.

 

[RosiesMama]

I'm also debating this. I'm currently using aspen and carefresh, and I need to go buy some more today. My hangups are the potentially-pooey feet, shaking it out in the yard (and probably all over myself, with my luck), and I just got brand new Maytag machines last week (selfish of me I know, but they're so shiny and pristine right now).

I went into Joann fabrics yesterday, hyperventilated, and left. I know nothing about fabric, sewing, or math, so I'm feeling pretty impaired right now! But I also found a link somewhere (now I've lost it), but I think maybe it was on this site somewhere, for a person who sells the piggy bedspreads. There were pretty fabric choices, a super-absorbent middle layer, and a vet-grade waterproof layer, and it comes in the mail all ready to go. Seems like it was about $115 for two sets for a 2x4 cage though. I'm tempted, but what do you all think?​

 

[vicky2]

Many people will say that Piggy Bedspreads are totally worth it, but to me they're expensive. I mean, you could spend maybe $20 on fleece since there's a sale at Joanns, and $10 on towels.

 

[princesspoppy]

I think it would be cheaper to make your own bedspread .

 

[Wodentoad]

Next time, you can hyperventilate in joy. Ask the nearest employee to show you the fleece if you're not sure where it is (it's usually marked with sign, but they're happy to help).

The math is not hard, eventually I'll make a handy dandy diagram to help out, but most people just get a length equal to the length of the cage plus a little more than the height of the walls. Some tuck it under, others tuck it over and clip it, I chose to do a bit of sewing so that it's a perfect fitted cover. The bed-spreads are not hard to make, as a matter of fact, I've been considering making my own as well so that the floor of the cage has a little more loft.

Take a breath, make a list, and grab a friendly green-aproned employee and they will show you what you need.

 

[asya1]

No Cavy Slave, I did not wash it first.

I have added more towels, and have a new piece of fleece, and I am having much better luck now. I think I will stick with it.

 

[ChristyG]

I have a question? I use fleece in my C&C cage, but what are these bedspreads I am seeing about?? Is there anywhere on here, where there are ideas to sew or make the bedspreads, cozy sleepers,anyhting, etc? Thanks

Ps I love fleece!! I have a litter pan area where the hay rack is above, there bowl is in there, and i put yesterdays' news in there. Then the remaning of the cage is fleece. I do the basic cleanup everyday, then the whole cage every 5 days or so. since I dsont use too much yesterdays news, it dont cost too much, but I am starting to wonder if I should just use fleece in there too?

 

[angiekay]

Here's an instructional thread by member Lissie on how to make the bedspreads:
Cage Pad by Lis

How to make a cuddle cup:
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/accessories/17507-how-make-cuddle-cup-requires-sewing.html

How to make a "sleeping bag":
https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/accessories/43953-making-sleeping-bag-cozy-part-1-a.html

Hope that helps, I wished I had just a little bit of sewing ability, however I do not. Good luck, and post pics if you make some cage accessories, we always love to see them.

And about the litter pan with yesterday's news, with hay rack above it, I have the same sort of setup, and I find that they wee/poo in that litter pan ALOT, so I would say stick with what you are doing, and it's less mess on the fleece, easier to dump a litter box every few days too.

 

[cudley n pepper]

probably a silly question but reading about fleece is it a certain type of fleece that is used or is fleece fleece my son has just grown out of his fleece dressing gown its 100% polester (excuse my spelling) would this be ok to cut down and use, please dont attack it its the wrong sort of fleece im new to posting on here but would love the feed back

 

[ChristyG]

I love fleece - I really can't imagine going back to loose bedding now. I have two girls in a 2x5 cage, and cleaning is a breeze.

Does it stink?

Never - I poop scoop daily and do a full clean once a week. The most it has been left is 9 days and the surface of the fleece was still dry, and no smell whatsoever.

Gross to put it in the wash?

Sorry to be gross, but honestly, the washing machine in our household has washed clothes / bedding that have been sweaty, muddy, dusty, peed on, soiled, vomited on, and bled on - a bit of piggie pee is the least of my concerns!

Is it annoying to wash towells every few days?

Maybe - but I don't. I poop scoop once a day (before their breakfast) using a long handled dustpan and brush - this takes literally seconds. A full clean out (remove pigs and toys, sweep, vaccuum, remove bricks and clips, shake off fleece and mattress pad, throw in wash, lay down clean bedding, change the hay box, sort out pellets and chop veggies, return toys and pigs) takes me under 15 minutes.

By comparison, I used to have a rabbit in a pen on loose bedding - that took me about an hour to clean out each time.

Why should you get it?

It is comfy, safe and hygenic for your pigs.
It will save you a fortune, compared to the vast amounts of loose bedding you would need to buy.
It doesn't smell funny (I don't like the smell normal beddings have)
You don't get bedding all over your floor around the cage
It looks nice
In my opinion, it IS low maintenance

MapleOwl - I know how you feel. My fleece is halloween stuff too - black with skull print. Never looks messy, but can be a pain to spot poops!

As for keeping it in place - I lay the mattress pad down first (which fits inside the cage) then lay the fleece on top (fleece is longer and wider than the floor of the cage). I use a house brick in each corner to weigh it down. I also use bulldog clips in between the bricks. My pigs also use their bricks to demand food every time you go near the kitchen!

The Halloween print, gotta get thay for my girls!! By the way, i love my fleece too!! It saves alot of money. I do use yesteredays news in the litter box, but at 15.00 a nag, it lasts a long time, as I ma only using a little bit of it at a time.

 

[lissie]

probably a silly question but reading about fleece is it a certain type of fleece that is used or is fleece fleece my son has just grown out of his fleece dressing gown its 100% polester (excuse my spelling) would this be ok to cut down and use, please dont attack it its the wrong sort of fleece im new to posting on here but would love the feed back

Do you know what type of fleece it is? I found out that plush (or Microplush) type of fleece does not work. Before cutting it up, you can test by putting it on top of a cotton towel and pour some water on. If water does not bead on top, then it works. It should not take longer than 10 minutes for water to wick through.

 

[LauraBean]

I don't use fleece myself. I would like to in the future though!
I'm one of those people that like to make use of things that are on hand, so I have a bedding system that is similar. I line my cage with two cotton stuffed comforters, and top this with a bedsheet, and tuck the bedsheet under the coroplast (I keep my coroplast flat at the edges, rather than making the usual open box)
I sweep poos once a day like a lot of people do with their fleece, and wash everything approx. every three days. This is more often than people with fleece have to wash, but it works ok for us.
Our cage never smells, and the girls seem to love the softness of the bedding.
I agree that trying to use disposable beddig would be impractical! My cage is a 5x6. I shudder to imagine how much it would cost to fill up. Not to mention the mess of kicked out shavings or the possibility of my toddler making a snack out of them.

 

[ChristyG]

I noticed a couple people saying there fleece dont smell. I do notice once in awhile a smell, I sometimes think it is from the hay? Could that be?

 

[cudley n pepper]

Do you know what type of fleece it is? I found out that plush (or Microplush) type of fleece does not work. Before cutting it up, you can test by putting it on top of a cotton towel and pour some water on. If water does not bead on top, then it works. It should not take longer than 10 minutes for water to wick through.

Thanks I will give that a try right now