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Bedding changes

  • Thread starter poetess1000cavyspirit
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poetess1000cavyspirit

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Bedding changes

Just a quick thought!

If you can afford it, PLEASE change your cavie's bedding every day or every other day! I started out only changing it once a week, and they seem SO much happier when they have a clean, fresh bed! I know it's slightly pricey for those of you with more pigs, but I have a 6 foot x 3 foot cage, and I change it every other day. It takes two 10 liter bags of CAREfresh, or one 3000 sq inch package of kiln-dried pine. I pay $5 for either of those choices, so I spend roughly $15 a week on bedding, NOT a huge amount for happier, healthier pigs!

If you can't afford to do it everyday, then at LEAST twice a week, or even ONCE a week if you still don't think you can afford $8. I've heard several people say they only clean the cage(s) once every 2-3 weeks, and I find that unacceptable. Would you want to lay in a bed full of 3 weeks worth of urine and feces? I didn't think so. Please, PLEASE, change your cavie's bedding as much as possible. They'll love you all the more for it!

-Liz
 
Re: Bedding changes

Did you see the page I just added on the Cavy Cages site? www.guineapigcages.com/cleaning.htm. Finally got around to adding a page on cleaning.

I recommend a complete change once a week (on average), spot cleaning in between as necessary.

In a 2 x 4 grid cage, which is about 5' x 2.5', I used to use a full 50 liters of CareFresh--easily. Sometimes a little more. Now, instead I use a layer of kiln-dried pine with a layer of CareFresh over it. The bedding is about 1 1/2 inches thick. As I say on the new page, there is no correct answer on how often to change your cage. There are too many factors influencing each cage/cavy configuration. Bottom line, your pigs shouldn't be wet and the cage should never smell.

A 50 liter bag of CareFresh can cost between $14 and $20 depending on where you live and where you buy it. Some people have a hard time paying $100 + a month on bedding. (It's been killing me!) That is why I also suggest kiln-dried pine with a layer of CareFresh over it. It helps cut the cost of the CF significantly.

Using only 20 liters of CareFresh in a 6 foot x 3 foot cage is about 1/3 of what I would use. That probably explains why you change the cage more often. Have you ever tried using more? I'm having a very good experience with the k-d pine underneath the CareFresh.
 
Re: Bedding changes

I just updated the cleaning page with our current bedding solution. I hope it makes sense.
 
RE: Bed change

Hmm...I use either the 2 bags of CAREfresh or the 3000 inch pine, and it usually comes up to about the first knuckle in my index finger. About an inch I'd say? I don't HAVE to change it that often, I'm sure I could do fine with once a week. I never have any smell or wetness, but I still like changing it more often than that if I can. After a hours of running helter-skelter and tramping it all over the place and dropping bits and peices of apple and romaine all over the place, I like to have it fresh for them. Like I said, I understand if some can't afford it, but once a week shouldn't be that hard. Most of the people I've talked to say they change their's twice a month, or once every couple weeks. That's really who I was aiming at. My theory is, I change my cat's LITTER BOX everyday, surely I can do it a couple times a week for my GP's BED.

I'm going to go look at your cleaning tips right now. =)
 
Re: RE: Bed change

I totally agree. Most people that only change their cage that often are not taking proper care of their guinea pigs.

They sound like the typical kind of surrender cages I get here when people bring their pigs in. Bottoms of cages so gross from urine problems, there is nothing to do but toss the cage. Can't imagine the poor guinea pigs having to live in that! gross.
 
Re: RE: Bed change

Hey,

I am just wondering about something. If you use two of the small cafefresh bags every other day than that's $10 per cage cleaning right? And if you change the cage every other day than that is 3-4 week right? Than that is more than $15 a week? If you are saying that you get two bags for $5 than I need to move where you live. One large bag cost $16.99 in San Francisco.

Besides that pigs have very different bathroom habits. If you have pigs that poop everywhere than you may need to change the bedding more often. My pigs ONLY use three corners as their bathroom and it would be a waste of money to change the entire cage everyday.

Since you gave your opinion than I guess it is okay to give mine. I don't believe that it makes much of a difference to a pig if their cage is cleaned everyday, every other day or spot cleaned daily and then cleaned out weekly. I agree with Teresa, once a week is fine.


cavygurl
 
bedding

To Poetess1000cavyspirit — YOU ARE SO RIGHT. Guinea pigs realize and appreciate clean cages with fresh bedding. I can't imagine not cleaning their cages at least twice weekly. I pack the shavings in a good 4-5 inches thick and then put a loose inch or two on top. They make little burrows into it and lie down for a nap. So cute.
 
Re: bedding

cavygurl,

It would be worth a drive down to Deans Feeds in San Carlos for you: (broken link removed). Stock up.

