General Is This Bedding Plan A-OK?

[Penron]

This is a quick, simple question regarding bedding. I'm planning on doing this:
Step 1: Lay old newspapers down on the bottom of the cage
Step 2: Fill with pine pellet bedding
Step 3: Add a top layer of hay
Is that okay? Are all of those beddings safe? Also, I was wondering if sawdust was okay. I always check the edges of the bag when looking at bags of sawdust and examine the whole bag in general. If the sawdust is dusty or has very small chips, I go on and leave the bag behind. But if it doesn't look dusty, is it ok to get? Will it cause a URI? I just want the best for my soon-to-be piggy. Thanks for reading! Feedback would be very appreciated. Have a great day!

 

[NarwhalsRock]

Well, the newspapers, are bad, along with using hay as bedding. I would go with fleece! It saves soooo much money, and pretty much everybody on here who uses it, LOVE it!

Here's a link to an incredible thread. It'll tell you all about fleece, how to use it, and why it's so awesome:https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/bedding/21568-fleece-project-study-24.html

 

[MrWhistles]

ditto to using fleece and uhual pads

ive heard users using pine pellets. But think of it like your living in there. Would you perfer soft bedding or those pellets?

Also, fleece and uhual pads will pay for themselves in the 1st month.

 

[mufasa]

Actually, newspaper is okay if you use it correctly. Pigs who sit on wet newspaper can get bumblefoot, plus it's just plain gross. For mine, I line the bottom of the cage with newspaper strips, then bed thickly with a paper based bedding like Carefresh or Clean & Cozy on top. That way, some of the urine trickles down to the newspaper so the bedding isn't as wet between spot cleanings. I spot clean daily by replacing any newspaper with urine on it, as well as the damp paper bedding.

Hay is not good for bedding, but definitely give your piggies piles of it to lay and play in. They love to do that.

 

[Penron]

Thank you all! Now I need to know about the question about sawdust. Answers highly appreciated. If anyone has more to say regarding the first bedding plan question, please feel free to still answer it as well.

 

[PigPandemonium]

Sawdust isn't ok, however aspen chips are ok. (The large chips used as animal bedding) Also thought I'd mention Pine isn't unless it's kine dried. I highly recommend Carefresh or fleec and towels. Those are the only beddings I would ever use for my pigs. Others are either too dusty, smelly, hard to clean, ect.

 

[Penron]

Is sawdust ok if I'm 100% sure it's not at all dusty? :/

 

[ellisa]

I don't understand how sawdust wouldn't be dusty considering it is sawdust. Hay smells terrible once it's been peed on.
I would use pine pellets, or aspen chips if you are wanting to use a traditional bedding. However, I use fleece and I love it. It's the best IMO.

 

[PigPandemonium]

Well, sawdust ​would be dusty.

 

[mufasa]

Ditto on the dust in sawDUST. I've owned horses for decades, so I'm very familiar with sawdust as bedding. While it's okay for equines, it's not appropriate for small animals who are stuck close to the bedding and living directly in it/breathing it.

 

[AliMarie525]

I use newspaper, towel, then fleece and sweep poops. And my female that just had babies had aspen bedding in her cage. I kept reading how they clean up and eat shavings to clean up after birth and didn't want her to worry about the fleece and can't wait to go back to fleece now that the babies are born. Growing up with horses I don't mind the aspen bedding but the fleece is a lot easier to clean!