I also have a question about switching to fleece bedding:
Our vet says our 4 1/2 year old female has a respiratory infection, likely from from her pine litter, which we have always used. She recommends switching to Oxbow Pure Comfort paper bedding. The paper is very expensive, and we found when we tried it with a previous guinea pig that it got wet and smelly sooner than shavings. While pricing bedding online, I came across fleece bedding, which I had never heard of, but many people seem to like it.
My concern is that Molly is a big chewer and will eat anything. We keep half her cage covered with a towel, and she has eaten large holes in several. In her lifetime, she has also eaten large pieces of plastic grocery bags, corners of books and cardboard boxes, hair and clothing, and even the couch and carpet when I have her out! She likes a wooden chew toy with a bell that hangs on the side of her cage, but still chews her pine litter constantly, so I feel fairly certain she would eat fleece. I know it would be bad for her, being polyester and not even a natural material like cotton.
1) Has anyone had a piggy who couldn't use fleece bedding because of chewing?
2) Has anyone had a piggy who chews a lot but who did NOT chew fleece?
3) Is anyone with familiar with PiggyBedspreads.com? The kind of fleece they sell looks like the ordinary printed kind you can pick up at Wal-Mart, but I'm concerned about dyes and residue of detergent after laundering if Molly chews it.
Thank you!
Bedding Question
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bpatters
- And got the T-shirt
Most pigs don't eat fleece. It doesn't ravel, so they don't get threads. You could always test it by just putting a piece in the cage and seeing what she does with it.
There are thousands of us who use fleece with no problems with dyes and detergent residue. I wouldn't worry about those things. The bigger issue with chewing is if she ingests enough for an intestinal blockage.
But most pigs don't chew that much. I'd be concerned about why she's such a non-stop chewer. Chewing can be a sign of pain -- does she have anything going on healthwise that might be causing her pain? Does she have unlimited hay to eat?
There are thousands of us who use fleece with no problems with dyes and detergent residue. I wouldn't worry about those things. The bigger issue with chewing is if she ingests enough for an intestinal blockage.
But most pigs don't chew that much. I'd be concerned about why she's such a non-stop chewer. Chewing can be a sign of pain -- does she have anything going on healthwise that might be causing her pain? Does she have unlimited hay to eat?
I've cared for hundreds of pigs that have come through the rescue and I haven't yet found any that chew the fleece. I have had a few burrowers and some of those were so persistent that I switched them to a loose bedding.
I want you to be aware that when we talk about fleece, we mean fleece on the top and several layers of absorbent material underneath. Most people start out with cotton towels as the item underneath. A good ratio is to have about 3 layers of towels to one layer of fleece. You can often get both towels and fleece at your local thrift store for cheap. The premise is that the cotton sucks the wet down and leaves the fleece dry. You do still have to sweep up poos daily with a hand broom and dustpan.
You do have to change out fleece and towels more often than other bedding. It depends on how big your cage it, how many pigs are in the cage and how much each individual pig drinks (and wets). Generally, a 2X4 grid sized cage with two female pigs needs changed about every three days. Soiled fleece can be given a good shake outside to remove hay and then tossed into the washing machine with the towels. I usually washed on hot. Do not used any kind of softener in the washing machine and don't use a softener sheet in the dryer (they reduce the ability of the fleece to wick away moisture). Sometimes after a lot of use, there may be a little odor build up and then you can use some vinegar in the rinse. A great thing about fleece and towels is that it takes very little time for a cage cleaning. You remove the pigs, whip out the fleece and towels, give the coroplast a quick wipedown with vinegar from a spray bottle, rinse and dry, put the clean towels and fleece in and it's ready to go. It you get to the point of sewing your own cage blankets, a cage cleaning is even faster.
Most people generally create a hay area within the cage, either with coroplast or, what I did, was use a kitty litter pan (cut down a bit in the front) and filled with wood stove pellets. I highly recommend wood stove pellets in a hay area. They are cheap, super absorbent and don't need changed as often as the fleece. They are somewhat heavy though so they are not suitable for an area larger than that. And wood stove pellets are biodegradable so they can be added to a compost pile or just spread outside in an out of the way area.
I hope this helps.
I want you to be aware that when we talk about fleece, we mean fleece on the top and several layers of absorbent material underneath. Most people start out with cotton towels as the item underneath. A good ratio is to have about 3 layers of towels to one layer of fleece. You can often get both towels and fleece at your local thrift store for cheap. The premise is that the cotton sucks the wet down and leaves the fleece dry. You do still have to sweep up poos daily with a hand broom and dustpan.
You do have to change out fleece and towels more often than other bedding. It depends on how big your cage it, how many pigs are in the cage and how much each individual pig drinks (and wets). Generally, a 2X4 grid sized cage with two female pigs needs changed about every three days. Soiled fleece can be given a good shake outside to remove hay and then tossed into the washing machine with the towels. I usually washed on hot. Do not used any kind of softener in the washing machine and don't use a softener sheet in the dryer (they reduce the ability of the fleece to wick away moisture). Sometimes after a lot of use, there may be a little odor build up and then you can use some vinegar in the rinse. A great thing about fleece and towels is that it takes very little time for a cage cleaning. You remove the pigs, whip out the fleece and towels, give the coroplast a quick wipedown with vinegar from a spray bottle, rinse and dry, put the clean towels and fleece in and it's ready to go. It you get to the point of sewing your own cage blankets, a cage cleaning is even faster.
Most people generally create a hay area within the cage, either with coroplast or, what I did, was use a kitty litter pan (cut down a bit in the front) and filled with wood stove pellets. I highly recommend wood stove pellets in a hay area. They are cheap, super absorbent and don't need changed as often as the fleece. They are somewhat heavy though so they are not suitable for an area larger than that. And wood stove pellets are biodegradable so they can be added to a compost pile or just spread outside in an out of the way area.
I hope this helps.
Thank you for this input! Trying out a piece of fleece to see what she does with it sounds like a great idea. And it's encouraging to know that dyes and detergent are not something to be overly worried about.
I don't think the constant chewing is a result of pain since she has been at it for over four years, but I know I have been remiss in not giving her a constant supply of hay before. She gets plenty now, so she may not eat fleece if her need to chew is satisfied.
Up until recently, most of my guinea pig husbandry was based on a couple books I had back in the 90's with my first piggy with some outdated ideas such as using cedar chips (fortunately found out that wasn't right by the second pig) and feeding primarily pellets with fresh food and hay only as occasional treats(!). I have started to provide unlimited hay after reading about it on this site and visiting the vet. (Back in the 90's, there WAS no vet in our area who really knew about piggies!)
Thank you, everyone! I am so excited to have discovered this site. It is a wonderful resource and it gives me peace of mind to be able to look up medical issues and ask questions from people much more experienced.
I don't think the constant chewing is a result of pain since she has been at it for over four years, but I know I have been remiss in not giving her a constant supply of hay before. She gets plenty now, so she may not eat fleece if her need to chew is satisfied.
Up until recently, most of my guinea pig husbandry was based on a couple books I had back in the 90's with my first piggy with some outdated ideas such as using cedar chips (fortunately found out that wasn't right by the second pig) and feeding primarily pellets with fresh food and hay only as occasional treats(!). I have started to provide unlimited hay after reading about it on this site and visiting the vet. (Back in the 90's, there WAS no vet in our area who really knew about piggies!)
Thank you, everyone! I am so excited to have discovered this site. It is a wonderful resource and it gives me peace of mind to be able to look up medical issues and ask questions from people much more experienced.
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