You can get the big bag of CareFresh for $8.10! And they have really big bags of Aspen shavings for around $8-9, too.
 
bedding

I purchase a 4 cubic foot bale of pine shavings from our local feed supply which cost about $4.00. It lasts forever! Using a rubber glove, daily I reach in and remove the soiled areas from potty corners and any other area that needs freshening, being sure to remove the stray poo's along the way. Older shavings from the center are then pushed to the corners and new fresh bedding is replaced. In all I spend about 10 minutes a day cleaning up after her. This is necessary because of her soft poo, which gets everywhere. A thorough cleaning/scrubbing happens every other week, but that is all that is necessary with this cleaning method. She never stinks and she's always happy!
 
Re:Bedding changes

I half agree with cavy gurl- it depends on how ur guinea pig goes to the bathroom. But i disagree with what she said about it making no difference to gpigs. I think that any animal is smart enough to care if they are laying in one day's worth of poop and urine than one week's worth.

:)

sincerly, Kristina
 
Re: Re:Bedding changes

Jean-- cheap feed store pine may not be kiln-dried. You should double check that it is. Basically, if it smells piney, you should switch brands or put a layer of something like CareFresh over it to reduce the guinea pig's exposure to the phenols.
 
Bedding Changes

I own 17 guinea pigs and believe you me, changing the bedding in all of the cages is no easy task! My cavies don't pick a particular spot to use the bathroom but they don't poo or pee in their igloos. We have the change the bedding once to two times a week. The bedding we get, which is natural pine shavings, is only about $5 per bag at Walmart and works great. I don't know how many liters it has in it, but the bag is very large. Due to the price, it is inexpensive to change the cages out when we need to. When we do clean the cages out, we take all of the cavies out and put them in a big playpen, and then we use a shop vaccum(the big kinds) and suck all of the bedding out, and the place it with new. It's all very easy and only takes about 30 to 45 minutes. We used to use CareFresh, which is a great bedding material, but it got too pricy(around $20 at Petsmart) and couldn't afford to keep buying the bags so often. We're going to start buying the small bags which are only around $5(the 10 liter ones) to sprinkle across the pine shavings. Our cavies are spoiled, and YES, animals do care where they sleep! At least that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!!! :)
Christopher
 
Bedding

I wish we had a Dean's near us. The cheapest I have found Carefresh is 13.79 and I buy three 50l bags to get that. We have found my daughter to be allergic to all the wood beddings. Bummer.
 
Re: Bedding

I would be thrilled to find Carefresh bedding here in central Ga. less than $20 a bag. Even $10 or $11 would work-
but for now, I'm sticking with pine shavings, and afterwards, aspen bedding. I'm going to also start buying the small bags of Carefresh to sprinkle over the aspen(coming soon), to eliminate phenols. Someone asked me why I just don't let the pigs walk on the wire without any bedding- and I was stunned at what they said. The person obviously had no respect for small animals whatsoever and I explained to him that their feet needs to be protected from sores, and cavies prefer something soft to walk/lie on. The nerve of that person!
 
Re: Bedding

Good! You tell them! That's pretty darn important, letting other people know the proper way to care for their animals.

Try to find a wholesaler in your area, maybe they also sell retail. That's how we found a super cheap source of CareFresh.
 
Re: Bedding

I will definitely look, Teresa. The cavies did seem to like the Carefresh bedding more than the wood shavings now, but it's just so expensive. If I find it cheaper, I'm switching to complete Carefresh! A single 50 liter bag of Carefresh will not possibly do all of our cages- I wish there was bigger bags- then I wouldn't mind spending the high price every once in awhile. Once we are through with pine shavings, we are switching to Aspen with Carefresh sprinkled on top. That sounded like a good idea! It feels good outside today- sort of breezy, not hot- and the piggies are going wild! I have to clean out two of the cages this afternoon with some wood shavings we have left over, and I'm going to make a small brick patio for my baby males to lie on and cool off on warm summer days.
 
Re: Bedding changes

My cleaning routine is to spot clean 2-3 times a day and replace the soiled areas with fresh bedding (kiln dried pine topped with a layer of CareFresh). My boys tend to go potty in 3 specific areas -- inside their wooden houses, in front of the hayracks, in front of the water bottle. I clean these areas and pick up any stray poops. The cage is cleaned completely 2-3 times a week, using vinegar/water solution to wipe down the cage surfaces.

I have found that it helps to layer the cage bottom with several layers of newspaper before placing the bedding in as this tends to absorb the urine so that it doesn't seep through to the bedding as quickly.
 
Re: Bedding changes

do you guys have any thoughts on where to get CareFresh cheaply in Colorado (near denver and boulder), because the Dean's Feeds website does not work for me, and it is very expensive, or how to get it from Dean's Feeds
 
Re: Bedding changes

I change my piggies bedding once per week. I now spot clean when I think I need to. This is usually twice a week. The tend to poo everywhere but pee in the same places. So I collect the poos with a rubber glove and scoop up the area they've peed in. This seems about right.
 
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