My mom and I sew our own cage liners we use towels in between. All the cage liners online are so expensive lol. We get the fabric at thrift stores, wash it, and make sure it wicks.
This scared be so bad because I recently switched from shavings to fleece a few months ago and I always worry you know “what if it’s not working right,” so when I got the post notification it freaked me out😂😂 anyway, great video!
Some things I've found that hopefully will help: 1) Having fleece and absorbent liner be separate materials allows for a gentle cycle with the fleece and more aggressive with the absorbent stuff. Its a great way to recycle old towels and T shirts. 2) Fleece drains, as you demonstrated. To wash my fleece I use hand wash cycle with no spin in my front loader. After the cycle completes, I let it sit for about 10 minutes while the fleece drains off naturally, then go back and run a spin only cycle. This way the fleece balances out for the high speed spin very quickly. 3) Use low heat dry on the fleece! 4) Particularly in low humidity climates if you can let the fleece sit for a while after drying before unloading the dryer, it gives the sheets a chance to loose their charge. If you go right at cycle completion and try to pull them out you are going to get jolted repeatedly with some wicked static shocks! 5) For each of my pig's hides I use standard size cafeteria trays underneath them, with absorbent layer ( 2 old t shirts ) and a fleece on top. These I change twice daily. Since the trays are over the pen fleece, this keeps it a lot drier. 6) This is SO much more cost effective in the long term than shavings, and less messy. And also, think about it... would you prefer that YOUR house was full of shavings, and you had to go slogging through them wherever you go? I didn't think so. All you people using shavings...your pigs told me to tell you this. Flat level fleece is much easier for pigs to move around in, particularly for the elderly.
I would recommend bed protector pads for human over “puppy pads”. They have pheromones in them that are not at all good for guinea pigs. You can find people pads in the adult diaper location
My mum sews our own fleece since it is very expense online, I got very scared when I found out that there was different types of fleece but the fleece I use is polar fleece which I was thankful to find out. We clean our fleece by sweeping it down then spraying them with water and put vinegar in the washer with it. I also spot clean it twice a day. Thank you so much for the great advice. My mum came to you when I wanted guinea pig really bad and you convinced her to get them for me, thank you. I love your guinea pigs they are so cute.
What I do is I buy fleece from Walmart. I fold it in half and then in half again and it takes 2 per each 2 by 4 cage or 7 for my pair of boys cage cause their cage is bigger. Then I put hand towels where they pee the most like where they eat. I change out the hand towels 1-2 times a day. The day after cage cleaning I will flip the fleece over to the other side and then the day after that (so the day before cage cleaning) I flip it inside out and then I do a full cage cleaning every 3 days (so 2-3 times a week). I find the cages stays perfectly dry that way :)
Different types of fleece I noticed but didn't know they had names. Thanks. I just used trial & error to get the ones that wicked the best and use cut up pieces of floor rug for pigs to sit on. Now I'm switching from rug to a type of *upholstery* fabric that dries faster. Great video. Keep up the good work of educating piggy lovers.
I use hemming tape to adhere anti-pill fleece to incontinent bed pads. Sewing by hand took too long, and I'm not that great with a sewing machine. Found this to work pretty well for anyone wanting to save money.. Amazon has some pretty cheap fleece..
So informative and useful!! I've seen the Fleece use and care video you did some years ago. It was one of your first videos I ever saw. I always thought of your videos as more serious, being that they show the viewer how to properly and seriously care for piggies for their optimal health, safety and well-being. Whereas other videos leaned more towards fluff like decorative and imaginative cages and cuteness of the piggies. Those videos were fine for pure fun and escapism. But your videos have always been my go-to for accurate, serious info. Because of your videos my piggies have much longer, healthier, happier lives than they would've otherwise. I thank you so much because I really didn't know much about how to properly take care of piggies, and so my previous piggies many years ago suffered because of my ignorance. God bless you. I truly thank God for you. There are many happy, healthy piggies in the world and more competent, confident piggie parents because of you. 😄Thank you!!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ 9 hearts to you for my 9 piggies!!
