Fleece Pros and cons of different absorbent layers

[Kenna18155]

I'd like to make a list of the pros and cons of using different absorbent layers in a cage. I don't have much experience with absorbent layers right now, since I've only used newspaper so far. In a few weeks I can give an overview on UHaul pads, as I'll be getting some next weekend. Here's what I've found about newspaper.

I have a 3x3 grid C&C cage with two pigs in it. I use 2 sheets of paper in no-to-low traffic areas, 3 in medium and 4-5 in the pee zones. I fully change everything every five days, but can push it to six and possibly seven in a pinch. It starts to smell at about 6-7 days.


Newspaper

Pros:
• Can be readily available if your family reads the paper
• Free
• Low-smell (in my experience)

Cons:
• Burnin' all that paper ain't good for nature!
• They fly everywhere when you lay the fleece down
• Some piggies think they make a wonderful snack

Tell us about your absorbent layer experiences! Please include something about what you use, your cage size, different combinations you've tried, how often you change it, etc. and if possible, a pros and cons list!

 

[Lizzieball12]

In my cage I use a fleece top layer, towels as a middle layer, and a mattress protector as my base layer. Frankly, I love this system! And I was very unsure about going to fleece.

Pros of towels and mattress protector:
Fairly cheap to mid range in price - two universal protectors at target were a little over $20, but could probably be purchased cheaper else ware, and I had old towels at home.
Low smell - only issue is when it's over about 7-8 days and you're really close to it.
Washable - All of this can go in one load, and is very easy to clean with some free and clear detergent. I have two sets I switch out.
Piggies like it - I have a pig who will be 8 in March and he is more active now then he was with carefresh.
Never leaks - The bottom side of the mattress protector is a kind of plastic/vinyl, with the top being a fluffy, absorbent layer, so really the towels may not be needed. But I've never had anything leak through to the coroplast, so I'm not going to test it.
Everything stays dry - I've had super leaky water bottles and not known! The fleece was totally dry, and so were my piggies.

Cons:
Fit - my mattress pads are to wide for the cage, so I've been folding them over, leaving a thicker part to one side of the cage. My towels on the other hand are not quite wide enough, and make a weird indentation when sweeping. I could fix this with some scissors, but haven't been brave enough yet.
Durability - My boyfriend's parent's dryer has been eating a lot of stuff lately, one of them being my protectors. While still functional, the corner of one is all curled and scrunched together. May have to cut some threads and get it unscrunched, but I feel like it should have held up better.

If I think of anything else I'll edit, but really I haven't found a lot of cons.

 

[Kenna18155]

Thanks for the detailed info! What size is your cage?

 

[oldnewie]

I have 2 girls in an L-shaped cage about 5'10" x 2'10". Used just newspapers & hay for the first ?10 months; thick layers, changing daily.
Pros: Free, easy to just roll up with poos & any damp hay every day.
Cons: Not very absorbent, thick layers helped though.

Tried Care fresh, didn't like. Expensive, odour after a couple of days.

Grip liners (used to stop stuff slipping or falling off) over shower mats. Newspapers underneath.
Pros: Cheap, easy to clean, pee drained quickly.
Cons: None really, but decided shower mats had too big holes & not comfy without a soft covering. Newspapers replaced daily.

Uhauls & Fleece:-
Pros: Uhauls nicely absorbent, fleece soft & snuggly, reuseable.
Cons: Odour after about 3-4 days, hay & hair stuck to fleece, regular washing needed for hygiene, I changed probably every 2-3 days, washing load too much for me.
Uhauls & Fleximats (spongy mats used in kitchen/bathroom, tiny holes).
Pros: Mats drain pee quickly, easy to clean, can be wiped for hygiene so replacing 6-7 days.
Cons: Not so fond of uhauls & regular washings.

Wood pellets & Fleximats:-
Pros: Long lasting, stir & sift occasionally, great absorbency, no odour, have done one complete clean (remove all sawdust) over what is now about ?10/11 weeks. If using without other bedding would need more regular sifting & changing, I think.
Cons: None, really, but don't leave wet sawdust too long because there will be odour!

With all bedding I have, & still do, done poo patrol 3x day. Any damp hay is removed at same time. You'll have guessed by now I have a thing about 'hygiene' I even wash my hands before, during & after! As a p.s. I am using grip liners over the mats at present just because I like them. The food area just has layers of newspaper as the girls only leave like 2-4 pops there, don't pee there, & I just remove the pops them roll up the top layer once a day.

 

[Lizzieball12]

I have a 2X6 with three male piggies of vary different ages.

 

[animalmadlover]

I just want to say that with news paper, I build up a pile under a brick outside and then cover with dead leaves and grass clippings. It works really well for us because our garden is sloped and we are trying to level it out. No burning involved.

 

[pinky]

I've switched back and forth with different types of bedding and now use one fleece pad for about half the cage and a tray with disposable bedding on the other half. My fleece pads have a single layer of uhaul pad in the middle. They sit right on the coroplast tray with nothing under them. I put a single layer of fleece on the fleece pad under their pigloo where they usually sleep. I can pick up the small fleece piece and shake the poop off easily. I prefer white for that small piece so I can monitor the color of their urine. I like Fresh New Bedding for cats for the other side. (unscented) It's heavier than the one for small pets and doesn't get carried over to the fleece. It's extremely absorbent so it lasts a long time. I put newspapers under that side so I can clean the tray easily. I toss the soiled bedding in my yard for a mulch and throw away the newspapers underneath. Their food dishes, water bottle,hay and step stool are on the disposable bedding side. I put the hay in the far corner so it doesn't get on the fleece. This is a the best system I've found for my cages. The fleece side stays extremely clean and I can spot clean the other side as needed.

