Let's get right down to it

[DaCourt]

If my 9 year old can do it...you can do. You just have to BELIIIIEEEEEVVVVEEEE!

 

[Peaches]

lol I havent had the "pleaseure" with my boys and they are on shavings so cant say one way or other.

 

[DaCourt]

Peaches...you should do it at least once a month.

 

[Peaches]

yes I've been doing some reading today. Guess I'll take a look this weekend on cleaning and nail cutting day.

 

[DaCourt]

Q-tips and mineral oil are a must. Good luck.

 

[Zeander]

That just sounds so icky! That's why I got girls.

 

[DaCourt]

Girls come with their own set up problems. They are more prone to certain illnesses than boys are.

 

[kat_0521]

Girls come with their own set up problems. They are more prone to certain illnesses than boys are.

I didn't realize this Court. Could you list some of these illnesses for those of us who own female piggies? Thanks!

 

[CavySpirit]

Girls are prone to ovarian cysts and other female problems as they age, generally requiring a spay (serious surgery) to fix. There is no 'better' answer regarding sex. It's luck more than anything. HOWEVER, I will go on record as saying--with the experience of hundreds of guinea pigs--that in general, males have a slight edge on personality and friendliness over females.

 

[charliesmommy]

I personally like the "alternative" loose bedding options more than the traditional wood types. I use a mixture of Cell-Sorb Plus and Carefresh and find that there is no smell whatsoever. I completely clean out their cage about every three weeks, and spot clean every week. I have used fleece, which I found reeked, aspen, and kiln dried pine, which I didn't find to be absorbent enough and needed to be changed every four days or so. The Cell-Sorb is a little more expensive but lasts a lot longer.

 

[akgoaliemom]

I have 2 boys, both about 13 weeks old.

1. Smell - I have no unpleasant odor. As with others, the smell of hay seems to be the primary scent du jour. Even with my unorthodox cleaning schedule (see below), I never have an unpleasant odor.

2. Cleaning/bedding - I use pine shavings on the first floor (2x4 C&C). One of my boys is totally pee-trained and actually a little poo-trained to go in the litterbox downstairs. The litter box is just an old rubbermaid container that is lined with about 4 layers of newspaper and shavings. The other couldn't care less about the box but tends to stick to the same side of their house as the litterbox. I have the rest of that side layered with shavings on top of newspaper. I dump the left side of their cage every other day (about 8-10" of the short side). My cleaning schedule is a little different. Since the boys stick to one side of the cage to pee in, I rotate my shavings to the left every time I clean the box. The dirty litter gets dumped, everything gets shoved to the left and new shavings are put in on the right side. I do a total dump & clean every other week. The loft (1x2) is a towel/newspaper combo. I gather up the towel and dump the beans every other day. The towel goes back in the cage, but gets replaced with a clean set every Saturday. In the last 3 weeks, the boys have never peed in the loft. The newspaper is there "just in case".

3. Noise - my boys can get quite active around 10pm to midnight. I think Chicken (the hamster in the same room) keeps them awake running round and round in his wheel, so they get to chasing each other around and wheeking like crazy. But, I can't hear them since my bedroom is on the 2nd floor and they're on the first floor. The sound of plastic rustling will generate the loudest noises from my boys - they think it's salad time!

Cheers!

 

[rabbitsncavyluv]

There are tons of piggies in the local shelters too. There's an average of 20 every week in OC/LA area and more in the Riverside area.

OCACC and Irvine and Mission Viejo frequently have piggies for adoption.

 

[zakfoxmom]

I use a mix of Care Fresh and aspen shavings. I fully clean out once a week. Their cage is a 2x4 for a boy and a girl and there is absolutely no bad smells. As for the sac cleaning, my vet will have the pleasure of that. There is just no possible way on this planet that I will ever do it myself.

 

[Marcel]

Just got my piggie recently. My wife rescued him from the local shelter. He's a cutie if you ask me.

1) Don't notice a smell at all...I get more smells from my dogs(mini-bull terrier & a golden) & the horse.
2) Once a week cleaning. Spot clean the solid waste when I can...makes it look "cleaner".
3) I used Kiln-dried Aspen shavings. Tried the care stuff, but it looked like blue-green algae to me and when wet is a tad bit weird looking. Also its costly.
4) Marcel (he's the piggie) makes more sounds during the day. When I give him grapes he makes this whistling sound.

Hope that helps.

 

[My Baby Mu]

1. Smell - does your piggy place smell bad? Is there an obvious bad smell in the room where your piggies live? Or is it pretty much odorless if you keep it clean?
It doesn't smell unless I don't clean out the cage for a while. (I have 3 male pigs)

2. Speaking of keeping it clean, how often do you do a complete cleaning? By that I mean taking out all of the old bedding, using vinegar to clean up any pee stains left, putting in all new bedding.

I don't use vinigar unless There is a spot where they push the bedding out of the way then go on the linolium and makes a "hard spot".