I changed to fleece a year ago and I'm so glad I did, I made my own liners with the help of my mum, did my research first on what to use and from your video I did it right
Your videos are so thoughtful. You must have helped people worldwide. Thankyou for your compassion and great content. You always brighten my day! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I fold towels in two and use as an absorbent layer then add fleece throws and fold the excess over the correx!only works in a c& c though. Smell was awful in old cage, had to 6se shavings
Thank you!! This was very helpful! Im thinking about changing to fleece liners, because my pigs get all the bedding out of their cage and its a lot of mess. Im thinking about making fleece liners myself because with ordering the shipping can be very very expensive. I still want to do some more research before starting on this project.
thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge with us you and your family are simply amazing.. also 4:49 may be the cutest picture I have seen in a very long time. lol
That is sooooooo true abby you have showed me the proper way to use fleece thank you 💕 I have now been watching your channel going on 2 years you are amazing and have been thru so much. Thank you for helping people like me give the best care we can to our fur babies we love you 💕💕💕💕
This video is really helpful!💕 I’m currently using shavings but tomorrow I’m switching to fleece,finally!doing lots of research into washing and absorbers!praying my five boys will enjoy it more than shavings! ❤️
You are amazing! What an exceptional pet parent, and my inspiration to do the same. I have 2 boys and two girl piggies which I'm just crazy about, and I am following your routine. I am also using fleece for my little dwarf bunny as well. I do spot cleaning twice a day and I clean their cages twice a week. Thank you so much for everything that you do for your lovely pets and are teaching us to do the same. I have no words
I love fleece liners and bedding and changed to it when I first found your channel,it's also warmer for skinny pig's to. Looking forward to the next video Abby. 😍
I’m glad you made this video. I’m looking at getting my son a guinea pig soon. But he’s not getting one until I know how to take care of it. Because I know it will be me doing it. I have been trying to learn about the types of bedding now for 2 guinea pigs. So thank you for this.
skinnypigs1 yea I seen that. We are gonna order the 2x4 c&c cage and get everything set up before we even get them. Thank you for the reply! I’ll use those links!
Fantastic video! I did an animal management diploma so I'm really picky about animal care and you didn't miss anything so well done. Also I love your piggies
I have an extremely sensitive nose & cannot stand the smell of the fleece after poops have been on it. So I was never able to fully feel comfortable w/ just sweeping up the poops. I quickly discovered that if I was going to spend that time sweeping up poops, it was faster & cleaner to just give them new fleece. After hundreds to over a thousand in fleece purchases in 3.5 yrs, I switched to Kirkland puppy pads, kiln dried pine bedding & smaller fleece pads & cozy cups. Upsetting to know so much quality fleece tossed, but we were really overwhelmed between 3 kids activities & human laundry. I used to pre-wash fleece by hand for 2+ yrs as well. Until my wrists gave out. And then I’d double to quadruple rinse the fleece in the washer. So much wasted water. Liners in the landfill aren’t great either. I think it’s important to note that it’s OK to use paper bedding for a few days, then go to fleece, and go to pine bedding. Piggies will popcorn for their favorite (usually it was fleece but could’ve just been from pattern excitement & flatter surface). Do what works for you that particular cage clean. They won’t care as long as they have a cozy sleeping area, hay, pellets, water, & daily veggies. ☺️
Arrggghhhh whatever. I agree with this 100%. The fleece smell for me was so bad!! (I had the puppy pad liners under mine) I had to find another solution so in less than 3-4 months of doing the fleece I ended up tossing it all out! I only buy bedding for them now and they still popcorn and love it! Plus it doesn’t stink at all! I clean them out once per week and never smell that horrible urine and poop smell so we are all happy over here 😃
I agree with your second paragraph, people can use what works for them. As for the first paragraph I can't really tell if all of that is very exaggerated as it seems a bit extreme in behaviour. The fleece could have been donated to rescues or shelters to use for animals in need vs thrown out. Glad you are not using fleece for your bedding and found something more suiting to your lifestyle.
