Moldy Poop along the Cage Walls. Yuck!

[envisionary333]

Just when I thought I had the whole bedding thing solved, another problem has sprung up! As most of you know, I have a very large wrap-around cage in the piggy room for my 11 piggies. I use fleece for bedding and I have about 35 mattress pads that I use stacked under the fleece to absorb the urine, which works fantastically. (It works out to four mattress pads folded for eight layers in every part of the cage) I've been going up to four weeks without washing the bedding lately and there is no smell! (I clean the 2x4 kitchen once a week since it gets really dirty and that's where most of the urine is, and in there I use Carefresh) So far, so good.

But... Lately, I've noticed that my mattress pads have shrunk quite a bit from going through hot water washes. I would wash them in cold, but I think they need the hot water and vinegar to get all the pee out. So now, there are small one-inch gaps along the edges of the bedding. I try to stagger the mattress pads a bit so it's not as bad, but it's still problematic. I wrap the fleece under it, and put the piggies in only to find that all the poop along the edges- which is their favorite place to poop- slides down the side and gets all moldy. It's gross, and I know it can't be healthy for them. I would love to switch to having the fleece folded over the sides of the coroplast, but I already purchased two sets and it took me over 12 yards of fleece to do that, so I really would hate to have to buy more. Any advice?

 

[Maisiepaisie]

What about sending the hoover down the sides with the nozzle attachment?

 

[wickedrodent]

I had the same problem. I would suggest just buying another yard or so cutting and sewing it to the edged of the material you already have. I ended up doing this with mine, and it works a whole lot better, no stray poops!

With the washing machine.. I use cold water, and my bedding is always perfectly clean. We actually use cold water for everything, but bleach the machine after washing pig/dog stuff.

 

[envisionary333]

I put the vacuum cleaner nozzle down the sides of the cage whenever I vacuum, but since I have eight layers of mattress pads the poop gets way down there past where I can reach it!

So Wicked, do you mean buy more mattress pads or buy more fleece? I'm not any good with sewing, unfortunately. I was thinking I might take some of the mattress pad scraps I have left over and just stuff them along the sides of the cage to make a barrier. Hopefully that helps, I really don't want to have to buy anything else! I'll try using cold water from now on, although I must admit I'm a bit skeptical. I usually have to run them through a hot water wash twice with vinegar and two extra rinses to get the smell out when they are really dirty.

 

[Malhablada]

Yuck, I had the same problem when I first started the fleece. With poopins AND hay.

Maybe time for new fleece? If you buy it two or three feet longer and wider than you need it, you can tuck the fleece up over the outside of the coroplast. Then NOTHING gets through, except for urine obviously. This has worked fantastically for us, and it makes vacuuming a breeze. There's nowhere for anything to go!

 

[envisionary333]

I got a few more mattress pads and laid them on top of the others, then folded the excess and stuffed them into the spaces on the side so they are flush with the wall. It worked really wall, so I think I've solved the problem! I have over 40 mattress pads now, it's rather insane. The cage floor is stacked about 4" high with them, it's so comfy. I almost fell asleep in there after I finished cleaning the cage, I was in the cage tucking in the corners and I was like, this is so soft... It's more comfortable than my bed is, in fact! Spoiled piggies!

 

[Ly&Pigs]

I think part of the problem is that the cage isn't being cleaned as frequently as it should. You said that most of the cage can go for 4 weeks without being cleaned (except the kitchen area). Even if there is no smell, I think going that long is a bit too long. I really don't understand why you need 8 or more layers of mattress pads. Not being negative or anything, I'm just not understanding. 2-3 layers should last a good week, maybe a bit longer.

Is it just that you don't have the time to clean the whole thing weekly or even bi-weekly? I know you have a large cage and a lot of pigs but still, letting things go that long can, in the long run, end up being dangerous if there are poos in there that are getting moldy. The mold isn't going to be good for the pigs to be exposed to. Even if you just took a dustbuster and went down the sides of the cage every week to pick up any poos that get trapped would be good.

