What kind of chips can i put in my guinea pigs cage?

Question

well i had my guinea pig for about 8 months now and he is doing fine with the pine chips but it smells really bad when he pees in the pine chips and the pet lady at the pet store said that pine chips our better for them then cedar chips so i dont know i love my guinea pig so much i just dont wont to get rid of him so i need help with getting rid of the bad smell but not cost so much.

Answer 1

If your cage smells, either you aren't cleaning it often enough or the cage is too small. Most pet store cages are nothing more than 2'x15" boxes and the smell can get foul really quick if you're not changing it at least twice per week. Try a larger cage, that will help.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/

Cedar and pine bedding both cause respiratory distress in guinea pigs, no matter what the manufacturer of the product says. They only want your money & don't care if your piggie gets sick. You can use pine shavings, but they MUST be KILN dried. It must say "Kiln Dried" on the package or they're not Kiln dried. These shavings have been heated to very high temperatures to remove the phenols in the shavings that cause respiratory illness.

You can also use aspen shavings. These are inexpensive & safe for your piggie.

Alternately, use a paper bedding like Carefresh. This is fairly absorbent and safe to use, but it does cost more.

One other alternative is fleece, but you must be very diligent about cleaning it every day.

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

Good luck!

Answer 2

Pine and cedar shavings/chips should never be used for any animal. Both pine and cedar are softwoods that contain phenols which damage an animal's respiratory system and liver over time. Cedar has more of the phenols than pine, but pine does have them as well.

The only SAFE shavings you can use would be aspen. Aspen is a hardwood and does not contain the phenols, making it safe.

Answer 3

i forgot but i had i think it was cedar i had. those work good.

Answer 4

the cedar ones have been shown to kill guinea pigs.  so no matter the smell it wouldn't be worth it to me.

personally i use either yesterday's news small animal litter, it's recycled newspapers and i have 2 pigs on it and never have noticed a smell.

the best one i've used but it's a tad more expensive but not too much is the carefresh bedding.  it's also a paper material but not as hard as the yesterday's news and easier on the little feet of your guinea pigs.  it comes in different colors and has odor absorbing qualities to it.

another question is how often to you clean out your cage?  the area where your guinea pig potties should be cleaned out daily.  i change the entire cage no less than once a week.  

i never have cared for the pine bedding.  but if you're not completely cleaning the cage on a regular basis and not cleaning the main potty area at least daily that could be most of the problem with the smell.