Dirt??

[pigsmakemesmile]

I'm at a loss with bedding. I tried Carefresh for several months...toooo expensive. Then I went to fleece and towels. At first it was fine but over time...has become a lot of work and extra wash. Cedar...is toxic so I can't use that, Aspen...hard to find in large quantities, white pine, maybe but I have to becareful because it to contains phenyls sentive to piggies. So what about dirt??? It's natural and abundant and free from my backyard or for ten dollars more or less for a good size bag from my garden store. I have redesigned my cage with the intention to mimick their natural environment. So what is their natural environment. I've read that cavies come from the Andes in South America and are low ground dwellers that love tall grass and cool dark places such as caves. Does anyone have any suggestions, thoughts or opinions on this??? I am a naturalist and feel that animals big and small should live in an environment similar their natural habitat. Their home literally takes up the entire breezeway in my home. I believe they need lots of space to run, jump and climb. I am in the early stages of constructing their new home. My husband and I will be selecting rocks and tree branches from our woods to include. Dirt is natural, absorbant and earthy. Any thoughts???

 

[Jenni_Feathers]

ummm.... I dont know, the only thing I can think of is when it gets wet it turns to mud. Have you tried kiln dried wood shaving, they are completely safe and cheap. I get a giant bag that expands to 7.5 square feet for only $5, it lasted me a month, I have a 2x6 and a harge hamster cage, and I used about 4 inched of bedding.

 

[pigsmakemesmile]

Hi, I thought about that too that their urine would create mud, I was thinking maybe adding some pebbles and hay over top. I broke down today and bought a large bag of white pine shavings, I read up on it before I used it. It states that if you are to use this, it is highly recommended that their cage is suffieciently ventilated. Heck, it's a huge open grate cage the lower level is 3x6 then their ramp takes them up to a 2x7 loft. their cage is a shape of a U. It was stated that the larger the cage, the less work will be needed to clean it as it won't get that dirty too often.

 

[piggymama]

I use fleece, but instead of the towels, I use puppy pads underneath. I am extremely lazy, and this isn't a hassle for me. As long as it is being changed every few days it really isn't a hassle to shake out in a trash bag and wash, and I trash the pads. I'm sure the pee towels aren't fun to deal with.

 

[Jenni_Feathers]

My fleece dosent really take long either, it takes far less time than when I used pine shavings, it takes me about 30mins every 5 days. I have to clean there litter box every other day though.

 

[piggly wiggly]

It takes no time with fleece and puppy pads. Shake the fleece in the garden, chuck out the pads and add new stuff, no time at all.

 

[John4216]

There are quite a few things you can try. I would not suggest dirt at all for many reasons and all them bad for your pigs, very bad in some cases. Plus your piggies are not the same as wild ones. There are even different types among wild ones:

"The wild cavy (Cavia aperea tschudii) of Chile is believed to be the ancestor of the domestic guinea pig (Cavia aperea porcellus). The wild cavy is a montane and tundra species, living in habitats as high as 13,100 ft (4,000 m). Other relatively common species include the Amazonian wild cavy (C. fulgida), the southern mountain cavy (Microcavia australis), and the rock cavy (Kerodon rupestris). The most widespread species is the aperea (Cavia aperea)." - Guinea Pigs and Cavies

If you have a TSC near you they sell Aspen in large bags for about $8.00 and it works quite nicely (one bag fully covers my 4X5). If you have a store or vet near you that carries Oxbow products you can also try their EcoStraw litter for piggies. I am currently using the ecostraw in the second cage and am very pleased with it and is costs about $8.25 for a 20lb bag. You can also use kiln dried pine as well.

As for space, my herd has its own bedroom that it can free range in 24/7 with open cages for them to eat and hide in.

I would strongly urge you to reconsider making their permanent dwelling with dirt and such. It is fine to play in and for free range but it is not so good for a permanent indoor dirt dwelling.

 

[envisionary333]

I have to agree that dirt is not a good idea, though certainly an interesting and creative one I must say! While I like the idea of mimicking a natural environment, it's is not really in the best interest of the piggy in this case. Dirt harbors bugs and could easily make a big mess with all the waste that piggies produce.

I have a huge cage that takes me a long time to clean, and I've switched to mattress pads and fleece to keep the maintenance and cost to an absolute minimum. The mattress pads have worked much better than the towels for me because they are lighter, take less time to arrange, more absorbent, and they dry extremely quickly. I use several layers of mattress pads and I switch the fleece once a week, but I only have to wash the mattress pads once every three weeks. In the places the piggies pee the most, I have small cat beds and little mini mattress pad and fleece squares so I can throw those in the wash as needed without having to do the whole cage. The fleece requires more frequent maintenance, but it takes less time to do. It only takes me five minutes a day to vacuum.

If you want to use a disposable bedding but don't want to take the time to scoop it out, try lining the bottom of your cage with newspaper and taping it together. You can then put the bedding over the newspaper, and when it's dirty you just roll the whole thing up and throw it out. Leftover bedding pieces can be vacuumed up in a couple of minutes. Another time-saver is to try to section off the areas that get the most waste, and change those more often.

 

[pigsforlife]

If you want to use a disposable bedding but don't want to take the time to scoop it out, try lining the bottom of your cage with newspaper and taping it together. You can then put the bedding over the newspaper, and when it's dirty you just roll the whole thing up and throw it out. Leftover bedding pieces can be vacuumed up in a couple of minutes. Another time-saver is to try to section off the areas that get the most waste, and change those more often.

I used to line the girls cage with newspaper, and then add a good couple of inches of bedding over the top and found that within days it was smelling. The bedding itself was fine however the newspaper was wet. Another con about using newspaper is the girls tend to rip the newspaper up somehow and it gets in a big mess even with me changing everything daily. So I am currently trialing bedding straight on top of the corflute, so far it has been far more hygenic for them and overall better.

 

[Maisiepaisie]

I agree with Envisionary about the mattress pads under fleece, they work so much more efficiently than towels. When I first tried fleece with towels I thought "Oh my God, how can people prefer this to shavings?" and I gave up. I tried again with mattress pads and I love this bedding.

 

[envisionary333]

I used to line the girls cage with newspaper, and then add a good couple of inches of bedding over the top and found that within days it was smelling. The bedding itself was fine however the newspaper was wet. Another con about using newspaper is the girls tend to rip the newspaper up somehow and it gets in a big mess even with me changing everything daily. So I am currently trialing bedding straight on top of the corflute, so far it has been far more hygenic for them and overall better.

I've never actually tried this method so I wasn't sure how well it worked, but I have seen it used by a piggy owner with a very large cage and it seemed really easy to do. (Kathys Kritters Guinea Pig Cages - Cleaning p1) Perhaps a plastic tarp could be used instead and the bedding could be lifted out all at once and thrown out, and the tarp could be reused.