cleaning guinea pig hutches

LizD_2

troo wrote:

PoshPaws, thanks for that, I didn't know pigs shouldn't have apple. Mine love them, they haven't had any problems but maybe they've been lucky. I'll stop giving it to them.

One of my pigs loves to kiss people too

GPs can have apple, just that some of them do have an 'allergy', usually its the ones who like it best! If you've had no problems, there's no reason not to continue feeding yours apple, just keep it as a treat.

jo_b_2

Find out if you have a local joiners workshop in the area, I have befriended the one up the road and get a massive bin-bag full of wood shavings every few weeks.

Recycling at its best! :cool:

I don't use anything to 'disinfect' the cage - personally I think any chemicals could be more harmful to the animal that the natural bacteria. I line the cage with old newspaper, top with wood shavings and just sweep it out thoroughly once a week.

All the dirty bedding goes into the composter - don't forget that!

giggs11

jo_b wrote:

Find out if you have a local joiners workshop in the area, I have befriended the one up the road and get a massive bin-bag full of wood shavings every few weeks.

Recycling at its best! :cool:

make sure he isn't using pine or cedar woods in the shavings as these are toxic to small animals http://www.afrma.org/beddings_wood.htm

jo_b_2

giggs11 wrote:

make sure he isn't using pine or cedar woods in the shavings as these are toxic to small animals http://www.afrma.org/beddings_wood.htm

Does this mean toxic if they accidentally eat them?

My bunny has survived 3 years with wood shavings without any adverse effects!

tawnyowls

When I used to keep pigs, we had a home-made scraper, which was basically a triangular-shaped piece of metal stuck into a piece of wood (sort of like a Dutch hoe, but with the pointy end towards the handle, so the flat end pointed down) - this was excellent for scraping out all the sawdust, even into the corners. Bit of Jeyes fluid in water and a scrubbing brush got rid of any smell.

Claireybear

I used to breed guinea pigs, mine were fine (including all the little ones) without the use of any shop-bought cleaning products.

I lined the hutches woth newspaper, covered with sawdust and the bottom of the hutch would stay dry and would just need brushing out.

If you want a cheap, natural cleaner then a few drops of lavender oil in a bucket of warm water kills all bacteria and smells lovely - and lavender helps keep flies away too!

in_my_wellies

I use a wall paper scraper to clean out.

giggs11

jo_b wrote:

Does this mean toxic if they accidentally eat them?

My bunny has survived 3 years with wood shavings without any adverse effects!

it's something to do with them breathing in toxic fumes from pine or cedar wood. my dd's had guinea pigs a couple years back and one had a bad chest infection and the vet told us that if we use wood shavings to make sure they were aspen and not pine or cedar.