My bedding story, finally found the perfect solution!

[mufasa]

Hmmmm, I wonder how those would work under cut-up mattress pads, which is what I use instead of fleece. I have newspaper underneath and change the pads every day to two days since newspaper has limited absorbancy and I don't want the girls on wetness/stinky bedding.

 

[pigger123]

Do the mattress pads wick like fleece does? I thought mattress pads were usually used as an absorbent layer...

 

[ginipigsinspace]

So @pigger123, you just clean up poops by shaking them off outside? I always wonder how people who use a loose sheet of fleece tucked or clipped can sweep or vacuum. I tried that when I first got my boys and very quickly shifted to fleece and uhaul taped to a coroplast sheet, and then flippers, because when the fleece was not taut I just could not get the poops up easily. However, being able to pick it up and shake it off sounds very easy. I will be looking for comments on the process of cleaning the whole cage, but may consider this method if it is not too tedious.

 

[pigger123]

I hate sweeping fleece and I don't have a hand vacuum, so I definitely prefer the shaking off method. All I have to do is take out the fleece beds and things, roll up the fleece blanket, and take it right outside to shake it off. The poops and hay all come right off with a good shaking, and then I lay the fleece back down in the cage and put the beds back. The piggies just stay in the cage the whole time, it doesn't hurt them to be on bare wood pellets for just a minute. I don't need to tuck or clip the fleece in at all, it stays in place pretty well. This way I don't have to do any sweeping, which was not enjoyable since I had to bend down over the cage (which hurt my back) and stuff always stuck to the fleece and it was really hard to sweep hay off. It's not tedious at all to shake off the fleece twice a day, I find it much faster and easier to clean this way, which is good since them I'm more motivated to clean the piggy cage. Plus, the poops that get shaken off outside are great fertilizer for your garden!

 

[ginipigsinspace]

@pigger123 I know what you mean about not being motivated to clean when it's difficult. I have a hand vac which makes it easy, but it can freak the pigs out a bit so I usually try to pull them out--which means I have to set up a pen, and then clean up the inevitable mess of poops and spray (because, boars) or put down and gather up a whole fleece set-up. As a result, I often find myself dreading clean-up. I am thinking about just finding a way to get them more accustomed to the vacuum sound. Maybe give them treats at vacuum time so there is a pavlovian love, rather than panic.

 

[lissie]

Do the used pellets work well as ground cover/mulch? I feel like it would just get washed away in the rain, but I would love to be able to dump it in my garden if I could.

I'm not sure how well they work as ground cover since I don't have my own yard. Every time I post the free ad on Craigslist, they get picked up on the same day, so it must have worked for the people who picked them up.

 

[barbaramudge]

I gotta tell ya....I shake things out in my front flower bed after playtime and apparently, poop and hay are great! There were a couple tomato chunks that got flung out there and now I have crazy mutant tomato plants in my front flower bed. Like 100 or so cherry tomatoes on two surprise plants and more coming every day! I would think the used wood pellets would be amazing in a garden! I just started taking my paper pellets from cage cleaning day out to the back garden to mix into the soil for next year!!

 

[lost_lover]

There is a photo floating around somewhere (not a photo of mine) where the person made it so that part of their coro folded down in a way that you could just put your trash can/bag down and sweep all of the bedding out of the cage.

If someone knows what picture I am talking about it would probably be as helpful for wood pellets as it is for other loose bedding.

 

[lissie]

I know that pic. The base is vinyl flooring, not coro. Will post pic when I get home. Can't find it from my phone.

 

[May09]

Make sure the pellets don't have a strong pine scent, they should be relatively scent-free. Hardwood pellets are ideal, but softwood is fine as long as it doesn't have a strong smell.

so I got some pellets today and out them in their cage with fleece on top. I am getting worried about the smell from the wood I don't think it is a pinne cent I am not sure what I would say the smell is but it is strong is this going to bother them?

 

[pigger123]

They shouldn't have any strong smell. What kind of pellets did you buy?

 

[May09]

i got heartland woood pellets it says that it is 100 percent wood and no additives

 

[pigger123]

Does it day whether they're hardwood or softwood? If they're softwood, they need to be kiln-dried.

 

[lissie]

If someone knows what picture I am talking about it would probably be as helpful for wood pellets as it is for other loose bedding.

Found that pic.
(broken link removed)

 

[Lord Pigwidgeon]

@lissie since the wood pellets weren't convenient for you, what do you use now? I currently am using fleece over towels and am looking for a switch sooner or later. The towels only soak up so much!

 

[lissie]

@lissie since the wood pellets weren't convenient for you, what do you use now? I currently am using fleece over towels and am looking for a switch sooner or later. The towels only soak up so much!

I use uhaul pads for the absorbent layer. For the stay dry layer, I use suedecloth instead of fleece.

If you google suedecloth for cloth diapers, you'll find a lot of info on them. I like Alova suedecloth from Joann's. It starts wicking after that be wash, also wicks much faster than fleece, and stays dry longer. Hay doesn't stick to it like fleece. Hair is another story though, but I don't really mind the hair.

 

[Lord Pigwidgeon]

Are the uhaul pads easy to wash? I don't have a tiny washer, standard size. Can it be washed there?

 

[Heather Ost]

@pigger123 I know what you mean about not being motivated to clean when it's difficult. I have a hand vac which makes it easy, but it can freak the pigs out a bit so I usually try to pull them out--which means I have to set up a pen, and then clean up the inevitable mess of poops and spray (because, boars) or put down and gather up a whole fleece set-up. As a result, I often find myself dreading clean-up. I am thinking about just finding a way to get them more accustomed to the vacuum sound. Maybe give them treats at vacuum time so there is a pavlovian love, rather than panic.

My kitchen is the second floor of the cage so that may help but I give them their nightly vegetables upstairs and then I vacuum downstairs while they're eating. I got the idea from someone else on here who said their guinea pigs don't even mind the vacuum anymore.

 

[lissie]

It starts wicking after that be wash...

I meant to say it starts wicking after first wash. Autocorrect changed it.

Are the uhaul pads easy to wash? I don't have a tiny washer, standard size. Can it be washed there?

It is not that hard to wash. It does shed the first few times.
I have a tiny washer and don't have problem washing mine. I don't leave them full size. I cut to the size of the cage. I know some people who use them full size and just fold them to the size of the cage.

 

[Lord Pigwidgeon]

I'm torn between trying that or trying the wood pellets now! I've been following two threads about it and I can't decide! Haha I don't have two stories to walk like you do though.