It stinks!

[JUSA97]

I went out and faithfully bought 5 yards of fleece, cotton batting and puppy pads. I put it in their cage and they boys seem to like it. It is softer and quieter. Now they can sneak up on each other. It's been 2 days though and the room smells like urine. What's up with that? Am I doing something wrong? it's back to Carefresh in a few days...

 

[Alanas]

Did you give them a place to pee on? I have changed to fleece but I cut a cardboard box and put shavings in it and they use that to do their wee's.

 

[Plummie]

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. A litterbox may help, but be prepared to clean it out frequently depending on your pigs' habits. When I tried fleece I was cleaning out their litterboxes 2-3x day and it got old really quick (this was with 4 girls in a cage). They would also walk through their poos and drag hay and bedding all onto the fleece and it started to smell after a couple days. Too messy for me! I also switched back to shavings.

 

[JUSA97]

I put a litterbox in the cage and they did use that, but not every time. It seems like the fleece just stinks when it gets urine on it regardless if it is "wicking away" the actual pee. The odor isn't wicked away at all.

 

[LuvMyPiggers]

Try using just one layer of fleece with nothing under it but coroplast.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

Try using just one layer of fleece with nothing under it but coroplast.

Don't try this. Fleece must have something under it or the pee sits on the fleece and the smell would be 10x worse. Fleece wicks the moisture down to what is under it. If your boys aren't burrowers, put a couple of fabric softener sheets down under the cotton batting and it will help with the smell. It takes time for the pigs to learn to use the litter box.

 

[Slap Maxwell]

I tried fleece multiple times as well. The smell was too stong for me.

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

I use fleece and it hasn't started smelling yet. Although I do hoover their whole house out each day, and I shake the fleece out in the garden and brush the poops off. Regular bedding doesn't really work too well for me, as my cage is too big to cover in the only bedding which I have found works better than fleece - CareFresh. Which is, of course, too expensive.

It's just a case of what works best for you and your pigs.

 

[TheQueen]

I don't think that the fleece smells bad, when when I take it out to wash it and stuff, the puppy pads underneath it smell bad! That's when I started to change the fleece more often, which can be hard work. Fleece has it's benefits, but it takes a lot of time and work to use as well. You've to decide what you like best is all.

 

[Ly&Pigs]

As a fleece user, I agree it takes a bit more work than other beddings, but it's so cost effective and worth it to me. I love using the fleece so much and so do the pigs that I won't change to anything else ever.

 

[A4PigHome]

For kicks and giggles, how about trying just newspaper under the fleece. That's what I do and it works for me. I don't know if it will make much difference for you, but it's worth a try. Put extra down underneath their favorite pee area, or put another smaller litter box in that area to encourage using the bedding instead of the fleece.

 

[AngelsCavies]

I used batting once and that is where the smell came from. Batting holds more urine than anything. So I just used newspapers and fleece. No smell and I was able to go 2 weeks with newspaper changed 3 times and no smell. That is with 1 or 2 boys in a cage. For 8 girls I change their fleece and newspapers every 5 to 7 days. I would not recomend using batting at all. That is the worst of all. Also I use a litter box so they can go potty in it. I will be doing that this weekend. I had to go back to bedding for awhile due to money situation for laundry since it is coin up.

 

[breazeale]

HI,

I am new to the would of forums, but I would like information on the fleece-newspater bedding. How do you put it down and how much newspaper is used. At the present I use towels.

I would like to ask if anyone knows if it is safe to feed cavies purslane. Squirrels love it and so do I.

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

You put about 3 - 5 sheets of newspaper straight onto the coroplast. Then you can either use velcro strips on the fleece and coroplast to hold the fleece down, or you can just put the fleece straight down onto the newspaper. I once used towels, but I find fleece is actually easier for me; my 4 pigs don't make as much of a mess on fleece as they did towels.

Do you have a picture of Purslane? I've never heard of it, so a picture would be helpful.

And welcome to the forums!

 

[TheQueen]

Hey, in addition to newspaper, put down a towel or puppy pads. That's what I do.