guinea pigs cage- to use megazorb, fleece, paper????

[fufflebum]

Have two guinea pigs and have used wood chips until recommended to use megazorb as better for guineas health. However it seems to be much more smelly than wood chips and although I clean the areas where they pee and poo every day I do not want the house to smell which is seems to be at the moment.

Any advice or suggestions?

Has anyone tried value cat litter for example? Or mixing wood chips and megazorb?

Please advise! TIA

[BonkeyMollocks]

I have tried loads inc megazorb which is my fave but hard for me to get hold of. It soaked up well and was soft.

Fleece i have tried twice but tbh both mine prefer to burrow into hay rather than have in in a rack to keep it off the fleece - plus LittlePig eats it

I now use paper based pellet (Back2Nature) the newspaper then hay.

Roll the newspaper up daily and replace the top layer. No smell, soaks up guinea puddles well. And its cheap!

[FatimaLovesBread]

Watching with interest as I was going to post an almost exact same thread.

We're looking for alternative to sawdust as I read that it's bad for them and our long haired guinea sometimes gets his hair a bit dirty.
Not long ago had DC1 so the guineas aren't getting as much time dedicated to then as they were previously.
Will have a look at the suggestions above.

I'd been thinking of fleece but can you not put hay in with it?

[PostBellumBugsy]

I tried fleece & it stank of wee and was a nightmare to clean. I know some people use it successfully, but it really didn't work for me.

I'm interested in the paper pellets. How long does a pack last you Bonkey? Do you put it under the top layer of newspaper or over it?

I use dust free wood shavings, which seems to absorb odours well & is only a little bit more expensive than sawdust.

[BonkeyMollocks]

Fatima You can put hay on fleece but its a bloody nightmare to get off!
I put my hay in a rack then a litter box underneath to catch the worst but both my two were about not having hay to play in. They love it!
I also found that fleece needed changing fully every few days or so otherwise its stank. I have enough washing to do thankyou very much!

Post I get a large bag for £9.99 that does two large cages for about 10 days. I have found that I don't need to do a 'deep clean' as much with it because it soaks really well. I just pick out the wet bits daily, then every few days scoop it over to the side and let the cage floor breath which the boys play. Much like I do with horses actually .
I know there are paper based cat litters out there...not sure if they would work out cheaper??

I have the pellets , then newspaper on top. Its what works best for us because LittlePig can wee for England!

[PostBellumBugsy]

thanks Bonkey - liking the sound of the paper pellets.

[BonkeyMollocks]

Best thing i have found so far for indoor piggies!
Especially my two stinky boys .

This is it - shop around though, you can get it cheaper! I'm lucky that my pet shop supplies it :)

[fufflebum]

Bonkey think I might give the pellets a try too and mix with megazorb.

I have just noticed that since switching to Megazorb exclusively they smell. When I mixed with Wood shavings it didn't.

Are wood shavings as bad as sawdust? Used the dust free ones in past from Pets at home.

[Giraffeski]

We use a hemp based one for horses . i've gone blank as to what its called but its great, means we only have to clean out weekly and no smells. It sort of draws the wee down to the bottom and the top stays dry.
It's about £10 for a big bale which lasts about 10 weeks.
It's changed our life!!!!!
Will post when I remember its name, the local pet shop orders it in for me but you can get it delivered online, and it's compostable so it goes in the green wheely bin!

[Giraffeski]

Aubiose, that's what it's called

[FatimaLovesBread]

When I say saw dust I mean dust free wood shavings. Main perk for me is that it's cheap and last a long time in our large, indoor cage. I would need the alternative to not be ridiculously expensive or not require lots of effort.

I think I agree that washing fleece may be too much of an effort with the amount of washing I already do

[BonkeyMollocks]

Giraffeski is this it?

Its the one I haven't tried but I would have the same problem as with the megazorb (storage and ordering) so didn't bother.

i know lots use it and like it though.

[BonkeyMollocks]

X post

[fufflebum]

I would be interested to hear what that is called Giraffeski as I have to order the megazorb in to the local equestrian place anyway.

Sounds like a potential life saver!!!

[fufflebum]

If you search google and put in aubiose for guinea pigs seems to bring up guinea pig forum thread discussing the very stuff!

[BonkeyMollocks]

Oooh that reminds me!

If you go to theguineapigforum.co.uk then they have a whole thread with links to bedding reviews!

[fufflebum]

Might gives your pellets a try Bonkey initially as there seem to be issues about it being 'sharp' for GP. As I would have to go to the equestrian place any way!

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I've been through every single permutation with my two very boary boars and I've found good and bad with all.

When my little chaps were in the dining room (Winter 2011) I bought Catsan out of desperation- it's very good but sharp on the feet, so needs to be under several layers of newspaper.
Then I discovered BioCatlet (in a green bag) which is paper. It's nice and soft but breaks down quickly.
At the moment I'm using one from The Range in a huge yellow bag. It's about £7 for a massive bag which I used in their indoor cage last winter + newspaper + hay.
You can use it as a bedding but it crumbles when wet so you need to pick up the grotty bits.

They have fleece in their housies- and a soft plush animal bed.
Usually they are both in the haybox but it's good for them to have a GetOutPlace. I use a Buddy Brush to get any haybits on, but they are quite good at keeping the hay in the haybox.

When they were indoors (Winter nights) it was the hay that smelled. I put them in the small bedroom with a duvet over the cage last winter.(Changed daily)
Now they are out, it's every 2 days for a clean of their sleeping areas and newspaper.(weekly complete clean)

[cornypedicure]

girrageski do you put hay on top of the aubiose?

[cornypedicure]

I just found this on amazon. have ordered to try it out.

[RabbitsarenotHares]

I use large incontinence pads (90cm x 90cm). The soak up the wee so the floor stays nice and dry for my boys. Then all I do is rinse them in the shower and put them in the washing machine at 90.

Saw it recommended on here.

[cornypedicure]

oooh I didn't know you could wash them. are they the papery ones?

[Curlybrunette]

I've tried a couple of different things with my girls, started with puppy pads with fleece on top, also tried a rubber mat with easibed underneath, then puppy pads underneath, and today have finally gone back to puppy pads and fleece.

I quite liked using fleece but felt it didn't seem that clean after washing. The main problem was that we don't have a tumble dryer and I didn't like the piggie fleeces that were covered in hair left around drying in the house. It's different now I can drying it outside, it gets a really good shake before it's hung up to dry, and before I bring it in, that along with the wind means the majority of the hair is gone.

I might stick like this until I can't dry it outside anymore and then have to try something else.

I found that the wetness soaks through newspaper and easibed straight away and leaves pools underneath it.

Would there be any advantage to using puppy pads, layer or newspaper on top and then fleece?

I change the fleece/rubber mat every 3-4 days, and the puppy pads ever 2 days ish.

[fufflebum]

Been using Back2nature pellets for a few days and that seems to reduce the smell.

I think I will mix this with the Maegazorb until it is finished and switch to them permanently.


Thanks everyone.....watch this space.

[RabbitsarenotHares]

corny - no, not paper, material. These are the ones I got:
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B005DPUUUW/ref=pe_217191_31005151_3p_M3_dp_1?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

They're a tad expensive but I'm assuming they'll last for ages.

[cornypedicure]

thanks rabbits - I may order one of those pads
my megazorb has arrived and the bag is ginormous
changed the straw/paper today and it was so much easier