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Behavior Fleece burrowing gone bad!

Maddy6056

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I have always had my fleece binder clipped to the COROPLAST to prevent fleece burrowing. And both my girls, 13momth old marah and 8 month old Mukki have both done this- Mukki did this when she was Ill in quarantine too. I got home from visiting family the other day and my friend who was pig sitting said they had started burrowing. I came home to find them fast asleep under their fleece. I added more binder clips and moved on. Later I found them again and again and again. And again this morning. It's a 2x4 cage and I have 12 binder clips strategically placed. They have two hideys a cuddle cup and a dog bed. I exercise them every other day and hold them daily. They always have timothy hay and ab1/4 cup of pellets nightly. Filled water, always fresh. Is it boredom? I'm running out of ways and binder clips to prevent this, all help appreciated thank you :)
 

KatherinesPigs

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You could maybe give them a blanket since it seems they like to burrow under things like that, an extra fleece blanket might help them stop burrowing under the first fleece. Or maybe you could make sort of a large burrow bag.:) If you are crafty you can make the bag and add some batting and quilting to be absorbent. You could also maybe have a fleece big enough to go under the coroplast and secure it there too.
 

PiggieWigglies

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Some people put bricks in the cage to keep nails filed down and also to help the fleece stay down.
 

Inle_Rabbit

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I use bricks. It does nothing for their nails but it keeps the pesky guys from going under their fleece.

Fleece flippers would also solve your problem.
 

CallieLovesPigs

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My pigs did the same exact thing, I used bricks and a bunch of binder clips before I got fleece flippers.
 

missguineaginns

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May I say that I used to have your problem too. I had two piggies out of my five that were the worst burrowers! In fact, I came home one time and freaked out because I though one of them was missing. Come to find out she was just under the fleece. I switched to fleece flippers like Inle_Rabbit suggested for you and I have never had a single problem. I highly suggest using those as a way to stop the burrowers. I never tried a blanket so I don't know if that helps. On the side, flippers are way easier to manage than a large piece of fleece: easier to wash and keep clean! We have been burrow free for two years now.
 

Maddy6056

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Thank you! I'm going to try folding it under the absorbent layer and putting on bricks? I can't afford fleece flippers right now,but I'll definitely look into it, I put another blanket in and more hidey huts, she got under again but is currently sleeping in a hut.. Is she maybe bored?
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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I have a burrower too! Hehe. Little stinkers!


You could do the brick thing, a very good and cheap option (there like 25 cents at Home Depot) OR if you wanted you could get fancy with it so to speak. ;D I make my own fleece liners and I sew on an extra fourteen inches around the whole thing so the fleece goes up and over the coroplast. (My coroplast is white.) Like so:

image.jpg

image.jpg

The darker purple is the 14 inches of fleece and the lighter purple is the main fleece but both have been sewn together. It fits very nicely in my cage base. :) I like this more than bricks because my Penelope likes to run zoomies and I don't want anything blocking up the edges.

As long as you have a sewing machine, they are ​super easy to make! :)
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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It's not just boredom but they like to be toasty warm. Do you have a cuddle sack or cozy cup in there with them? Today I just have a hidey house as you can see in my photo but I also have a pee pad in there which idk if you can see but she has gone underneath it and fallen asleep. Haha. :3
 

pinky

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I use cobblestones to hold down the fleece. They're nice and smooth with rounded edges. I just toss the in a bucket of water with some vinegar to wash them if they get dirty. The pigs love them and nap around them and use them as pillows sometimes.
 

Princess_Piggie

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I made the no-sew pig 'mattress' which [MENTION=28226]Traysea[/MENTION] posted a tutorial on, because I had burrowers, and it turned out they just wanted to snuggle! Make an extra big one for them to cuddle with :)
 

Hhbean

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3 of our pigs love to burrow, they all live in the same cage so the other 7 haven't learned how to:crazy: yet. The easiest solution I found was to clip an extra piece of fleece over the top of their cage. I'm guessing it makes them feel safe from those ceiling vultures circling overhead:rolleyes:. Silly pigs!
 

GuineaNation

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I made the no-sew pig 'mattress' which @Traysea posted a tutorial on, because I had burrowers, and it turned out they just wanted to snuggle! Make an extra big one for them to cuddle with :)


Where can I find this tutorial? Or could you post a link if you know where it is?? Thanks!! -GN
 

Aleks

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3 of our pigs love to burrow, they all live in the same cage so the other 7 haven't learned how to:crazy: yet. The easiest solution I found was to clip an extra piece of fleece over the top of their cage. I'm guessing it makes them feel safe from those ceiling vultures circling overhead:rolleyes:. Silly pigs!

That's what I used to do when Rigby would burrow under his fleece! It worked like a charm. :)
 

Maddy6056

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@lovecavyslovecats that's an amazing idea! Do you use elastic? I could put some elastic around and make it a but more difficult to pull down?
[MENTION=29900]Princess_Piggie[/MENTION]s yes I made many fleece items. They currently have 2 snuggle sacks, a small dog bed and a cuddle cup. I switched the sacks they weren't using for two plastic hideys which they love. I plan on making larger ones that they'd like better
 

LuvCavysLuvCats

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@Maddy6056 No, I don't use elastic because my grids are quite tight around my cage base so there's no way she could pull it down but if you're worried about that I think putting elastic on the very end of the extra 14 inches wouldn't be to difficult to add. :) You could try it without the elastic and if they still manage to pull it down (those would be some persistent piggies! Haha) then you could sew on the strip of elastic.

Another thing you could do that might even be easier is add a piece of Velcro to all sides of the coroplast and the fleece.(on the outside) just like a six inch strip or something in the center on all four sides. Does that make sense? Haha.
 

Traysea

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Here is a tutorial on how to sew a piggy bedspread. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aJJb4PNN6U#t=13

Another thing you can do is sew your current fleece into giant homemade flippers. I bet you could have someone sew them for you if you can't sew them yourself. You can make one giant flipper (or two smaller half cage ones) by sewing your fleece into pillow cases, wrapping two layers of uhaul or towels over the insert and inserting that inside the fleece pillow case. Here is a gorgeous cage made with jumbo fleece flippers:

cage_1.JPG

cage_2.JPG
 

Maddy6056

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I already have a few inches of fleece over the side of the cage, my COROPLAST is a bit loose in the grids though, maybe elastic? I'll look into the fleece flippers tho, I don't have a sewing machine, I'm sure I could make it work? I have two towels under the fleece because one won't fit, would that be a problem?

Last night marah got under again, she has multiple fabrics and tunnels andcozys. She has blankets on the lid of her cage. And I added 4 more binder clips and a rock. She still got under. This is going to be the 5th time in two days that I have to take the whole cage apart again, good thing she's cute ;)
 

Maddy6056

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Their cage is basically demolished haha the towels are all scrunched up there's poop and bedding under and over the fleece haha. I see an early cage cleaning in their future
 
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