Bedding Fleece Vs wood chips

[juldga]

Opinions please. I am getting 2 new piggies. I havent had any since I was a teenager, and fleece as bedding is a new concept for me.

Which is less messy?
which controls odor better?
Do Guinea pigs actually like having fleece vs wood chips? Mine used to dig in his

I hear people complaining about fleece being messy, but when I was a teen all those wood chips were everywhere!
I did cloth diapers with my baby so I am aware of how to wash/treat bedding. I am actually planning to use her old diapers under the fleece LOL

 

[bpatters]

There's a search box at the top of the page. If you'll put "chips" in there, without the quotes, you'll get a ton of recent hits about the two.

 

[juldga]

Thanks I am new here and learning the basics of this forum

 

[Hhbean]

My son came over the other day with a friend and she gave the best compliment a fleece user could get, "Wow your Guinea pigs don't smell bad!" I started using fleece due to my sister being allergic to other bedding options(she's our main piggy sitter) and now wouldn't dream of using anything else. I do have extra fleece pads under their fleece forests because that's where they go to the bathroom. I just fold it up and shake it out over the trashcan everyday and wash every other day. I do use the bottom of the cages they came in for the kitchen area. I currently use newspaper in there and change it out a few times a day but I am sewing up fleece pads(layer of fleece on top of 2 layers of flannel) to fit into the bottoms. more views of boys cage - Guinea Pig Cage Photos

 

[Japonica26]

Opinions please. I am getting 2 new piggies. I havent had any since I was a teenager, and fleece as bedding is a new concept for me.

Which is less messy?
which controls odor better?
Do Guinea pigs actually like having fleece vs wood chips? Mine used to dig in his

I hear people complaining about fleece being messy, but when I was a teen all those wood chips were everywhere!
I did cloth diapers with my baby so I am aware of how to wash/treat bedding. I am actually planning to use her old diapers under the fleece LOL

Hi from another former CDing mama!

Honestly, if you CDed your child, then you'll be used to using fleece for the pigs in no time. The principle is the same--keeping them dry and wicking urine away.

I'm also using my kids' old Indian and Chinese prefolds under the fleece and it works fine. I do the towel on the bottom, a layer of dipes--good to use because I can double up in the heavy pee areas and remove them once they get wet. Sometimes the towel underneath is just starting to feel slightly damp while the prefold is what has done all the work. Then I have a fleece topper--fleece sewn to a 100% cotton mattress pad.

I change all of the layers out every 4-5 days and wipe out the cage. I have litter trays in the kitchen areas that are changed every 1.5 days and a couple of corner toilets as well (changed about every 3 days). The pigs tend to use the kitchen litter trays quite a bit so the dipes and towel are generally not overly wet at all (aside from their favorite pee spots in their hideys). You can also sew fleece to the top of an infant sized prefold to make a piddle pad that can be replaced more often.

I don't find it has an odor. I wash it like I would the cloth dipes...a rinse and spin cycle first to get the urine out then a hot wash with a sensitive detergent and no fabric softener.

I think the pigs like the fleece. They've never complained. Seriously though, I've not had mine on any other bedding. I just couldn't deal with vacuuming up shavings/chips all day. They do kick a bit of litter (Yesterday's News) out of the tray occasionally, but not much.

Good luck. Whatever works best for you and makes your life and cage cleaning easiest is the way to go.