S
saabindee
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- Dec 31, 1969
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/should there be an easyonthefeet drop pan
I have one cavy that was given to me by my boss whose kids no longer wanted. He is a wonderful boy and it wasnt until just recently that I found this website and realized his cage is not up to par. (he is in the biggest zoozone cage-not enough ventilation)
anyway I came across cavycages and have learned much.
But my problem is that I also came across (broken link removed) and in that site it is mentioned
"If you use a plastic bottom cage, there is obviously no risk at all of broken or trapped legs. However your cavies will tend to be sitting in their pee & poop. Why? Well a plastic bottom cage is typically lined with newspapers. Above that is shavings & perhaps some hay. Cavies tend to pee & poop non stop. In no time, all the shavings, papers, etc will be soaked in gross stuff.
Can you imagine your cavies lying in their urine & poop everyday? During colder seasons, their chances of catching a flu is increased 'cos they're in contact with wet surfaces. Besides that, there's also the possibility that they will get skin problems due to the frequent contact with pee & poop. Some cavies have even developed urinary tract infections due to this. Also, pity the poor dears who have to smell that gunk all the time! "
With the C&C cages it is a solid bottom so arent they hard to keep clean.
The site also said " But I change the bedding!", you wail in protest. Oh sure, but how often can you change the bedding? I used to change the bedding once a day & found that it was not enough 'cos the bedding was always drenched in pee. The only way you can prevent them from lying in their own waste is to change the bedding hourly which is impossible!
There are some people who believe this problem can be solved by using sufficient bedding. 20 pieces of newspapers. Ok, that's possible. 4 inches of shavings or CareFresh (bedding made from tree pulp). Now that's tough! Firstly let's talk about cost. Pine & cedar shavings are cheap but bad for cavies. Kiln dried pine tends to be dusty unless covered with hay & Care Fresh is perfect except for the price. How many of us can afford to use 4 inches of Care Fresh daily or even twice a week? Some suggest putting dog or cat litter below the shavings to absorb the pee. This is not recommended 'cos there's a strong chance your cavy will eat the litter & that's toxic!
You can use 20 inches of shavings but I feel that the problem is still existant. The fact is the pee & poop are trapped at the top of the bedding & have no place to go. The pee is not gonna "sink & disappear". Thus your cavies end up lying in their waste. This can be overcome only if you sit by the cage 24 hours a day. The minute they pee or poop, you replace the wet area. But that's not possible. Even if you change the bedding every hour. Firstly how many of us can afford the time to do that? Secondly, cavies can pee & poop a lot within an hour. And they would have been moving about on wet bedding within that hour. "
SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO GET???
HOW CONFUSED I AM. In the end the site mentioned a marchioro cage that has a plastic drop pan. It seems good but I cant find any and I would rather modify a homeade cage to make my own drop pan. Perhaps even just part of the cage to have a drop pan...like were he eats since that is where he seems to do his business the most. I just dont know how I would do that.
Any ideas?
sorry for the very very long post but I hope to get some help.
Thanks.
I have one cavy that was given to me by my boss whose kids no longer wanted. He is a wonderful boy and it wasnt until just recently that I found this website and realized his cage is not up to par. (he is in the biggest zoozone cage-not enough ventilation)
anyway I came across cavycages and have learned much.
But my problem is that I also came across (broken link removed) and in that site it is mentioned
"If you use a plastic bottom cage, there is obviously no risk at all of broken or trapped legs. However your cavies will tend to be sitting in their pee & poop. Why? Well a plastic bottom cage is typically lined with newspapers. Above that is shavings & perhaps some hay. Cavies tend to pee & poop non stop. In no time, all the shavings, papers, etc will be soaked in gross stuff.
Can you imagine your cavies lying in their urine & poop everyday? During colder seasons, their chances of catching a flu is increased 'cos they're in contact with wet surfaces. Besides that, there's also the possibility that they will get skin problems due to the frequent contact with pee & poop. Some cavies have even developed urinary tract infections due to this. Also, pity the poor dears who have to smell that gunk all the time! "
With the C&C cages it is a solid bottom so arent they hard to keep clean.
The site also said " But I change the bedding!", you wail in protest. Oh sure, but how often can you change the bedding? I used to change the bedding once a day & found that it was not enough 'cos the bedding was always drenched in pee. The only way you can prevent them from lying in their own waste is to change the bedding hourly which is impossible!
There are some people who believe this problem can be solved by using sufficient bedding. 20 pieces of newspapers. Ok, that's possible. 4 inches of shavings or CareFresh (bedding made from tree pulp). Now that's tough! Firstly let's talk about cost. Pine & cedar shavings are cheap but bad for cavies. Kiln dried pine tends to be dusty unless covered with hay & Care Fresh is perfect except for the price. How many of us can afford to use 4 inches of Care Fresh daily or even twice a week? Some suggest putting dog or cat litter below the shavings to absorb the pee. This is not recommended 'cos there's a strong chance your cavy will eat the litter & that's toxic!
You can use 20 inches of shavings but I feel that the problem is still existant. The fact is the pee & poop are trapped at the top of the bedding & have no place to go. The pee is not gonna "sink & disappear". Thus your cavies end up lying in their waste. This can be overcome only if you sit by the cage 24 hours a day. The minute they pee or poop, you replace the wet area. But that's not possible. Even if you change the bedding every hour. Firstly how many of us can afford the time to do that? Secondly, cavies can pee & poop a lot within an hour. And they would have been moving about on wet bedding within that hour. "
SO WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO GET???
HOW CONFUSED I AM. In the end the site mentioned a marchioro cage that has a plastic drop pan. It seems good but I cant find any and I would rather modify a homeade cage to make my own drop pan. Perhaps even just part of the cage to have a drop pan...like were he eats since that is where he seems to do his business the most. I just dont know how I would do that.
Any ideas?
sorry for the very very long post but I hope to get some help.
Thanks.
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Kinda like my 2yr old dgt who doesnt want to potty train.
