Bedding

[ViNTAGEchic_xO]

My guinea pigs are about 3 years old now, and they are not pottytrained. What do you think would be better for a pig that is not pottytrained? Fleece or cedarchips?

 

[TheQueen]

DO NOT use cedar chips! Whatever you do, use pine or aspen. Never use cedar for pigs. It's fine for hamsters, but the chemicals and stuff can be harmful to guinea pigs.

I use pine bedding, but I'm thinking about switching to fleece. My pigs aren't potty trained, and the pine with newspaper underneath is good for absorbing moisture and staying dry. But fleece works just as well as long as you put something under it (ie cotton batting, newspaper, etc). Plus, the pigs like the feel of fleece, and it's inexpensive because all you do is wash the fleece. You have to spot clean for poo everyday though. I'm currently trying to potty train my girls. Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Cedar is a definate NO-NO for pigs. It causes respiratory problems in rodents because of the aromatic oils in it. There are many bedding choices that you could use other than cedar. You can use kiln-dried pine, aspen, carefresh (crittercare), Yesterday's news, wood stove pellets, towels, fleece, etc, but NOT cedar. See this thread for more information on different types of beddings that can be used.
https://guineapigcages.com/threads/2131/

 

[aqh88]

Cedar is not good for any animal especially caged animals. It can cause respiratory and possibly liver damage in all mammals and I've heard people warn against it for poultry as well. Regular pine isn't that great either and needs to be aired out of the bag in the sun before using it. Kiln dried pine has most of the oils removed. While not perfect it's acceptable to most people. Aspen is considered safe but is usually not as absorbent as pine. Despite both those beddings being listed as safe many people such as me and boyfriend and some pets such as my duprasi, kiri, are still sensitive to it. Kiri gets the same symptoms on aspen as most animals do on cedar. Paper based beddings or fleece are a much better choice in my opinion. The problems with these are paper based is more expensive and fleece while cheaper requires alot more daily/weekly work.

 

[Furkidsmommy]

DO NOT use cedar chips! Whatever you do, use pine or aspen. Never use cedar for pigs. It's fine for hamsters, but the chemicals and stuff can be harmful to guinea pigs.

FYI Cedar is bad for all small animals.

 

[puzzle]

Cedar can be bad for any animal not just small pets. It is often used as bedding for cattle, horses, pigs etc. If it's the oils then it affects all animals, it's just that guinea pigs and other rodents like to walk around with their noses to the ground, there for breathing in more of the oils than other animals.

 

[TheQueen]

Okay my bad. I used to use it for hamsters, and the guys at the pet stores said it was fine. I know it's not the best for hamsters, but it's worse for the pigs. And I used it before I learned about this site and that it was bad for the hamsters. Then I changed to pine once I knew how bad it was.

 

[sharnp]

I just got 2 pigs...how do you potty train them? I have read about alot of people training them.

 

[Tucky4ever22]

My friend had a potty trained bunny once! :yuck: dirty job!