@@BrittneyBeatsxo donating fleece and unwanted liners to rescues and shelters would have been a great idea. They can use them for all types of animals.
This is a very informative video, but I had to stop using fleece. Mine would smell horrible after 2-3 days. Now I use the odor bedding and my piggies love it just as much. I spot clean through the week, but clean the entire cage once per week and the smell is never bad anymore. They do have some fleece beds and pads in their cage, I just don’t use the fleece for the entire cage anymore. Great video as always! You’ve taught me so much before I got my piggies.
skinnypigs1 Yes because I only have 1 C&C cage for my 2 babies, but I wouldn’t be able to afford to do it for 2+ cages it can get really expensive. Thanks for always sharing the best content for us.
None of my girls have ever chewed the fleece but my Petra will bite and pull the smaller liners that i put their houses and beds on like shes trying to move it when i do the daily small liner change
@Alina and Mishka Wicking fleece can be so confusing here is a link to the most straight forward way to wick your fleece. I hope this helps. www.calicavycollective.com/2011/09/secrets-of-fleece-bedding-for-guinea.html?m=1
I bought guinea dad linear and after 3 days it stunk of pee so so bad we washed it when it arrived and spot cleaned twice a day. We can’t wash the fleece once every 3 days it’s effort since we haven’t got a dryer and takes longer to dry
Hi Abby! I've been a fan of this channel for a year and just made my first purchase of fleece tonight!! We are so excited to make the switch to fleece from shavings, but ouch, the cost!! I have two intact boars in a 2x4 C&C that get along beautifully. I bought two reversible cage liners, a matching tunnel in each print, and four double U-Hall 12x12 pee pads. Is this enough to get started? What else do you recommend getting to fully get going?
How do you condition fleece before first use? Does fleece shrink on high dryer heat ? Can you wring fleece to remove excess water? My 8 year old piggie likes the first fleece. Thanks for video. I like your piggies and kitties.❤🐹😺
I wash it several times with tide pods clear, then dry on high heat. Yes it will initially shrink so I always ask for liners made bigger than the cage.
Thank You So Much!! I use fleece doubled over & little fleece cutouts in his favorite corner. I use terry clothes under his house. Plus I have him a hay loft with doubled cutout fleece. He also gets changed daily. New hay & food as well. Should I do it differently?
I reseantly rescued a baby guinea girl from being just let go in the wild of new York.I can afford to take care of her feed her fresh veggies fruit hay pellets and we made her a cage.but I can't afford her fleece bedding. Do you know of any organization that will donate a couple pieces until I can save the money up. I have had to plan an emergency trip back down to Ga. for my father this week. Thank you for all helpful information and the love you show your babies. By the way her name is Pepa Pig.🐹🐹🐹🐹🐹
Does this apply for using fleece in a rabbit pen? I was planning on using a foam interlocking mats for the base on the floor. Would everything else apply for a rabbit? They are litter box trained but I understand accidents can still happen for rabbits so I would imagine an absorbing layer would be good for them as well.
@@skinnypigs1 The rabbit channels I have seen like 101Rabbits and StormyRabbits use fleece as a cage liner over the foam interlocking tiles. They never mentioned a problem with rabbits eating the fleece. But I will keep an eye out to make sure she doesn't nibble on it. They use fleece as the flooring and on the shelves and over the hidey house for rabbits.
I’m getting 2 guinea pigs soon and my parents brought GuineaDad liners for me, but since we’re buying 2- one for the base and one for the loft, my parents don’t want to spend another 100 on the liners so, where should I place my pigs while we wash the liners?
