Hay and bedding for baby guinea pigs

[SoftSheen]

On Saturday we acquired a pair of 7 week old baby guinea-pig girlies, the first guinea-pigs I have kept for a few years. They are doing their best to empty our fridge of green vegetables and are adorable :)

We currently have them in a 120 cm x 60 cm indoor cage. The plan was to have them out in a run on the grass during the day (with a hutch for shelter), however so far it has been too wet and cold for them to go out. Consequently their cage is already starting to get quite dirty and I think I will need to do a full clean out tomorrow.

My question is about bedding. Currently our guineas have Back-to-Nature paper pellets on the floor of their cage with Burgess Excel Feeding Hay (Dandelion and Marigold) as forage and bedding in their two houses. However the paper pellets aren't very cosy and the hay seems to go flat very quickly (it is also quite expensive, we have already nearly got through a £5.99 bag, in 4 days).

What hay and bedding do you use for your guinea pigs? Has anyone tried Megazorb? We are lucky enough to have a Pets at Home 2 min walk from our door but I could also order something online if anyone has any good recommendations.

Now y'know Soft we'll buoycott your thread until you post Pigtures of your new babies

Hay has been a nightmare the last few years - I'm finding twigs and nettle sticks in ours . . Were they eating hay from a rack or similar before ? You can pack hay into a toilet roll tube to pull at (I do this in summer rather than bedding hay , and when my boar was neutered to stop him sleeping on it)

I've converted my two onto fleece and hay cookies with a pile of ReadiGrass to scoff. I was never a fan of fleece but I got a couple of those petbags which keeps all their debris inside (just have to shake it in the garden) . I use Surecare detergent , no scent to irritate them.
They shred the hay cookies which keeps them busy and it doesnt get all over the hall carpet but it is more expensive .

They are filthy little animals
You can give them a cardboard box lined with newspaper and try the Megazorb . Hopefully they'll 'twig' and use it. (Though IME sows are untidier than boars)

I bought Megazorb when I got GP3 as a piglet as it was soft .
I've used rodent safe wood cat litter (but I wouldn;t put it in my C&C , it would get everywhere)
I shred card in a confetti cut shredder so 'free' bedding but it takes a while.

Old towels under the fleece to help absorbancy . Coarse fleece works better not the plush ones (Ikea grey striped here) no fabric conditioner .

My favourite hay is from Jolleys (good quality and smells slightly tobacco-ey) it seems to be the softest
I've tried the hay with added things but they ignored/peed on it

I've upgraded my boar+sow to a bigger C&C (its 5 x 3 grids , each grid is 14" ) they have a rabbit tunnel, a big cardboard box and a box of Readigrass. No 'pop-corning' but lots of rumbling.

Your babies should leap round like tiny bronco

We get hay from a local farm shop. £4.50 for a bale and it lasts ages.

Piles of hay everywhere are honestly the best thing for them in terms of free access (they should constantly have easy access to hay to prevent gut stasis, things like hay racks discourage eating). It’s also brilliant for nesting, bedding, sleeping, playing etc. Mental stimulation another thing it’s great for, a happy pig is a pig that can burrow.

We use old towels with fleece on top. It can get a bit annoying to clean / change but it’s been the best for them. The tend to spend most of the time buried in thier hay though. We use a rubber brush or a really stiff horse hair brush to sweep out twice daily and change the change twice a week. Fleece gets shaken outside then all goes into a horse tack bag into the wash, it keeps the hay / hair from spreading.

Please be aware that putting pigs out in the day can cause illnesses when the temperature change is extreme, I’d avoid having them out at all now until May tbh.

I brought mine inside early Oct (they have a shed , they normally sleep in an unheated bedroom then go out to their shed with a little heater and fresh hay -kept indoors to keep it nice temperture . It all gets set up 30 minutes before they go out)

Last year and this year they spent winter inside 24/7 but this year they've come inside earlier. My pigs are all 4.6yo (I was thinking they're 4 but they're older)

It's too cold for grazing now but they;ll accept a plate of cut grass

For hay , you'd need your pigs' bodysize/day . The haycookies are dense and heavier than loose hay. I use deep hay in their shed .
They do like to eat and pooh in the same hay so you;ll end up wasting some.

If you live near a Poundstretcher, their sell the boxes of hay cookies cheaper than 'that other place' and Amazon

They've also currently got bags of judging by the amount they are getting through
really nice eating hay ... soft and smells lovely, bit of a mare if they sit on it and pee on it tho

Many thanks for the bedding tips. I will have a think about the megazorb and fleece. I got them a big bag of PAH hay for today. It is cheaper than the Burgess Excel but still seems to be soft and sweet-smelling. I have had guinea-pigs before, some years ago, but they were hardy outdoor types. These new little girlies will be indoors at night all year round, partly to make sure they get plenty of attention, and partly because we sometimes have foxes visiting our garden.

Here are some pigtures GP1 (dark tan and white, rough-haired) is very relaxed and cuddly. GP2 (light tan with white on face) is more nervous but likes her food, which is helping to bring her round. They are currently browsing on a selection of leaves from our allotment (apple, raspberry, strawberry and dandelion), since it is still a bit cold to let them out. Cavallo nero and green beans also seem to be favourites so far.

Ohhh they are lovely piggies

Food is the way forward , these rodents are ruled by their stomachs. You'll never be able to sneak a bag of crisps again without Wheek we have mouths y'know

They'll need their MN nicknames !

I didn't know piggies liked apple/strawberry leaves. Good to know!

Hi I havent RTFT however if not already mentioned go to a horse shop if you can a 25kg massive bag/package of shavings is £7 to £10 and is for a horse so will last you ages ! Its dust extracted too , they sell megazorb too in huge sacks , wood pellets are good! You wet them for horses they expand and kept expanding when wet then you clear the wee out weekly or yearly so a guinea pig would be super clean and cheap on those .

Our guinea pigs had straw £1.75 a bale from farmer huge bales lasted ages and hay from farmer for £4.00 a Huge bale enough to feed a horse for a week . Ours lived a VERY long time and were always happy.

Its just having the space to store it. Xx

You need to be careful with equine products.

I used to buy some chopped cardboard from a Saddlery but a lot of bedding material is scented to stop the horses eating it .

Megazorb and Auboise (hemp based) is Piggie safe.

I tried Megazorb twice , its ok to spot clean but I do prefer the litter ( The Range sells some - small mammal safe , in a yellow bag, irs cat litter but says " rodent safe" )

And you need storage (dry and secure) for these massive bags

Yes to the above , my horses still eat the scented stuff lavendar usually 😂. Our horse shops also do small animal bedding alot cheaper than the main chain stores like pets @ home etc x .

Your piggies are v.cute !

Gorgeous piggies. I had mine on fleece but I was not getting on with it. Mine really love hay. They want to sit in hay, snuggle in hay, sleep in hay. So I ended up going back to dust extracted shavings on top of newspaper and lots of lovely hay. They are now very happy. Actually they currently have Fitch rather than shavings. I am not convinced by Fitch.

Considering trying Megazorb but slightly put off by reports that it stinks. I think it is hard to say “yes this is the best bedding” because different things work. Mine popcorned like mad when I went back to lots of hay, I couldn’t go back to fleece again now.

I use washable incontinence pads (available on Amazon) in my cage with a layer of wood pellets underneath, and a pile of hay (which they sleep on, pee on and eat - the pee makes all the difference, apparently) on top.

If you use something that needs to be washed (pads or fleece) buy a horse bag. Your washing machine will thank you!