Guineapig beding- is a blanket a good idea?

[lemon888]

We have been using a combination of newspaper, wood shavings and straws for our pigs' bedding. But I want to try to use fleece blanket to see if it will be easier. Does any of you use blankets for your indoor guinea pigs? Is it easier when comes to cleaning the cage?

My guinea pigs are outdoors but I use fleece for their bedding. I actually use hay in their bedroom compartment and fleece in their living area and I do think cleaning out is easier than it would be if I used wood shavings or hay for the whole hutch.

With fleece I just roll it up, brush all the hay and poops off and stick it in the wash. And obviously stick some fresh fleece in there.

I think cleaning would be such a faff if I used wood shavings and hay/straw for the whole hutch.

I also like all the different patterns and colours you can buy.

I'm a bit squeamish at the thought of putting the fleece in my washing machine!! Can see how it's easier though but not sure I'll ever try it!!

You can wash the fleece inside an old pillowcase. That's what I do.

I realise fleece is not for everyone though.

I've tried all types of bedding but my pigs vote with their paws and seem to like newspaper and hay. It's messy and only lasts a day but easy enough to change. I just need to stockpile it and not run out of hay.

When they have their indoor cage for winter, I have tried a fleece or an old towel but it is a pain to brush the hay off (though Lakeland Limited Buddy Brushes are the best I've found).

YY to wash in a pillowcase tied with string.

I used Ecover to wash so that they don't have something highly scented under their noses.

There's no Holt Grail of bedding (I wish there was ) and different things suit different pigs.

Holy Grail not Holt

We use fleece with newspaper underneath (for absorbing pee). It's great as we can dustpan and brush the poop each morning as part of the morning routine.

I would always suggest fleece as it doesn't have threads that piggies can get caught in - idea does cheap blankets that we use and are quite jazzy.

Thanks all. I just used an old fleece blanket for the first time today. Have put some newspaper underneath. How often do you change the blanket? twice a week? One of them seems to wee alot!

I tried fleece but the washing machine couldn't cope with the sheer volume of GP hair that seemed to come off it every time. Do my GPs just moult a lot more than others?

I will put the blanket into an old duvet cover before putting into washing machine.

Do my GPs just moult a lot more than others

Our Teddy boar is moulting enough to knit a new pig . Every time we touch him we get a wad of fluff.
Though my Himmy covers me in hair too....

Fleeces 'wick' so (in theory) the moisture is carried away to whatever is underneath it, and the top stays dry.
Towels hold it .

Products like VetBed (???? but cheaper online) are popular with breeders and (presumably Vets ) . It has the wicking quality and cushioning , so good for ill or frail animals and keeping pigs clean (if that's important. Mine just like going through puddles of fresh wee. )

Ah, one of ours is a Rex, so may be moult-ier than the others.

Do the hairs come off the fleece in the washing machine and into ask your other washing in the next load?

Brush them first millimat ( Lakeland buddybrush is a siliconey rubber handheld brush-brilliant)

I put one fleece on the kitchen floor and tried to vacuum it.............spent the next half hour untangling it .

If you keep a couple of pillowcases for the pigs' fleeces , it protects the machine and the filter.

I'm not a fleece fan really, main problem I found was having them hanging about stinky. Even if I was really organised and brushed them, kept them in a bag in the garage in a bag until I had a load (I have an 8kg machine) then did a maintence wash after to clean the machine.
It was a faff.

When we had GP1 and GP2 our original brothers, we put a fleece and squishy old pillow in their sleeping box, with hay in a newspaper lined trug with a cardboard lid.
Every morning, the fleece/cushion was unused. The pigs were peering up at me from inside the trug when I lifted the lid.
I went back to hay

Tbh I don't think I'll ever find bedding for inside that I'm happy with It's either too smelly or too messy!

I've had two days of fleece this week after Gingerpigs neutering. It looked lovely and cosy when I put it in and was nice and warm for the pigs initially. It did get very hairy and wet and my boys prefer to trample hay than eat it tidily from a rack, so it was a pain to clean. We're back on newspaper with hay in their igloos which they throw everywhere.

When my lardies are inside for winter, they have a plastic based cage (plastic base,bars on the upper bit)

As my sows pee like you wouldn't believe , they have Small Animal safe cat litter (it's like long pellets , woodbased. When it's peed on, it breaks up like bran) on the base.
Newspaper and hay.
Maybe a box or two, but they will have a cover over them.
I can fit a 20 litre trug (that has a hole cut out to make a housie) inside.

The hay and newspaper gets rolled up and thrown out every day. The woodpellets just need spot cleaning.

The hay is the strongest smell I find.