How do i use fleece in my guinea pigs cage?

Question

Im switching from carefresh to fleece in my guinea pigs cage. I never used fleece before so i have a few questions....

1. What kind of fleece do i use?

2.What do i put under it?

3. how do i clean it?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Don't use fleece.  If they guinea pig eats it and swallows it it can bind up its insides and kill it.  Carefresh is a great bedding but it is costly.  Go with aspen wood shavings.  They work great.  They are very absorbent.  I don't think fleece would be absorbent enough.  You would have to change it constantly.

Answer 2

I use fleece for my piggies and I much prefer it to normal loose bedding.

The benefits: My cage takes less time to do a full clean out every week, it never smells, I don't get shavings etc all over the house, and I don't have to keep buying bedding which would be expensive in my cage (about 13 sq feet).

The important thing with fleece is to understand how it works:

You need two layers of bedding in the cage.

The bottom layer (on the floor) is the absorbant layer, which will soak up the pee. The best bottom layer I have found is a mattress pad (not the waterproof kind!). You can also use towels or puppy pads.

On top of this you place a layer of polyester fleece. Being plastic based fleece does not absorb moisture - it wicks it.

So when the guinea pigs pee the urine soaks down through the fleece to be absorbed by the layer beneath. This way all urine is lcoked in the bottom layer, and the surface fleece stays dry - so the pigs are not sitting in their own urine.

There are a number of things you need to do to use fleece bedding effectively:

1) When you get the fleece wash it half a dozen times to break down any waterproofing it may have. NEVER use fabric softener / conditioner etc of any type with your fleece as this adds a waterproof barrier and stops it wicking.

2) Place your absorbant layer on the floor of the cage, then put a single layer of pre-washed fleece over the top.

3) Secure the fleece! If you leave it loose it is very hard to remove poops, and the piggies may mess it up, get underneath it etc.

You can weight down the edges with bricks, or use binder or bulldog clips to secure the fleece to the grids.

4) Depending on how large your cage is and how many pigs are in it, will affect how often you need to clean out. Generally fleece bedding needs to be swept daily, and replaced weekly.

Daily - because the fleece provides a solid surface all the piggies poops sit on top of it. These need to be removed daily otherwise the pigs will be walking in them all the time. Most people either sweep them with a dustpan and brush, or vacuum them up.

Every few days or weekly - clean out the whole cage. Remove the piggies, toys, etc. Then sweeep all the poops. You can then just take out the fleece and the absorbant layer underneath and throw the whole lot in the washing machine. (Remember - NO softener) You can add a little white vinegar to the wash if you like.

It helps to have two sets of fleece, so you can just put the clean bedding in while the dirty stuff is being laundered.

For more detailed info check out the link the other poster gave you. GPC explains it perfectly - everything from types of fleece, types of absorbant material, etc.

Generally speaking, the fleece method is great but only if you use it right. It is more expensive initially as you need to buy all the fabrics, but much cheaper in the long run, especially if you have a large cage. It is more high maintenance than loose bedding as you do need to p**p scoop daily, but the full clean out is much quicker (takes me about 20 mins rather than an hour!)

Answer 3

The flooring should be solid and easy to clean.

Answer 4

You can buy inexpensive fleece at a large discount retailer (WalMart) or a fabric store. The no-pill variety works best. Sometimes during the spring and summer, you can find fleece blankets that have been deeply discounted. If you are conscious about how the cage "looks", try to purchase fleece with patterns or designs on it. Solid colours show urine stains and become very unsightly after repeated use. Stains on patterned fleece are much less noticeable.

There are a variety of opinions regarding the best material to use under fleece. You can use thickly folded newspaper, but this needs to be changed a couple of times per day for the "frequently visited" spots in the cage. The newspaper will absorb the urine, but it stays wet and if too much urine is put in one spot (the "frequently visited" areas) it will become very soggy. A really good and inexpensive alternative is to use incontinence pads found in the feminine hygiene areas of a discount store. These pads are large square pads designed for use in the beds of people that have incontinence problems. You can use puppy training pads, which are the exact same thing, but they cost alot more. The pads have an absorbent material on one side and a plastic backing on the other. The downside is that piggies like to burrow under the fleece and you don't want them chewing the pads. So you'll need to figure a way to keep the edges of the fleece secured so the piggie can't get under it. Absorbent cotton towels can also be used as the "under layer". The towels can be laundered along with the fleece.

The fleece is cleaned with washing. Remember that piggies are little eating/pooping machines, so you can figure you'll have 150 plus poops to clean up each day inside the cage. This can be done by removing the fleece and taking it outside to shake the poops off into the grass (they make great fertiliser!). Once the poops are removed, toss the fleece in the washer with laundry detergent and one cup of plain white vinegar. Do NOT use fabric softener in the washer or dryer sheets in the dryer. Fabric softener will cause the fleece to *repel* urine rather than wicking it away, which completely defeats the purpose of using it. You want the fleece to feel dry on top, thus keeping your piggie clean.

You will need two sets of fleece; one for the cage while the other is being laundered. Fleece is a very economical and environmentally sound bedding choice, since you reuse it over and over.

Here is some reading that may help:

http://www.guinealynx.info/bedding_fleec...

Best of luck!

Answer 5

买一块地板砖放在笼子里就可以了，清洁又干净，不要使用羊毛织品，要不你养的宏物在上...