 

[myswtguineas]

I've switched back and forth with different types of bedding and now use one fleece pad for about half the cage and a tray with disposable bedding on the other half. My fleece pads have a single layer of uhaul pad in the middle. They sit right on the coroplast tray with nothing under them. I put a single layer of fleece on the fleece pad under their pigloo where they usually sleep. I can pick up the small fleece piece and shake the poop off easily. I prefer white for that small piece so I can monitor the color of their urine. I like Fresh New Bedding for cats for the other side. (unscented) It's heavier than the one for small pets and doesn't get carried over to the fleece. It's extremely absorbent so it lasts a long time. I put newspapers under that side so I can clean the tray easily. I toss the soiled bedding in my yard for a mulch and throw away the newspapers underneath. Their food dishes, water bottle,hay and step stool are on the disposable bedding side. I put the hay in the far corner so it doesn't get on the fleece. This is a the best system I've found for my cages. The fleece side stays extremely clean and I can spot clean the other side as needed.

I'm looking at Uhaul's website. Do you use the quilted pads or the furniture pads?

 

[Kenna18155]

The furniture pads work much better, from what I've heard.

 

[Kenna18155]

Just for clarification, they're the recycled denim ones.

 

[myswtguineas]

is there a way to trim it?

 

[Kenna18155]

As far as I know, you just cut it like fleece and it won't ravel.

 

[myswtguineas]

I have not cut my fleece yet. I purchased it.

 

[Soecara]

@myswtguineas I recommend you wash the uhaul pad before you cut it. There are two reasons for this; The first is that sometimes they shrink, the second is that they will shed a lot during the first wash.

 

[Kenna18155]

Cutting fleece is simple. You just cut it. The end. (And yes, wash both the fleece and Uhaul before cutting.) but fleece doesn't ravel when cut, so you can just... Cut.

 

[LoveMyHerd]

Re: Pros and cons of different absorbent layers- wood pellets under fleece

Okay, I use fleece over pine wood pellets, and I love it!

Pros:

• Turns to dust after getting wet about three or four times. My piggies don't exactly pee gallons, so it works very nicely. (Depending on how thick you lay it down this will vary, I do a 40 pound bag and a half on a 2x6.)
• Doesn't smell even after turning to dust.
• Biodegradable (we use the used stuff in the garden) as opposed to burning paper.
• 5-6 dollars for a 40 pound bag.
• Has to be changed every 6-8 weeks.

Cons:

• Um, let me think...
• Still thinking.
• Darn, I just can't think of any cons!
• Anybody got any?

 

[Shooper]

Re: Pros and cons of different absorbent layers- wood pellets under fleece

Okay, I use fleece over pine wood pellets, and I love it!

Pros:

• Turns to dust after getting wet about three or four times. My piggies don't exactly pee gallons, so it works very nicely. (Depending on how thick you lay it down this will vary, I do a 40 pound bag and a half on a 2x6.)
• Doesn't smell even after turning to dust.
• Biodegradable (we use the used stuff in the garden) as opposed to burning paper.
• 5-6 dollars for a 40 pound bag.
• Has to be changed every 6-8 weeks.

Cons:

• Um, let me think...
• Still thinking.
• Darn, I just can't think of any cons!
• Anybody got any?

The only con for me is that the wood pellets are heavy! Other than that, I love them under my fleece!

 

[pet_slave]

I use fleece with U-Haul pads underneath and then a plastic container with paper bedding in their "potty" area

Pro's; Cheaper than all paper bedding (I was going through a large bag of paper bedding a week, it really bugged me that when I tried to clean the wet spots that there were stray poops at the bottom, so I was changing the bedding in the whole cage almost every day!), it looks pretty, smells better than the paper bedding, easier clean up and less garbage

con's; .... I don't really have any at the moment other than the whole cage gets cleaned out every other day, but considering I was having to do the whole cage with the paper bedding any way I wouldn't necessarily call it a con

Can you purchase the wood pellets at the pet store? And do they work that well for the smell? 6-8 weeks seems like a long time to have them peeing on something and it not smell...

 

[Jenna Netz]

We are currently liners that I sewed for our Midwest cage. I use fleece sewn to absorbent bed pads (these have an absorbent layer and a waterproof layer.) I got them on Amazon...https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CX6JAUK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2U3XBAMXKHMHK

Pros: waterproof, washable/reusable, no smell that we have noticed (have gone about 5 days between changing right now although we are planning on trying a week and seeing if that works with no odor), easy to use - full cage clean was pretty easy; since they are waterproof we aren't seeing much mess on the sides or bottom of the cage

Cons: higher start-up cost than, say, U-haul pads or towels...bed pad was $15-$20 to make one liner plus the cost of fleece (I got a bunch of free fleece so my cost was lower), hair sticks to fleece, took time to sew (I do NOT have major sewing skills though....these are just a bunch of straight lines basically.

Photo:

 

[80s_piggies]

We are currently liners that I sewed for our Midwest cage. I use fleece sewn to absorbent bed pads (these have an absorbent layer and a waterproof layer.) I got them on Amazon...https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CX6JAUK/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2U3XBAMXKHMHK

Pros: waterproof, washable/reusable, no smell that we have noticed (have gone about 5 days between changing right now although we are planning on trying a week and seeing if that works with no odor), easy to use - full cage clean was pretty easy; since they are waterproof we aren't seeing much mess on the sides or bottom of the cage

Cons: higher start-up cost than, say, U-haul pads or towels...bed pad was $15-$20 to make one liner plus the cost of fleece (I got a bunch of free fleece so my cost was lower), hair sticks to fleece, took time to sew (I do NOT have major sewing skills though....these are just a bunch of straight lines basically.

Photo:

View attachment 71666

cutest fleece ever!!! lol