 

[FoolOnTheHill]

I don't think quickly vacuuming the sides would take that long every day or so and it would help a lot. Then the poops wouldn't have time to worm down past where you can reach them.

I kinda agree with Ly here, 4 weeks seems very long to go between washes. I mean you probably change your bed clothes more often than that just to keep it fresh, even though they're not dirty as such. My pigs don't pee on the fleece much so I usually only change it every week. That or a couple of days longer, and although it doesn't smell obviously, if you actually sniff it it still smells kind of...stale just from being walked and lain on with piggyness!
'I usually have to run them through a hot water wash twice with vinegar and two extra rinses to get the smell out when they are really dirty.'
-From here it sounds like they are actually quite dirty when you wash them.

I think it would help if you just whizzed around with the vacuum everyday because probably wouldn't take more than 10 minutes.

*Idea* Maybe if you bent lots of grids at a 90 degree angle you could zip them all together in a line so it would be a really long tunnel, with the one inch gap being covered by it, but the pigs can't get in because the ends would be covered by the ends of the cage.
That was confusing.

|
|__
|x |___

Viewed from the end of the cage, so the little square bit would be the tunnel, with the x being the gap...if you get that...but your cage might be too humungous to use all those cubes like that!

 

[envisionary333]

I think part of the problem is that the cage isn't being cleaned as frequently as it should. You said that most of the cage can go for 4 weeks without being cleaned (except the kitchen area). Even if there is no smell, I think going that long is a bit too long. I really don't understand why you need 8 or more layers of mattress pads. Not being negative or anything, I'm just not understanding. 2-3 layers should last a good week, maybe a bit longer.

Is it just that you don't have the time to clean the whole thing weekly or even bi-weekly? I know you have a large cage and a lot of pigs but still, letting things go that long can, in the long run, end up being dangerous if there are poos in there that are getting moldy. The mold isn't going to be good for the pigs to be exposed to. Even if you just took a dustbuster and went down the sides of the cage every week to pick up any poos that get trapped would be good.

I do vacuum the cage very thoroughly every single day, and I go down the sides as best as I can. With the mattress pads layered along the sides, I think I've eliminated the moldy poop problem. The reason I go so long between cage cleanings is that the cage is just so big that it takes me at least a full day of scrubbing and washing to get it done, usually two. Plus, most of the urine goes in the 2x4 kitchen where there is Carefresh, and it is changed every week. They also have blankets and cat beds in all their favorite sleeping spots that are washing at least once or twice a week and kept very clean. Since there is so much space for the piggies, it does take a long time to get dirty compared to most cages.

I really hate to think that I'm not provided for my piggies as best as I can, it's just that this system has helped save me a lot of time, being a busy college student and all. I don't want to compromise their health under any circumstances. Now that I've found a solution for the poop along the walls and nothing will be moldy, do you think there's anything wrong with going three weeks between cleaning? The kitchen is still cleaned once a week, the beds are washed frequently, and the room has very good airflow, plus I have ordered an air purification system. I really would prefer to keep the three-week cleaning schedule if it's possible, and the cage really does stay nice for the whole time. It's not gross or smelly at all, and all of my piggies are very healthy.

 

[muffynilla]

Try putting bedding around the coroplast and see if that helps if it doesn't I might buy some more fleece!

 

[kathrynj]

DO you have enough fleece to perhaps have a top layer that you can change, leaving the mattress pads in place? Then you could wash the top layer and leave the cage longer?

I am thinking of something similar to door draught stoppers, run around the edges of the cubes, I don't know exactly what you would put in them that would be appropriate though.

I am going to eventually try cot bumpers to try to keep the sides of the coro cleaner, mine is black and shows every hair and dust specks. Maybe something like that might plug up the space that the poops are dissappearing down?

Maybe just towels rolled up around the edges? I know you have a big cage, so that might take a lot of towels though!

