We sell all kinds of fleece on the Market store, so I'm all for fleece, HOWEVER, it is definitely more high-maintenance than disposable bedding. No question. I've been going back and forth in experimentation for over a year on bedding testing now -- in various size cages with various pig populations. And you are right, it can and frequently does get smelly faster depending on various factors.
It's also a fallacy that fleece is cheaper than disposable bedding. You can buy a huge bag of Kiln-dried pine shavings at a feed store for under $10 that can last for a month for a 2 guinea pig 2x4 C&C. Of course, if you use the most expensive Cadillac of disposable beddings, such as pretty Carefresh, yes, you will pay through the nose, no question. But you don't have to. People have used pine for many many decades without health issues. It's not ideal, but neither is fleece for other reasons.
I've also had a study commissioned on the Carbon Footprint of pine vs fleece. I have to have it redone for better typical gp cage parameters so that it's more easily understandable, but, it already shows that fleece is not more eco-friendly than pine. There are different considerations.
For example, the micro-fibers (
not filterable) from fleece are notoriously bad for the oceans. You're ultimately eating that plastic in the long run because it's coating the ocean floor and killing fish. So, pick your poison. Kill trees, kill the oceans. It's not a black and white choice.
It all comes down to your personal life style, your resources, your priorities, your concerns, your biases, esthetics, allergies and more. What trade-offs do you want to make?
If someone doesn't have easy access to doing laundry, fleece is out. If someone doesn't have access to cheap pine shavings, that's out.
I have an interesting new combination of bedding elements that I've been working on for quite a while. It keeps evolving though because I haven't hit perfection yet. May never, but I feel like I'm getting close.
Structurally, Cagetopia C&C Cages are about to take a leap forward in cleanability and other things. So, stay tuned over the next few months!
If you are happy with shavings, just stick with it. It's a whole different world of maintenance if you switch. But, saying that, if you have shavings, you should have a nice light but generous layer of hay on the cage, pretty much everywhere. You get to do that when you use pine. You can make pine a much more natural environment with a little effort, too. So, again, it's not all black and white with simple answers.
