Guinea pigs; a question

[Johns_Gal]

I really think, after this leave, I would like a small pet. Used to have a pair of them, and have found them some pretty awesome stress relievers. Probably cheaper than a prescription. :/

I would like to make one of those coroplast cages so they could have room to run around and be happy.... but how do you keep them clean? I see people using fleece as bedding and shaking it off/washing it instead of changing shavings. I get the shavings are bad fro them, but that seems so unsanitary in a home with a small child. And wouldn't the urine just puddle through?

Their home has to have a lid, as we have a pair of housecats. They generally understand what small animals are "mine", but let's not tempt fate. Ideas?

[erinee]

The pine shavings are bad for them, but I think the Carefresh recycled pulp bedding is fine because it doesn't have the dust that they can inhale with pine shavings. That's what I use for my small animals.

I've never had a cloroplast cage, so maybe someone else can answer that. For guinea pigs, I just use a basic wire cage, since they aren't climbers. It should be wide and long enough for them to have room to move around in addition to room for their food and water, and plenty of room for some kind of hide-away. I just change the litter and wash the bottom part with soap and water once a week (actually I think with guinea pigs it was more like twice a week, because they're a little messier than rats) and run a rag over the wire part.

[TestifyToLove]

We had guinea pigs for 5 years and when they died we opted to not replace them this time.

We bought the wire squares from Kmart that you can make egg crate style bookshelves with. Then, we used wire-ties to hold the cage together. We put 2 piggies in a cage that was 4 squares long by 2 squares wide and had 1/4 of the cage with a balcony and ramp. For the ramp, we put rubber matting over the wire squares for traction. The balcony had a hammack for them to hang out in. We used stuff that sign shops use signs and scored it to make the bottom of the cage and again wire-tied it in place. Because we had cats, we had lids on the cage that could be lifted off.

In the bottom, we layered cedar shavings with Timothy hay over it and changed it once a week. We placed a chewable tunnel, 2 bricks, 2 of the largest PVC plumbing tubes (they loved the y-joint tube) and an igloo so they could hide.

Once a week, we scooped all of the bedding up into a trash bag, swept the cage out, wiped it down with windex and re-layered.

It was a great set-up, but over time the kids stopped cleaning the cage weekly and it bred flies. I couldn't take the flies anymore so when the piggies died last fall I gave the cage away. I might to piggies again someday when I don't have children I'm still responsible for managing.

[domesticzookeeper]

I used fleece as a bedding for my rabbits (one of them was disabled and couldn't consistently use the litterbox). It's really easy and really clean :shrug3 The fleece wicks away the urine and stays surprisingly dry to the touch. I'd just shake the poopies into their litterbox and wash a load of bedding with white vinegar. You could layer the fleece so that it stays even dryer, if you wanted to, but I'd consider it a lot easier than shavings to use and clean :)

[WanderingJuniper]

I couldn't get the fleece to stay in place. Our one GP kept trying to hide under it. :giggle. I use the recycled paper bedding or shredded paper and just use a dust pan to scoop out the bedding once or twice a week. Then I try and wipe down the cage with some vinegar or hydrogen peroxide. For us the cage isn't too much of a problem it is when they get all excited and jump up and down somehow they always manage to get bedding out of the cage so I end up vacuuming our dining room where the cage is once a day to keep poo off the floor. :sigh They are super sweet though so it it worth it. :)

[LadybugSam]

i've always found those wire cages that TTL is talking about neat and they're recoomended a lot on "cavey" sites. I wanted to do it for my rats but the holes in the cage would be too big for anythingbut free range ratties :giggle

http://www.guineapigcages.com/cubes.htm

as for the bedding, with my rats i found that on the upper floors that laying fleece over the cage wires helps them from getting their feet stuck and on the lower levels, i liked to use the recycled bedding (pellets made of recycled newspaper) because it didnt' scatter everywhere like the other beddings (like carefresh) did. It was easier to pick up off the floor than the other bedding too. that stuff went everywhere.

[SilverMoon]

My daughter's gp cage is a 4 square by 2 square. We bought the chloroplast board from a local sign company.
We bought the fleece from Walmart. Beach towels are a perfect fit for under the fleece. The urine soaks through the fleece to the towel. When I'm taking care of the pigs, like when she's at camp, every morning I take a little camp broom with a little dustpan and sweep up the poops. It takes about 10 minutes but it keeps the cage much cleaner.
Once a week the towel and fleece gets taken outside, shaken out, and washed/dried.
We switched to fleece bedding because the cage is in my daughter's bedroom and the pine shavings were causing her to have breathing problems. They also kick up the bedding so poop and shavings were tossed onto the floor.
I haven't done it yet, but I've read that sewing the towel to the fleece sometimes works to keep the pigs out from under the fleece. But they're burrowing creatures, so they like being under there. Having lots of places to hide helps.
I really like them, and they're easier than cats, but do shed. I always forget to clip their nails and the poor guys have some bad nail twisting going on now.

[WanderingJuniper]

I always forget to clip their nails and the poor guys have some bad nail twisting going on now.
I used to keep a rough rock in their cage to keep nail trimming to a minimum. They would climb over it and file their nails.

Thanks for the tip about the towel and the fleece. :yes

[TestifyToLove]

You know, that recommendation for towel/fleece instead of litter and hay is almost enough to make me consider going back to owning guinea pigs!

I MISS our piggies. But, I was so daunted by the idea of managing litter and hay again and the never-ending fly situation that came with it!

So, how well does the fleece/towel set up control the mess? Honestly, the smell, the mess is it better with that set up? It would eliminate a breeding ground for flies, I'm sure about that. It would be cheaper too.

:think

Going to think on that. A snake is the next pet the kids are adding to the house. But, your set-up addresses the only reason I finally gave up on piggie ownership when our boys died. I adore piggies themselves. I just got tired of having to maintain their cage without any assistance from the kids anymore.

[SilverMoon]

You know, that recommendation for towel/fleece instead of litter and hay is almost enough to make me consider going back to owning guinea pigs!

I MISS our piggies. But, I was so daunted by the idea of managing litter and hay again and the never-ending fly situation that came with it!

So, how well does the fleece/towel set up control the mess? Honestly, the smell, the mess is it better with that set up? It would eliminate a breeding ground for flies, I'm sure about that. It would be cheaper too.

:think

Going to think on that. A snake is the next pet the kids are adding to the house. But, your set-up addresses the only reason I finally gave up on piggie ownership when our boys died. I adore piggies themselves. I just got tired of having to maintain their cage without any assistance from the kids anymore.

I'm sorry, I missed your question.
The biggest problem with the fleece/towel set up is they dig underneath the set up or between the layers, but reading at cavycages.com some of the owners have found when they sew both layers together and put some bricks here and you put in enough houses, they don't go under the bedding.
My daughter doesn't do the sweep every day. If she did, it would be easy to go almost a week before changing everything because the poops aren't laying around and the uneaten hay/vegetables would be dealt with. It's very easy to change the whole thing, though. Take out the piggies and their toys, and pull up each of the corners to make a big pocket. Shake it outside (some places suggest sweeping it to get as much hair off as possible) and toss into the washing machine/dryer. Don't use dryer sheets.

The plastic bottom doesn't need to be washed often if the poops are swept up. If you don't want to bother with sweeping the poops every day, then you can change the whole thing about every 3-4 days. I have her take it out to the back garden area to fertilize the flowers back there. As long as the poops are swept or the bedding changed like I said, there isn't a smell. The problem comes when she's lazy and doesn't change the bedding for two weeks. :sick That's when we get the smell and the flies. I try to stay on her about that, though.