Behavior litter training.

[barbklis]

Hi every so i have recently built a CC Cage and ive noticed that with 2 boys they get it very dirtys very quick. My oldest boy George pees ALLOT!!! so i find myself cleaning the cage completely every 2 at most 3 days before it stinks. On top of 2 kids and a husband it is allot of laundry and allot of work. I have yet to master the quick changing out of the bedding. Well to the point I've noticed my boys usually pee and poop in the same spots for the most part and was wondering if i slide a little litter box in that spot how easy it is to potty train. Some one please help it is very hard to keep up with the maintence of the cage, i exspected a bigger cage to not get as dirty as quick and just sweeping it out everyday would be good for at least 5 days but my george pee's the amount of my 4yrs old also is that normal for him to pee that much?? and baby piggie toby doesnt pee nearly as much when it was just him i could go easly a week or more without haveing to swap out the fleece... Thank you to all will take the time to help me out!!!

 

[bpatters]

Putting the litter box where they pee and poop the most is the only training you can do with guinea pigs. Potty training is a myth.

What size is your cage, and what do you have under the fleece?

 

[barbklis]

my cage is 2 by 4 with a 1 by 2 upstairs. i have old towels under the fleece the front of the cage is almost always dry and clean its always just the back where they always like to lay that they pee and poop and i dont know about others but i do not like a smelly dirty piggy which means i bath them more which also know is not good for there skin. so im stuck on what to do.

 

[barbklis]

Do you think it would be okay if i put a shallow empty box with some wood chips in it to see if that would work???

 

[Aleks]

My piggy George also pees a lot. lol
What i do is I have a puppy training pad underneath his hay rack and i usually spread out a little hay on it. He used to pee all over his cage but now he mainly just uses that area. (Piggies tend to use the bathroom where they eat.)
It does need to be cleaned pretty often but it keeps the rest of the cage relatively cleaner than before.

 

[barbklis]

Thanks. I'm also having a hard time trying to figure out a hay rack. right now ive been using paper bags or part of an old soda box but they need a hay rack i just havent been able to figure one out!!

 

[Aleks]

For my hay rack i use a bent grid.
Some people use hay bags: https://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/hot-tips/82598-instructions-making-hay-bag.html

Edit: I've been thinking about making a hay bag, but if i did I probably would just cut two holes near the bottom of a pillow case and use that. I'm terrible at sewing. lol

 

[bpatters]

There are dozens of pictures of hay racks in the photo galleries. Just be aware that if you use a bent grid, mount it to the cage so that the pigs can't get in it -- we've had a few injured legs when a startled pig tried to jump out of a hay rack.

You can try a litter pan. I wouldn't use wood chips, but you can aspen shavings pretty easily, and they're ok for pigs.

 

[barbklis]

thanks the pillow case is a great ida cause i cant sew to save mylife.

 

[Amy262]

Our piggies were constantly peeing and pooping at the bottom of the ramp. In that corner I put the litter box. It worked! They continue to do most of their business in that spot. Not ALL of it, but most of it. They still like to poop where they sleep. Lol

 

[SamanthaC02]

I put a litter box in the corner that they tend to pee/poo in the most as well as under the hay rack, they still pee and poo in other places but it keeps the fleece cleaner longer and I just clean the litter pans once a day.

there is also a thread going right now with pics of hay racks people have made you could check out. I think the title is Hay holders or something like that

 

[Peach and Zelda]

I watched my pigs for a few days to figure out where they went the most. Then we put a corner litter box in for them with "yesterday's hay" that they didn't eat. They sometimes will munch on the hay while pooping but I think that's normal. They are pretty good about using it for the big part of their pooping. Obviously they go in other areas too but they get cranky when their cage isn't clean so I think they are happy to poop in the box which we clean out daily, sweep the fleece every day and change it every 3-4 days. They are usually cranky by the end of the last day, but I think they know if they go in the box that it stays cleaner and they like that. I don't know if you'd call that litter trained but we are happy with it.

 

[R5 plus]

@bpatters - That is just totally sad! You have totally burst my bubble.:melodrama

And now, may I lament the fact that my gpigs will never be litter-trained. They don't even go in one spot. They go everywhere. Not fair! Not fair! Not fair! :grumpy:

@Peach and Zelda - Wish your pigs would teach my pigs to use their poopy manners. LOL.

Seriously though, we use the bottom of a rabbit cage for the "kitchen" area. All the hay and water bottles are in that area. We use gpig sized fleece pillows where they sleep and switch them out every day or so. We are still experimenting with different bedding in that area - not fleece.

Our biggest problem may actually be the hay. My 2 year old likes to give the pigs "hay showers" when I'm not looking. :expressio