long haired guineapigs or indoor piggys help please

[mushpea]

we have long haired guineapigs that live indoors, they were sleeping on hay with newspaper underneath but the hay sticks to their coats and gets tangled so now I just put newspaper down but this can be comfotable plus they always wee in their bed area so once the paper is wet that is that they are sleeping on so I wonded what everyone else put in the bedding area of their indoor or longhaired gineapigs to soak up the wee and stop them from being smelly

[Debster]

I don't have guinea pigs but I have a rabbit and sawdust seems to do the trick. soaks up wee but not sure it it will get tangled in coats. I put a good layer of sawdust first then newspaper over the top and then use shreaded paper(good way to get rid of you personal info)

[mushpea]

thanks but sawdust isnt good for small animals as it can cause respiratory problems plus it would get tangled in their coat,, I have seen somting called carefree but its not cheap and wondering now if a soft cat litter would do the trick.

[primula]

I would try straw and cat litter made of compressed sawdust ( with newspaper underneath) another thing you might want to try is to put a tray in the cage? might do the trick, i put the hay in a little hay holder thingy, off the floor cause they eat it.

[Debster]

thanks but sawdust isnt good for small animals as it can cause respiratory problems plus it would get tangled in their coat,, I have seen somting called carefree but its not cheap and wondering now if a soft cat litter would do the trick.
I was going to say cat litter might help?

[Demonjill]

Hi i have my piggy boys on newspaper, then large towel then half of cage is covered in fleece they love it and the other half is megazorb - its horse bedding and comes in a huge sack and its brilliant recycled pulp similar to carefree but finer and better and cheaper - huge sack costs less than tenner and lasts a while

I wouldnt change it as it works very well:thumbsup:

[Demonjill]

not straw - but you prob know that

also i have a large basic cat litter tray and put lots of hay in there and they use it for munching and do most (not all) of their pees there too:thumbsup:
They just hop in and out

[JulieA]

You can buy a special bedding which looks like thick All Bran which is made of compressed sawdust. It doesn't break up and is absorbant. I would put this is a shallow litter tray in the hutch and then just some shredded paper thoughout the rest of the hutch.

I have to go get some rabbit food later so I will have a look to see what the bedding is called.

[mushpea]

I like the idea of the litter tray but how do you get them to use it, mine just pee in their bedding area at the moment and as its a hut there isnt room to put a litter tray in there

[JulieA]

Put the litter tray near where they currently go (if contained) and add some soiled bedding so they get the smell. Do this every time you clean them and they should get the idea.

[LOOPYLISA]

Talking of guinea pigs mines happily munching on a carrot next to me atm :thumbsup:

[mushpea]

does anyone groom their guineapigs? if so what sort of bursh do you use, mines a thin wired brush that you would use for cats, this was recomended as ours our long haired piggys but they dont seem to like it and squeak protestingly at it each time it comes out!

[blue bear]

We have a corner litter tray for our rabbit, you can get small ones for piggies so don't take up the whole cage.

[Demonjill]

I just use a soft brush on my piggy boys - they are half long hair lol - the wire brush pulled them.

As for the litter tray mine have their litter tray filled with their hay which is what they spend most of their time doing - eating hay - so most of their pees and poos go in there per chance lol ...... guinea pigs are not as easy to toilet train (not impossible) as rabbits though - their digestive systems and inner machines work a bit differently lol

you can google megazorb:)

[Demonjill]

o and meant to say the other day i seen a rubber bristle brush it looked quite good actually hard to describe but looked like it would work well and tease hairs out

[jadavi]

we got a baby brush I think for the hair.
we use a fleece as well over the newspaper and under the straw and hay. I like the idea of trying litter tray.

I agree no sawdust but why do yo say no star demo9n? We were told to use straw by the shop and previous owner.

ja xx

[mushpea]

I was told not to use straw as its quite stiff and can poke them in the eyes, i now have some natural cat litter and I havent had to clean them out for 3 days as it soaks the wee up and dosent smell, they do poo all over the place though!

[appleblossom]

Our indoor piggies have a bed made from croplast (the stuff "For Sale" signs are made from). It's on a big table surrounded by metal grids. Inside it we put old towels topped with fleece. We put some soft meadow hay at one side. Timothy hay for eating is in racks off the floor to keep it clean. We have a spare set of towels and fleece and every three days it all gets changed and cleaned. The coroplast box is sprayed and wiped with a vinegar/water solution. All the poos/hay, etc is brushed off the bedding and it gets washed. The urine goes through the fleece ad is absorbed by the towels, leaving the fleece surface dry, so no wet piggies and no soggy wood shavings, which as already mentioned are not good for piggies.

[Demonjill]

Our indoor piggies have a bed made from croplast (the stuff "For Sale" signs are made from). It's on a big table surrounded by metal grids. Inside it we put old towels topped with fleece. We put some soft meadow hay at one side. Timothy hay for eating is in racks off the floor to keep it clean. We have a spare set of towels and fleece and every three days it all gets changed and cleaned. The coroplast box is sprayed and wiped with a vinegar/water solution. All the poos/hay, etc is brushed off the bedding and it gets washed. The urine goes through the fleece ad is absorbed by the towels, leaving the fleece surface dry, so no wet piggies and no soggy wood shavings, which as already mentioned are not good for piggies.

This is what i do too:thumbsup:

[Demonjill]

we got a baby brush I think for the hair.
we use a fleece as well over the newspaper and under the straw and hay. I like the idea of trying litter tray.

I agree no sawdust but why do yo say no star demo9n? We were told to use straw by the shop and previous owner.

ja xx

straw is too jaggy and can cause eye injuries as piggys eyes very sensitive

mine love lying in their hay tray as they can lie down and munch at same time - lazy boys :laughing:

[appleblossom]

straw is too jaggy and can cause eye injuries as piggys eyes very sensitive

mine love lying in their hay tray as they can lie down and munch at same time - lazy boys :laughing:

Our hy racks are some spare grids bent over in a tube shape and tied up above the base with shoe laces. The piggies like to crawl in like tunneling and lie in the raks to munch on the hay. When they come out all their fur is pulled back and fluffed up So funny:laughing:
Ours are four girls. The children all love them to bits.