Forgive me just thinking aloud here hehe.

 

[envisionary333]

Thanks, I think I was able to solve the issues of the sides by stuffing the excess mattress pads in there so they are raised just slightly above the rest of the bedding. I do have two layers of fleece, and I think changing the fleece every week while leaving the mattress pads is a really good idea. The fleece gets grungy a lot faster than the mattress pads, and they last a long time. I'm also considered making a separate section of mattress pads and fleece in this one part of the cage, which is where they all sleep and pee the most. That section needs to be cleaned a lot, more than anywhere else in the cage except the kitchen. If I change that section and the kitchen once a week, everything else would stay clean for a really long time. They hardly go anywhere else.

 

[naturegal592]

For the worst areas could you have 4 layers pads one layer fleece 4 layers pads one layer fleece on top? Then after 1 1/2 weeks ( half way through your cleaning cycle) you could take the top layer of 4 pads and fleece off. It might save you some time washing because you wouldn't need so many cycles to get the smell out. I have the same problem with the poop but I only use 2 layers of pads so it is easy to get to. My problem is I am pregnant and the smell even after a day or two is really getting to me. I'll be so happy after the first trimester!

 

[Ly&Pigs]

If you can come up with a solution to keep the poos from sliding down and getting trapped in the sides/under the bedding and continue to vacuum daily, then you could probably get by cleaning only every 3 weeks. I know you have school and work (not sure about work?) and all that besides the animals. I think maybe if you had the time to do it every 2 weeks, it would be better overall or at least go through and peek under the layers of mattress pads once a week to see if there are any stray poos getting moldy under there.

I'm also considered making a separate section of mattress pads and fleece in this one part of the cage, which is where they all sleep and pee the most. That section needs to be cleaned a lot, more than anywhere else in the cage except the kitchen.

This also sounds like a good idea.

Please understand that in no way did I insinuate that you are a bad caregiver because you aren't by any means.

 

[Jenni_Feathers]

Maybe you could try stuffing towels in the gaps to keep the poops from falling down there. 4 weeks seems like a long time to go without cleaning, it would problemly be best to do it more but I'm sure you would if you could, ha ha that rymed.

 

[envisionary333]

Please understand that in no way did I insinuate that you are a bad caregiver because you aren't by any means.

Thanks Ly, I know that you weren't trying to say that I'm a bad caregiver. I just got very worried that I wasn't doing the best I could for my babies! The main problem with cleaning the cage is that I have to set up a floor time pen for the piggies for a few days since washing the materials and scrubbing everything takes so long. I don't have a dishwasher, so I have to scrub all the cage items by hand in the shower stall and it takes forever! Since I will be building the piggies a second cage in my bedroom soon when I have a break between quarters, I will be able to switch them back and forth between cages and have a lot more time to do the whole cleaning process. That will be much simpler, since I won't have to set up a pen to keep the dog and cats out, then rush through scrubbing and washing all in one or two nights. I will just move them to the other cage when one is dirty, and work on washing and scrubbing everything over a week or two so it's ready for when they switch back. The cage in my room will be a huge wraparound, wall-mounted cage so it will be really nice for them.

 

[envisionary333]

I've come up with another idea for keeping the cage clean until they have a second palace. I'm going to rotate each section for washing once a week so there will be three sets, and the whole cage will still get done every three weeks in addition to weekly kitchen cleanings and daily spot cleaning.

 

[Maisiepaisie]

Why do you have so many layers of mattress pads? I just have one layer of THESE and one layer of fleece and it works really well. I wash weekly but even after 7 days it doesn't smell.

 

[envisionary333]

I have 11 guinea pigs!!! One of the pads wouldn't last a whole day with my piggies.

 

[Maisiepaisie]

Yes but you have so much more space than my pigs so theres probably less pee per square foot in your cage. My cage is 24 square feet for 5 pigs. Those pads I use don't look like much but they're incredibly absorbent.