Stinky Piggies

Molly41

I have two lady Guineas. They live the life of luxury in a very posh cage inside. However I have noticed that they smell more now it is winter. They are both in very good health and have a good diet with plenty of hay, nuggets, fresh food and water.

I wondered what bedding other owners use and how you clean out cages and how often? Does anyone know how to neutralise the smell as I notice it the day after a total clean out of their very large cage.

jaqui59

Do your Guinea Girls have long or short hair? ... If they have long hair, their urine can soak into their hair and skin and make THEM smell, and you either have to bathe them fairly regularly, or cut off the long hair around their rear ends.

As far as cleaning their cage is concerned, I find myself spot cleaning about 3 times a day to keep the smell down, and thoroughly wash their cage once a week with a vinegar/water solution to neutralise the urine.

The bedding I use is Megazorb and I find its rate of absorption very good, although it doesn't mask smells.

Pine Shavings can cause breathing problems for small animals. Not every animal will develop respiratory issues from this bedding, like not everybody who smokes will get sick from that, but it's best not to take risks with the health of your pets ... There are so many safe alternatives, why take a chance?

Molly41

Thanks x
One is long hair and regularly bath and cut.

I do tend to spot clean too but not so regularly - perhaps that is the key.

I use tumble fresh/ carefresh - mega expensive though.

krlyr

Megazorb is very similar to Carefresh but tends to be cheaper. Comes in big bags. I know lots of people mix that kind of bedding with slightly cheaper but less absorbant beddings to get the benefit of both - e.g. Megazorb mixed with hemp bedding. Hemp is really cheap for a large bale but it's not hugely absorbant so the Megazorb does the trick there, and no phenols from either. I used cardboard square bedding for most of my small furries but I'm not entirely sure how that would smell with guinea pigs - but it's really cheap as a bale is really compressed so unpacks to a huge amount.
Some little pots of bicarbonate of soda near the cage may help deodourise, ditto with vinegar or lemon juice. I used to keep a spray bottle of 50:50 vinegar or lemon juice to wipe down cages with as I cleaned them out as they've got great deodourising qualities, especially when it comes to the wee smell that plastic cage bases can harbour. Don't forget to give the bars of the cage a clean too as they can sometimes get a bit neglected! If you have wooden or cardboard toys, you might want to replace them more frequently (instead of spending a fortune on cardboard "Chubes", go to your local carpet store and ask for the inners of carpet rolls - they may even saw them down to smaller pieces if you ask nicely) or use plastic alternatives that are washable.

Kavanne

I volunteer at a small animal rescue. We only new newspaper + hay or straw on top but we change both every day.

olias

Ditto, with my pigs I did the same, and never had any problems.

Olias

keystone

Agree. Clean daily. Their wee is very pungent. We have four of the little blighters.

Cheers