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Calling All Fleece Users!

loves2travel

Well-known Member
Cavy Slave
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
2,170
what kind of fleece is best to use in the cage? On one site I read that polar fleece was terrible, another said it was fantastic. Then, one site said to get alpine.....so confused!!?!!?!!?
What kind of fleece do you guys use, and which seems to block odors the best?
 
I've always read that polar fleece is the best.
 
Piglet said:
I've always read that polar fleece is the best.
really? ok. anyone else?
 
Newspaper

As long as you put like 3 or 4 layers of newspaper under it.
 
well, i was planning on doing 2 layers of fleece and then a double layer of news paper.
 
I am considering switching to using fleece simply because I am tired of the mess my piggies make all over the floor. After reading through posts here it seems se though those that use it seem to like it. Is this the general consensus? I especially liked the idea found on guinea lynx about making a pad of several layers. Think I might hit the fabric stores and see what I can find on sale.

catinhat72
 
loves2travel said:
what kind of fleece is best to use in the cage? On one site I read that polar fleece was terrible, another said it was fantastic. Then, one site said to get alpine.....so confused!!?!!?!!?
What kind of fleece do you guys use, and which seems to block odors the best?

"Berber Fleece" works great, I got it at Joann Fabric Store. It is on sale right now. Sometimes I use polar fleece too, but Berber fleece is thicker so I like to use that more.
 
My fleece is the polar fleece I believe. I also got the "anti-pill" kind to try and reduce the little balls of fabric after the many washings. Even if and when I do have to replace, the wonderful thing is that it really won't be that much more expensive than a big bag of Carefresh.
 
what about micro fleece? are these good? Bad?
 
I think it is a tighter weave, that's all. I don't really know if the type of fleece would affect it (ie anti-pill, micro, whatever) as long as it is just a variation on the polar fleece. I'm pretty sure they're still made with about the same materials, just in a different way. Tell me how it goes if/when you switch! (I am also thinking of switching)
 
any fleece is ok? Well, that should make the shopping easier.
 
I forgot to add, I am probably going to be putting some crib padding under the fleece. I read about it on another forum - she put a crib/hospital pad under a layer of fleece in a 2 x 4 cage and she only cleans once a week and there is never any smell. She has been doing this for a couple fo months now too. It sounds like a great solution, although i probably will be cleaning more frequently than just once a week.
 
Yes, I read about that, too. Keep us up about how it goes! =)
 
Crib pad

That sounds awsome. (I try not to do too much laundry. lol.) Tell me how it works!
 
I just started using fleece yesterday. It cost around 40 bucks for the fleece. My cage is 2x6 and I got enough fleece for 4 changes. I put a layer of towels underneath.

So far it's not that bad. I just finished scooping out the poops an hour ago with a dust pan and brush. I was amazed at how much they pooped! It's quite a bit, you definitely notice it more on a blanket then when it's buried in all those shavings. They seem to really like it and run around in their cage more. I also made it so they can go in and out of their cage on their own by taking a cube off and cutting a whole in the coroplast, so that may also be why they're running around like mainacs! lol! The one thing I don't like so far is that in the places they have peed it's pretty damp which is kind of gross if they sleep in that spot. But then again, I guess it's not that different than if they peed in a pile of shavings and slept in it...right?

I'm doing a whole clean tomorrow. So I'll guess I'll see how well the fleece asorbed the pee. I might put newspapers underneath the towels next time...

Oh, and with the fleece I can hear them peeing at night! It's very loud! (but then again, that may just be my pigs) It's actually quite amusing though, lol.
 
did you use a duoble or single layer of fleece? i think that double is much more absorbant. If you have any future problems, you might want to switch to crib bedding. I have this awesome stuff that holds up to 6 cups of liquid without feeling wet!
 
oh yea, if you go to a place like babies r us, the crib stuff can be almost as cheap as fleece
 
I used a single layer of normal fleece. Do you really think two layers would be better? I think I'll try that tomorrow.

I think I'll also look into that crib liner. That sounds like awesome stuff!

Thanks for the advice. :)
 
no probs, sabriel. you might also wanna check out e-bay for parents selling their potty training days stuff. i saw one which was like 99 cents for 4 linings!
 
catinhat72 said:
I am considering switching to using fleece simply because I am tired of the mess my piggies make all over the floor. After reading through posts here it seems se though those that use it seem to like it. Is this the general consensus? I especially liked the idea found on guinea lynx about making a pad of several layers. Think I might hit the fabric stores and see what I can find on sale.

catinhat72
I felt the same way several months ago. I leave my cage door opened so the pigs can have their free range according to their schedules. The problem was, they brought all sorts of things out of the cage with them (ie. shavings, poop, hay, etc), and I went broke buying shavings all the time (I have 5 pigs living in a 2x8). I swtiched to using fleece, the 1st day was incredible. It was like magic! I liked it and the pigs liked it. But, the 2nd morning was when I began to have second thoughts. The cage began to stink terribly just on the 2nd morning! By night time, the smell was unbareable and I had to switch the fleece, then it was good again. The 3rd morning, the cage began to smell and by night time, it was terrible and I had to go back to using shavings.

That's my experience with fleece...It would be wonderful if my pigs don't stink up the fleece so quickly, but I didn't have a choice but to switch back to using shavings.
 
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