Bedding My report after switching from shredded paper to aspen bedding.

[lattelove]

I had been using fleece in the main "living" area of our new C&C cage, and shredded paper bedding (Kaytee Clean and Cozy) in the kitchen/litterbox area (we have the Cavy Cafe). I liked the Kaytee bedding because it was absorbent and seemed to control odors well. It was also fairly easy to brush or shake off the stray pieces from the fleece when I did a full cage cleaning. What I DIDN'T like about it was that since this bedding is white, the cage looked yucky pretty quickly from the yellow urine stains. Also, I found it fairly difficult to scoop out the poops because the paper bedding clumps together so much. It seemed like I was discarding about 1/3 of the bedding during daily spot cleaning, so I was looking for a cheaper bedding option.

I decided to try aspen shavings. So far, the only real positive I have found is the lower cost. The tan color hiding the urine is both good and bad. Good because the cage looks cleaner without the obvious yellow stains. Bad because it is difficult to see the wet spots and know which areas need to be cleaned. Even though the aspen shavings do not clump together just as I had hoped, it has not made scooping out the poop easier since the poops often fall underneath the shavings while scooping. But the worst thing about the wood shavings for me is that they stick to EVERYTHING! While I can sweep, shake, or vacuum the paper bedding from the fleece or any carpet it falls on, the aspen resists all attempts to remove it from my fleece liners or carpet. I have had to pick off the stubborn pieces individually by hand. Even after washing and drying my fleece liners inside of a zippered cloth bag, the aspen shavings are still hanging on to dear life.

Now I have the rest of this huge bag of aspen that I need to decide what to do with...just use the rest of it in the litter area until used up, or maybe as mulch in my garden?

Do others have the same impression of aspen bedding vs. paper bedding? Does anyone use fleece throughout the whole cage, including the litter area? I'm now wondering if that's the way to go.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

I have used nothing but fleece in my cage and pen for years. I have four bedding changes and my pigs get a complete change every 48 hours.

It sounds like the best thing for you would be fleece over hardwood pellets. There are several threads here that deal with that topic. When I first got Pooper and Sly, they were on Carefresh bedding. It works very well, but it is expensive and I was going through a $30 bag every week. I switched to fleece after about six months of that, and I have not looked back since.

 

[SSLee]

I use GuineaDad fleece liners, with almost the entire outer edges lined with various size pee pads, which I switch out every 2 days. When I first took on the piggies, I used CareFresh for over a year and would stock up whenever I could find it on sale. But eventually it got too expensive and I switched to fleece.

In the litter tray, from bottom to top, I use baking soda, newspaper, aspen shavings, and CareFresh. Aspen shavings does not absorb liquids and I use it mainly as a cushioning feature. Otherwise the tray would be too deep for Lily, my 6-year, who isn't as spry as she used to be, jump out. Plus it helps reduce the amount of CareFresh I use. With daily spot cleanings, I can go a week before a complete litter tray cleaning and I have 6 trays, so it is easy to swap it out.

 

[Demiba]

I have used only fleece over wood pellets for a few years now, and it is awesome!

 

[Kelsie]

I always use Carefresh for my rat cage. It works perfectly so I thought when I built my guinea pig enclosure I would use it. That was a short lived idea. The cost was exorbitant for that large of a cage. Then I decided to try Aspen shavings. I just hated them. It took me forever to clean the cage and the Aspen stuck to everything.

I decided to go with fleece liners and have never looked back. Several years ago I bought a few guinea pig bedspreads and just love them. I have many different sizes of fleece liners that I use over top of the bedspread to help keep the cages cleaner. I change them out every two days and once a week I do a complete cage cleaning and replace the guinea pig bedspread. I also have the Cavy Cafe and I line it with a small fleece liner and put my pig's hay in there. It does help to contain most of the hay. Once in a while they drag it out and spread it around the cage but it does help most of the time.

 

[lattelove]

Thanks, Kelsie. What is a guinea pig bedspread?

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[Kelsie]

A guinea pig bedspread covers the entire cage and goes over all four sides. It keeps the pigs from burrowing under the fleece. If you go online and type in "Piggy Bedspreads" it will take you to that website. They have a video that shows exactly how they work and the designs are really cute. They are expensive but I feel they are worth it. For years though, I just purchased large pieces of fleece at Joanne's Fabric and lined my cage with it. I used the smaller fleece liners that I purchased from various Etsy sellers and put them over top of the fleece. I had a few pigs who would burrow under the fleece and it just drove me crazy. That's when I discovered Guinea Pig Bedspreads.