I started making fleece bedding for my boys it's so much cleaner and easier to clean the cage as an absorbent I cut up some torn up towels and used them and also bought the puppy pads. I just learned of the u haul pads and am going to get some of those as soon as I can. Is there away I can show you pictures of what I have made? I am not a pro and do the best I can. I sew 2 blanket's together and I change the cage every 2 to 4 days.
My layers are puppy pads, uhaul blanket and fleece. My question is I put a single layer of extra fleece where they sleep and eat, should I not do this?
The first one I poured way over what they would pee to just really show how it passes through, the second one I poured more what they would pee (still was more than what they would pee) to show how it stays dry.
Thanks. Great video. I just changed to fleece about two months ago. I was wondering for the future, how do I know when the fleece is too old and needs to be replaced with a brand new fleece. I know this won't be for a few more years, but I'm not sure what signs to look for. Thanks
My parents are worried that my dog won’t be able to cope with guinea pigs in the house. My dog is a bichon frise and barks at everything, but the guinea pigs are going to be up higher than she can see, (she’s tiny) so do you think it’ll be a problem????
Guinea pigs are prey animals and startle easily. If your dog barks a lot, that is going to scare them a lot. Unless you have them in a part of the house the dog cannot go and where the barking is quieter.
@Skinnypigs1 Thanks for this video. I use uhaul pads under my single layer of fleece. Should I double the u-haul pads or is a single layer of the pads ok.
@@skinnypigs1 Yes, I'm seeing the difference when doubling the uhaul pads once I tried it (after the fact I saw it in another one of your videos) Thanks!
Thank u so much ! I was using my fleece wrong . I have a double layer of fleece that I have been using . I don't like to put them in bedding . Btw what in the world is bumble foot? I've never heard of that term .
My biggest problem with fleece is getting the hair off of the fleece. I also have cats and a dog and their hair doesn't stick anywhere near as much as the pig hair does. How do you get rid of hair on the fleece?
While I was putting one of my skinny pigs back in their cage her foot got caught in the cage and she got really scared. Now she’s limping just a little bit , she doesn’t cry when I applied pressure to her leg so I’m hoping she’s just a little sore but will be okay. Any tips on what to look out for?
I was planning on making my own fleece pads for my rabbits and I was going to use crib pads. Would that still be safe? Also like the uhaul blankets are they like the actual blankets or like the gray pad with like bits of little color in there?
I’m getting new fleece very soon and I’m not going to be using those pieces of fleece anymore. I will definitely make sure to not use any bleach on my New Guinea pig fleece
This has nothing to do with bedding but I recently got another guinea pig to go with my old one but the only thing they do is fight and I'm scared that they won't ever get along! The newer one (Bull) bit some fur off of the other and when I looked things up about it, it said not to interfere unless blood is drawn. The old one (Dende) also let out a high pitch squeal when bull bit him and it said that's a noise meaning of one submitting to dominant one but they still kept fighting. Being that I'm only 13 years old I can't get another cage that's big enough for the both them and my parents won't listen to me, I'm scared of what may happen. Is it because I keep interfering? Should I find another friend for dende since I can't get two cages? Please help 😟
They need to be introduced in neutral territoy. Lots of hay. No tunnels and lots of food scatter fed. See the guinea pig forum for great bonding advice. Good luck
So if I had multiple absorbent layers, fleece then towel then uhual, is that fine. Then I just do daily spot clean and wash the fleece and towels about every 4 days
I think it's also depends on how many piggies you have and how big their cage is too. Also your personal preference in terms of smell because some piggies take a while till they smell and others don't take that long
Genevieve Brune I thought fleece was a plastic product. Hmm good thing I didn’t like that liner anyway😂 it was only a small section that had melted not the entire thing maybe something else was in the dryer and that melted on to it. It was over a year ago
It is a synthetic but it still shouldn't melt in a dryer. I wonder what yours was made of. Maybe that spot got stuck in a hot spot in your dryer. I maybe my own liners and to prevent shrinking I stated doing 2 cycles on medium temp.