New guinea pig Mum!!

[Anon1983678]

Hi looking for some advice, getting 2 guinea pigs next week and its my first time having them. What do people recommend for bedding? Was thinking fleece but can anyone recommend any nice absorbant ones? Or is wood shavings an easier option? Cage size is 70 x 140. Thanks in advance

Look on the Kavee website. We have the large fleece bedding. We put it in the washing machine once a week, it’s really absorbent. We have wood shaving at the start and they’re just a nightmare really, the mess got everywhere

We tried fleece but found it stunk and you have to wash it constantly.
Now use horse bedding called Aubiose and only have to clean them out once or twice a week.
Cage size sounds good.

Oh you will love them they are amazing little things! Iet them free range more than that though,they aren't cage animals,is your garden secure?have fun they are wonderful!

Guinea pigs are very respiratory sensitive so shavings and sawdust can irritate them and they are really untidy animals too .. fleece is popular but no strong scents (irritating) or fabric conditioner . You need something underneath to absorb .I found cheap ikea fleeces wicked away moisture best.
If you get a pet bag to wash them they protect your machine from bits of hay.

My pigs liked hay in a huge box to sleep in , layered of newspaper (take out staples) and puppy pads underneath to absorb. They didn't chew the paper or pads as there was hay and cardboard.
In hot weather or if they had an eye injury through 'hay poke' then solid hay biscuits and either horse bedding ((one we got was tiny cardboard pieces) or fine shredder cut thin cardboard/loo roll tubes/cereal boxes

Did I mention they are untidy 😄I used to love doing the big clean in their shed when they were out in their grass runs then put then to bed tired and full of grass ..They ransacked it in minutes
In winter they were indoors
They are lovely animals you won't find sweeter,but harder work than people think .
Enjoy them

Thanks so much for replies, so im thinking fleece now or has anyone used bathmats? Ive also seen pee pads on amazon that have good reviews. So was thinking newspaper on bottom of cage, followed by fleece or bathmats and those pee pads scattered throughout on top. Does that sound ok?

Oh and also meant to ask how often do fleeces need washed, could i do once a week if swapping out the pee pads every few days?
Also, 70isaLimitNotaTarget do you just put 1 of the ikea fleces in cage or layer them up? Thanks

I got some Primark bathmats for our boys indoor cage but they were quite tidy compared to the other pigs .Started out with two uncastrated brothers then of course you add more as one dies. Over the years we had 4 sows ,2 neutered boars and 2 entire boars.
Ours weren't chewers thankfully except cardboard.
Definitely buy some pet bedding bags for fleece otherwise you'll clog up the washing machine ! I had some old rewashable bedpan leftover from the DC

Fleece looks nice in the cage and I tried most things but simplest was newspaper over puppy pads . Newspaper changed every day and the bedpads/puppy pads every few days .Fresh hay daily they sleep/eat/toilet in hay (messy little animals)😂

Rewashable bed pads (not bedpans)
Life would be easier if Guinea pigs would use a bedpan
The 2 original boars chose a corner of the haybox each which made their clean up easier but the sows just pooh as they walk along.

"No we won't use a litterbox" they scorned ""we're not rabbits"

I have washable waterproof pet mats on the floor. They have a large tray with hay at either end and wood shavings in the middle with a cardboard hide over it. They do the majority of their weeing on the shaving, while they happily munch on the hay front the safety of their box. There is also newspaper under their wood tunnel as it gets weed on. Change the newspaper and wet shavings daily and the mats go in the washing machine weekly. Love our piggies so much, they are endlessly entertaining.

I've been keeping g pigs for over 30 years and currently have 3 (2 sows, 1 neutered boar). I put washable incontinence mats (amazon) on bottom then fleece blankets on top. I have two cardboard boxes full of hay and their little hideys.

Oh and btw, @Anon1983678 , Congratulations and welcome to "Wheekersville" as it were! Wheek, wheek wheek!!!

Depends what room you're keeping them and how tolerant you are of pee smells.

Thanks for all the responses, last question! Should the washable pads go on bottom of cage or on top of the fleeces? X

Fleece as your top layer with the absorbing pad underneath so the pee wicks through the fleece and stays dry on the top. Which is why it works best with no fabric conditioner. You need a non fragrance detergent as their little noses are right at floor level .

They are lovely little creatures the noises they come out with - purr ,squeak,wheek,countering, little 'nom nom nom' noises . And sometimes they sing like a bird chirruping which is beyond weird and there is no proper explanation why

Chuntering not countering (autocorrect )

Thank you so much, you have been so helpful.. im excited to get them now and get their cage set up. I will definately get the fragrance free detergent too 😊

Before you welcome the cavies have you checked no one has allergies to the hay or fur .
My DD was fine with our first two but allergic to the third (rex) and even worse to the sixth (teddy) it was a skin redness not breathing

People will tell you they never bite. Not the case They very rarely bite they do have rodent teeth but rarely use them If someone gets bitten it's either because their hand smells of nice vegetables or they have scared or upset the piggies

Have you got your piggies already chosen ?

After trying various things for ours, I now use washable puppy pads underneath microfibre bath mats, and a separate big shallow box of hay on paper lining. They love to jump in and sleep on that, so it needs regular changing, but I put it all with their veggies in the compost bin and it makes great compost! It's a lot of washing of the mats, but it keeps them fairly clean and dry. Mine also love a run around in the grass outside when it's not too muddy.

My best tip, though is when you give them a bath, anti-dandruff shampoo seems to help their skin. My long haired piggie seems particularly prone to itchy skin, but when I wash him with anti-dandruff shampoo, he is much happier.

Why do you bath them? Could that be causing the bad skin?

We have 2 GPs in a large L shaped setup with fleece and a bathmat in the kitchen . The bathmat is changed 2x per week and the fleeces once each.

Yes don't bath them.and do have a bigger set up, and outdoor run area so they can graze properly.

Do a new photo about an hour after the Guinea pigs have been in there 😆

I used to love cleaning the pig shed and setting down clean paper, hay in their sleeping areas and moving things round to keep them busy .
They'd come in , bellies full of grass "we're so knackered...and stuffed......oh hay!"

Boar Gp1 did a massive pee just at the edge of the haybox them charged in . Boar GP2 ran through his brothers pee into the tunnel he'd created.

Half an hour later it looked like a bomb had gone off .
And they didn't appreciate things moved "when was this decided?" ( they aren't clever animals 😉)

@70isaLimitNotaTarget Yes that was taken in the gap between GPs after DH had bespoked the enclosure stand.
But it has been like that for over a year now and works well. We spot clean twice daily and sweep the floor regularly.

I found this video very helpful:

Be prepared to separate them in a few months if necessary. Two boars can turn on each other as they mature.