Guinea pigs

bizzylizzy

We have 2 elderly guinea pigs (well DD has) and use newspaper and sawdust to line the cage and straw in the 'bedroom' section. The idea is they make a nest in the straw and keep warm. Being guinea pigs of very little brain they end up sleeping on top of the straw, not in it - but there is nothing I can do about that!
Anyway, I bought some more sawdust yesterday and it has gone up! So I wondered if there were any rabbit/guinea pig owners on here who use anything cheaper in their cages?

tru

We use wood-based cat litter, it's great at absorbing smells. One of our pigs is male and much smellier than the females

We were told not to use straw because it's quite stiff (dangerous for their eyes), hay is much softer. The rabbit is blind in one eye after being poked by straw :sad:

Ours don't use the bedding properly either - they eat it :rotfl:

redballoon_2

do you have a field cose to wear you live? you could use dried grasses...

or if you have a shredder, use shredded newspaper/paper/junk mail etc...

LizD_2

I have one of those plastic 'igloos' which mine hide in. Although its' not really big enough for both of them, they squeeze in and keep each other warm. I bought a huge bag of shavings from the local saddlers for about £5. This could be an option for you, but remember to check for any chunks of wood as horse bedding isn't as finely chipped as pet bedding.

WeirdoMagnet

It might be cheaper to buy a huge (horse size) bale of shavings from your local tack shop, rather than the small ones you get for small furries at the pet shop/supermarket. Whoops just seen that LizD has already said similar! If it is a sealed, quality controlled, dust extracted bale there shouldn't be any chunks of wood.

redsetter03

I`m lucky enough to have an uncle who`s a farmer, and he lets me have free hay for my guinea pig....Are there any local farmers who might be willing to do a deal with you?

redsetterx

vivaladiva

Even if you have to buy a whole bale of hay it is much cheaper than the pet shop stuff.:D
Our guinea pigs jump up and down on hay until it is flat, however much you give them!

aimeelister

I have found shredded paper is best at bedding as they eat the hay or trample on top of it. I have a plastic igloo thing and fill that with my old bank statements, then it gets put on the compost heap. I have tried the wood cat litter (use it for the rats instead of sawdust as it makes em sneeze) and the pigs ate it (they really are stupid!) I now get sawdust from the local mill which sells it cheap and is dust extracted.

Sarahsaver

D'oh!
Thought this would be a thread of guinea pig recipes LOL;)

patchwork_cat

We used to buy a bale of hay and a large bag of sawdust from an animal feeds place near us. Shredded paper is good too.

Sarahsaver

We have some stuff for the chickens bedding which is made of dried cabbage. Looks like straw.