Bedding My few questions for the day. Kitchen area, pellets, fleece

[juldga]

So I have a 2x3 C&C cage with a 1x2 loft. At frst the kitchen area was in the 1X2 loft (a coroplast box with wood pellets) but they didnt like going up there and there was so much pee and poo on the fleece under the loft. So I put fleece on the loft and put the 1x2 box of pellets under the loft and fleece on the rest of the bottom.
Anyway now they spend ALL their time in the 1x2 box under the loft they only leave it to get the lettuce I put out for them.
Remember I have only had them since Monday. Will they come out and exercise more as they get more comfortable? The only other place they go in burrow under the fleece under the ramp. I used binder clips to hold the fleece on the side and they still pulled it off to go under the fleece. #1 does it matter if they burrow under the fleece #2 if so any suggestions for keeping the fleece on. These are big girl. The biggest guinea pigs I have ever seen about 4 pounds each


Also they take their hay and spread it out over the wood pellets and sleep on it. I put fresh hay in there for them to eat every day but how often shoudl I remove the hay they sleep on if it isnt wet?

And people who use wood pellets how often do you change them?

 

[Trega]

Do they have hidey houses? If I don't have the pigloo in the cage, sometimes my pig likes to hide in his hay or something if he suddenly gets scared by a person or a noise. Since you have only had them a limited amount of time I am sure they are just still getting used to you and maybe be frightened by sudden movements and trying to hide. I think with time, they won't do that as much. When they are a bit calmer, I am sure the fleece will stay down.

I know there are some pigs who will not eat their hay if they had laid down on it, but I think that if it is not wet and they still want to eat it, it should be fine. I spot clean my cage at least once a day and often I scoop up leftover hay and throw it out and replace it. You also might want to consider getting a hay rack so that they can't lay on it.

Hope that helps some

 

[Kimberly713]

They will probably always prefer hiding under the loft, because it's dark and covered. They will eventually move around more, but I would assume that will still be there favorite spot. Try adding other hideys they can get around for running still. A fleece forest, tunnels, etc things they can easily run around.

Don't know about wood pellets but I use aspen shavings and change it two, sometimes three times a week. Just change as needed, I suppose

 

[zaylea]

I actually removed my loft, because they were always under there. It was a 2x2 though and it was annoying to clean and catch them there. They didn't have any problems going into the loft to eat though.

I use aspen with carefresh on top for my kitchen area. The hay is just piled into one of those corner litter box things. They like to drag the hay out on top of the carefresh. I completely replace all of my hay once a day. If hay is expensive for you and you don't want them laying on it, you should probably make a hay rack and get it off the ground.