what do you line your guinea pig hutch with?

[Matildathebrave]

Have tried wood shavings, aubiose and megazorb. Don't like any.

Does anyone just use newspaper and hay?

Thanks everyone. Will get their run sorted out this week and hope we can get more closely acquainted - they are lovely! They were about 6 weeks when we got them I think - they've grown a lot since they arrived anyway. Will give it a go.

I've used BioCatolet and it worked really well but was expensive, so I tried to make it stretch by putting a thinner layer on top of newspaper, but it was messy, smelly and I ended up having to use more BC as I was changing them more often.
I then changed to MegaZorb, and despite the fact I could only buy in bulk (and the fact it goes EVERYWHERE!) I loved it. It was really absorbent and soft on the lil wheekers' feet, and it lasted forever.

I've since moved my boys (5 of them) into a supermassive open enclosure thing (think a bit like a C&C set up but made of plywood and wire mesh) and I've made special fleece liners with towel sewn onto the back and velcro to keep it in place. The initial price is a bit steep but they are reusable almost indefinitely. I vacuum up the poos every day and change it every 3 days, shaking it out in the back garden to get rid of poos and hay (composted), then it goes in the washing machine and hung out to dry. It's by far the easiest and quickest "substrate" option.

issynoko try not to use sawdust/wood shavings as they contain phenols that irritate the GPs respiratory system. They most certainly need a run! As long as it's warm out and not too windy then they can go out. Just make sure the run has a top to keep cats out. 3 of my boys have pink ears so I always make sure they are fully shaded so they don't get sunburn. A sheet or some old towels laid over the top works great. I hope your GPs bring you years of love and fun!

We've used up the sawdust and won't get any more - thanks for the tip.

we use about 5 layers of the free newspaper round our way then also layer in there little housey plastic tub which we also put stray on, mine are out mostly free ranging until night and iclean twice a week simply rolling up the newspaper .