Fleece / Towels instead of bedding?

[kerry1971]

HI - im getting my first two guineapigs later this week and having looked at a zillion cages etc im pretty much thinking ill buy two rabbit cages and stack them with a gentle slope between the floors so the GPs get some exercise and have access to the second level. They are BIG cages so theye GPs will have plenty of space for toys etc as well as themselves From what i gather a lot of owners use towels or fleece fabric as a more enviromentally friendly bedding....easily washed and changed each day - the hay goes into a box for eating and sleeping as well as a seperate hay rack - is this correct? I presume then the only wood fibres/chips ( non ceder or pine ) used would be in the piggy loo?

Thanks and hope you can clairify this for me thanks X kerry

 

[crazywiggy]

Hi Kerry, welcome to the forum. You'll find loads of great info here.

You will probably find most members will ask you not to go ahead with your rabbit cage idea.

I know you said it was a big cage, but big by pet shop standards is still very small for a pair of guinea pigs. Even stacking two won't help as guinea pigs need a lot of space on one level to run around.
Your guinea pigs will be much better off if you can make them a really big cage, like a c+c cage, and it will cost you far less than 2 pet store cages.

Anyway, yes lots of people use fleece - I plan to when I get my pigs (hopefully in the next few weeks). You put an absorbant layer like towells on the floor then put fleece over the top. The fleece wicks moisture away so the piggies aren't sitting in their pee. Then you just throw it in the wash when you clean them out. It should save you money in the long run, but you do have to sweep/ hoover out poos every day so they don't get trodden in.

If your piggies will use a loo then yes you can use normal bedding stuff in there, and hay can be given in a box or hay rack or both.

 

[WICharlie]

For the cost of one rabbit cage, you can make a nice C & C cage for your new pigs. Remember that guinea pigs are not animals that climb. If the rabbit cage has ramps, they are probably too steep for a guinea pig. Go and look at all the cages here on this site. They are inexpensive and easy to build. A rabbit cage is not appropriate and expensive.

 

[standuprookie]

Fleece will not work in a petstore cage unless you spot clean ALOT, the petstore cages are to small and result in alot poo in one area and dirty pigs.
Also, hope you are planning on adopting

 

[Ly&Pigs]

You say these rabbit cages are large? Do you know the inner usable dimensions? Because if the main floor isn't at least 7.5 sq. ft. or larger, the cage won't be large enough. Upper levels don't count in overall square footage.
C&C cages are cheap to build. If you have a Target near you, you can purchase a box of grids for $12-15. Look for a sign shop or printing shop to get coroplast from. A full sheet of coroplast (4ftx8ft) will cost anywhere from $10-30 depending on where you live. You're probably going to spend a lot of money on rabbit cages that won't provide proper square footage.

 

[kerry1971]

Re: Fleece / Towels ? ***** CAGE SIZE!? *HELP*

Ah....now im in a dilema:guilty: ... I picked up the cage this evening but i can still take it back to exchange as i dont have the two pigs yet BUT .....the only place i can put the pigs is the size of the cage - its 50cm wide by by 90cm long and about 220cm tall....because i am unable to offer more 'floor' space i thought i could triple it by adding levels that would be almost the entire floor space - sort of tripling their floor range in total....i was thinking of putting a hay rack on each floor plus a water bottle to stop them running short .

Outside my office is the garden and im making a outside run for warmer days so they will have the opportunity to have loads of floor space then. Can you suggest then how i could make thier cage better please - i cant get any more room for big run sadly indoors - much appreciated

PS - i am in germany and the clip together cage box things are not available here...

PPS - im adopting 2 girls from a local pethome

PPPs - I also planned on treating them to this cute set - its a wooden sallon and horse barn for piggies I have a company selling horse feeds so this was kind of fitting - is this ok? https://cgi.ebay.de/WESTERN-SALOON-zusammen-mit-WESTERN-STABLE_W0QQitemZ200056886949QQihZ010QQcategoryZ63114QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem (eBay: WESTERN SALOON zusammen mit WESTERN STABLE (Artikel 200056886949 endet 06.02.07 16:02:16 MEZ))

 

[Ly&Pigs]

We have had german members able to find cubes. Here is a link to a thread with some resources for you to find both the cubes/grids and the coroplast. (broken link removed)

If you cannot find them, can you purchase closet shelving material to make a C&C alternative cage?

After converting the cm's to inches, I've come up with the following measurements for this cage- 50cm = 19.7" deep, 90cm = 35.4" long and 220cm = 86.6" tall. The cage is too tall and not wide or long enough. It's really unsuitable to house guinea pigs in. This is more of a ferret cage than anything by it's dimensions.

 

[crazywiggy]

Would you reconsider having them upstairs?

Lots of people on here keep guinea pigs as well as dogs and cats. There is plenty of information on here about how to make your cage safe and pet-proof. If you have more space upstairs that might be the better option.

Good luck!

 

[kerry1971]

NO chance - these are the killing rat mad after mice type jack russells. I got a bigger cage today anyway so no worries now..