When to Change Fleece and Towels

LOVEthePIGGIES

Post   » Wed May 28, 2008 9:23 pm


I have two female guinea pigs in a 2x4 C&C cage. I am swiching over from CareFresh to Fleece. I bought some fluffy, absorbent towels and fleece. How often do I change the towels and the fleece? Some websites say it takes 1 month to start to smell and others say to wash the fleece and towels once a week. (Brushing out poops every day, of course) Any input would be great, since this is my first time with fleece. Thanks!

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rshevin

Post   » Wed May 28, 2008 9:51 pm


1 MONTH? NO way. That's disgusting. How often you change depends on the number of pigs, size of cage, and how stinky the individual pigs are. I change my beds in high pee areas daily, sweep twice a day, and change the entire cage twice a week. People with even larger cages and very clean pigs can sometimes go one week between changes but that is the very most.

A few tips:
Wash your fleece in hot water and detergent and dry at least 3 times before using to prep. Wash towels at least once.
You must have, at minimum, an appropriately sized cage as recommended at www.guineapigcages.com for fleece to work.

Feel free to ask any questions you have!

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Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Wed May 28, 2008 10:55 pm


One month? I can't even begin to imagine.

I have several layers of fleece, and I wash the top layer every day. I switch out the under bedding once a week (for 2 pigs in a 2x4 with a loft).

Fourboys4now

Post   » Wed May 28, 2008 11:10 pm


One of my cages is a 3x4 and I change the fleece and towels out on the 4th day. If you will add at least 1 cup of white vinegar to the wash load, it will help take care of a lot of the urine smells. I vacuum the poops daily.

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gpgrandma
Supporter in '07

Post   » Wed May 28, 2008 11:19 pm


We vacuum out poops twice a day and do a complete cage change (several layers of towels then fleece on top) once a week. Cozies and sacks are changed as needed by the amount of use they get (but no later than once per week).

I wash in tide with bleach (dry formula) and throw in a capful of liquid bleach for colors and l aways do a double rinse. No smell, no stains, no fading of colors.

I have a weird setup since the two girls I have don't get along--they have a 2 x 5 lower cage that is divided equally. Each side has a ramp to a 3 grid L-shaped loft. So we have several pieces of towels and fleece to cover the individual areas and shapes. Weird, but it works for us and the pigs seem happy.

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Maria1986

Post   » Wed May 28, 2008 11:38 pm


My cage is 3x3 with a 2x2 extra bit (kind of an L shape) containing three pigs. The very longest I have left between changes is a week and it was beginning to smell slightly at that point(although it was very hot weather).

Normally I will change every 5 days and sweep poops daily. I also have extra pads under their houses which I change daily too - I made these from a toddler bed protector, its the same idea as fleece and towels, it has a layer to wick, a layer to absorb and a layer to keep the childs mattress dry. Having these extra squares that are easy to change works really well for me as otherwise I was having to change the whole cage every three days because of the areas under the houses which were the most peed on. Now I can go a couple of extra days without worrying that they are sleeping on dirty bedding.

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gpgrandma
Supporter in '07

Post   » Wed May 28, 2008 11:40 pm


Lola and Nutmeg re-arrange their pigloos daily--I'd have to have a cage sized pad to make that work!

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Maria1986

Post   » Wed May 28, 2008 11:46 pm


I don't use pigloo's for that reason!

I used to have lighter hidey houses, but they took a battering everyday as the pigs fought over the interior decoration, so now I have nice sturdy (and heavier!) wood houses and those bendy log things. They tried hard to move those at first but have realised now that they don't move easily.

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WEAVER
one pig at a time.

Post   » Thu May 29, 2008 8:21 am


I have four cages and alternate out stripping their cage everyday, so I guess my pigs are cleaned about ever forth day on the norm. Sometimes with my boy cages, because they do not have a kitchen area, I have to clean them out every third day if the weather is humid. All of my pigs beds get changed out daily because that is their favorite place to go potty. My cage pads are changed out every other day. I vacuum my cages in the morning and at night.

There is no way my cages would last a week without getting stripped, never mind a month. They would smell to high heaven, and really I think mold and such would take place from the moisture.

quiltluvr

Post   » Thu May 29, 2008 8:45 am


Those of you who vacuum....doesn't that scare your pigs half to death? I've tried a dust buster and it's so loud. Now I use a little dustpan and broom. Vacuuming around the cage freaks them out, I can't imagine twice a day in the cage though I would love to do that since it's so quick.

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rshevin

Post   » Thu May 29, 2008 9:08 am


Quilt, my Piggy LOVES the dust buster. Yeah, he's weird. When I start it up, he runs over to it and starts smelling around and exploring. Smudgie isn't as excited but he's definitely not petrified. I do prefer the dust pan and brush for regular cleaning though.

quiltluvr

Post   » Thu May 29, 2008 9:15 am


My two guys are very nosy when I try to sweep with the broom. I practically have to scoot them out of my way. But when "the hand" comes near to pick them up "whoosh" they're gone.

I may have to try the dustbuster again. Maybe they'll get use to the sound. I like that it picks up the stray poops in odd places that are hard to sweep up.

That's the only thing I don't like about using fleece. Otherwise I prefer it.

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