Litter Training Overhead Cover in Kitchen

[Wandalea]

I got a newsletter from the G.P. Cages Store that said if you add a "roof" to their kitchen area, they are much more likely to poop & pee in there on the wood pellets or other bedding than in the fleece area. They want to do it by their food & water but if they don't feel secure by having a roof, they will instead poop in their hideys & pee in corners & edges on the fleece. My two male piggies did that. So two days ago I added overhead coverage & today no pee on the fleece & only a few poops. It works! I used the plastic balcony piece that came with the store-bought cage that serves as the kitchen over one end with a water bottle, hay manger, & pellet dish. On the other end with another water bottle, hay manger, & pellet dish I draped a folded fleece over it. Dink & Doink loved the change & popcorned around under the roofs. Now I can scoop out a bit of the wood pellet bedding at each end as needed & add some more. So nice to not have pee on the fleece!

 

[Nikkipig]

I saw that, and I think it's a neat idea. Mine already use two of the corners in their kitchen area as their bathroom (along with under their hidey), so it's not really needed in my case. I also think that if you have very skittish pigs, a cover over the kitchen area could help them feel more comfortable when they eat.

 

[Wandalea]

Dink & Doink might have gone pee in the kitchen corners where the water bottles leak a bit--it's already moist so hard to tell. But they really peed a lot in the fleece corners & edges so that it never got completely dry. Still only a few poops on the fleece!

 

[lisa325]

I got that newsletter too, but the shipping charge is almost as much as the canopy hmy:. Like you, I fashioned my own canopy, it's too soon to say difinitively if it's working as regards containing the pee and poops. lol

 

[ficklewinds]

I want a canopy too, but I've spent over half a paycheck on cage materials and stuff from this place for me and my god daughter. I've been banned from getting anything else by the husband unit. (Also didn't help that I was incredibly wishy washy on my cage size and to loft or not, which has resulted in plenty of extra materials LOL) It's not that this stuff is high, it's just the shipping is a bit too much to justify anything less than $50 at this point. Although my kitchen is currently covered and while they seem to enjoy doing their business there, they also do their business everywhere. /shrugs I love em anyway!

 

[Wandalea]

After several weeks with kitchen roofs, they now poop a fair amount in the main house, but still not nearly so much pee--it goes mostly in the kitchen.