3. Speaking of bedding, I hear a lot about CareFresh. Is it the best? I know it's a little more expensive, but if it keeps smells down better than the others, I'd use it anyway. I'm all about keeping the smell down. (I will be getting 2 females, because I understand they smell less anyway. Is that right?) For those of you who use fleece instead of traditional bedding: why? Does it do anything at all for odors?

I used a fake carefresh and I thought it looks more dirty then pine faster. I have a fleece bunkbed in their cage and luckily they don't go potty on it but it is hard to get off hair and bedding.

4. Noise at night: I know that the piggies might have alert periods at any time of the day or night. Do you hear a lot of wheeking or other noise at night time? Or are they pretty quiet in general?

The only sounds I here at night are: sucking of the water bottle (one of mine is very noisy), occasional rumblestrutting of frisky Mo (frisky you wouldn't belive!) then after the rumblestrutting Mu or Teefal running away from him.

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

1. Throughout the 2 years of cavy companionship, I have never had a problem with smell. It can smell a little bit if you stick your head in the cage (especially with piggies marking their scent on carpet), but nothing much.

2. I do a complete clean every 2-3 weeks. Every day, I clean all toilets and shake out all towels (which then go back into the cage unless they have been peed on a lot). All the piggies get fresh hay in the morning and, if necessary, I top up the hay in the evenings too.

3. Towels have been the best bedding for large cages for me. I use CareFresh just for the toilets, even though I would like to use it for the whole first floor - it's just too expensive. I also put down some puppy pads underneath the towels to soak up any pee which seeps through the towel. Personally, I found fleece to be awkward, as any stray pieces of hay stick to it, and it isn't the easiest fabric to sweep hay and poops off! Also, with piggies that moult (sp?), it is very difficult to get the hair off the fleece.

4. Only once or twice during the last 2 years I have been woken up by my piggies, whose cage is located in my bedroom. The first time I remember being woken up was when Tuppence was chirping at 3 a.m. The second memorable time was last night, with Lottie chewing on the bars of her cage!!

 

[cavy-cool-crazy]

When do you have to do this cleaning of a male piggy's perenial sac? Does it have to be done regularly, and if so, how often and how?

 

[cutemomome]

I personally use the fleece and the cotton bottom, and I like the results I've had with my girls, and they seemed to love the softness of it. We wash the fleece blanike once a week, and because they are quite trained, I', quite fortunate enough with no peepee leaking through. However before they were trained, I had 2 layers of cotton beneath the fleece, so it was also VERY absorbent. I change their potty pans everyday, so no smell. If they poopoo on the fleece, I just sweep it up with a dollar-store bought broom!

They tend to be quiet during the nights, that is they've had their share of floor time earlier eveing. They seemed to be most hyper at floortime, because that is when I also give them dinner.(7pm) Once they see me spreading out the playpen, they start cooing and stand on hindlegs, as if.... ARE YOU DONE WITH THAT PLAYPEN YET? Once they had their veggies, they start running in laps, then use the haybox, then.... nap on their cozies. They usulaly will become active again around 11pm, then we'll put them back their home around midnight, and refill their pellets for the night.

I use carefresh only in the potty pans, so quite a cost saving and controls ordor very well.

I don't know much about the sac cleaning for boys, and I don't think we are brave enough to undertake such a task, so we opted for girls when adopting. But, I've also heard about boys being more cuddly and curious.

 

[iagosmom]

WOW!! You guys answered all the questions I was going to ask today, I'm glad I looked first. I have a male, ( new piggy owner), IAGO was given to my daughter for a "get well" gift for being in the hospital for two months. I TAKE CARE OF HIM, I moved him in the living room where he loves to watch TV and all that goes on. We have 2 dogs who love him and go by the cage and kiss him . He wheeks when he seems them and they go right to him. He really love the sound of the Fridge opening. "FRESH VEGGIES" he shouts. ( we have fresh veggies all the time for us and now for him). No smell from him, I clean the cage for poops and pees every day. I use Care FResh and Shredded newspaper.

I have 2X2 cage for him inside, but floor time right now is out time where it is 6x4 with rocks, driftwood and a old bluebird home he loves to crawl infor sleeping. My little Shi-ZU "Sage" piggy sits while i do other things in the yard. Iago loves her.

At night I cover him with a soft black cloth, he settles down and I just hear him sucking for water. but that is all the noise I hear till morning when I walk intheliving room and he hears my footsteps. Wheeks when it's time to eat.

The only question I have is the SAC? How do I clean that? How do I know when it needs to be cleaned? I feel bad now if he needs it cleaned and he is in pain. I never though owning a GP could be so informative, entertaining, and just plain fun.

Thanks

 

[John4216]

I take my piggies to the vet every 6-8 weeks and let her do all the dirty work Another I noticed is that their ears get really dirty on 2 of mine and the vet cleans them out everytime they go but on the other 4 they are fine.