Unsolicited Advice: Fleece bedding
Hello, all! It's a stunning Sunday morning here at the Ivory Mermaid Cottage. We're taking it slow this morning after last night's house party celebrating my buying a house for the first time back. I don't normally stay up so late, so I'm moving a bit slow, and I thought it would be a good idea to blog about our recent change in rodent bedding.
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I've owned rodents of some species or another since I was a child. Hamsters, Guinea pigs, and chinchillas have usually been around either as a kid, during college, and as an adult. My first Guinea pig was Nibbles, and I got him when I was in 5th grade. My first chinchilla was when I was in college, and I named him Nimbus Cloud. I don't remember my first hamster, although I do remember having one named Blackie, and somehow my father killed it while I was on vacation with my mother... Anyway... And now I have my first rabbit in my late 20s along with two chinchillas and two Guinea pigs. For all that time, I've used shredded recycled paper bedding.
When you use bedding, you're spending a chunk of money on something that will end up in the garbage. For a chinchilla, you're throwing away bedding about once a week to once every other week. For Makoa the rabbit, I was throwing away bedding sometimes every three days because rabbit urine is so potent. With Apple Butter, the baby guinea pig, she peed everywhere and needed a cage cleaning on a regular basis. That's a ton of work putting your critters elsewhere so you can clean their home, dumping cages, rinsing out soiled bedding still stuck to the cage bottom, drying it off with paper towels or an actual towel, and being bent in half as you distribute new bedding inside. It's also a ton of money going out with the garbage. I would buy the natural-colored CareFresh bedding from either Amazon, Walmart, or Petsmart. I would typically get the 60-liter bag, which, on Amazon, is about $24. I would go through one of those bags in about two weeks, so that's nearly $600 a year I needed to budget for bedding that would end up taking up space in a landfill.
If, by chance, you use aspen chips or non-paper-based bedding, there are health concerns as well. Those odors and dust can seriously harm your pocket pet's respiratory system. It could cause allergies, sneezing, infections, and even shorten your pet's life.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is another way!
Allow me to introduce you to fleece bedding.
I first came across fleece bedding as an option while watching the Little Adventures YouTube channel. A young woman in Europe posts weekly videos of her five Guinea pigs either eating, wheeking, or playing along with helpful hints and advice on how to properly care for your Guinea pigs. She recently became sponsored by GuineaDad, a cool company that makes rodent-friendly, healthy, pet store-alternative products for most pocket pets. She receives fleece bedding from them and made a video all about it. A whole new concept opened up for me!
Fleece bedding is a safe, comfortable way to line your cages whether for a chinchilla, guinea pig, or rabbit. The only type of pocket pet who might not enjoy fleece would be like hamsters, gerbils, and other types of smaller critters. Hamsters and gerbils like to bury themselves in bedding as well as stockpile food. Fleece doesn't allow for that type of instinctive hiding and burying, so fleece wouldn't work as well,especially if you went for fleece without pockets. For rabbits, chinchillas, and Guinea pigs, however, it is the greatest invention.
You can get fleece from two types of places - a local fabrics store or from a place that makes fleece bedding specifically for pocket pets, such as GuineaDad. I have both types. What's cool about the fleece made for small mammals is that it usually comes with pockets for burrowing. So far, none of my critters have shown any interest in the pockets. I also have lots of fleece that I found in the fabric section of Walmart. The cute designs just made me squeak with excitement - baby giraffes, baby jungle animals, and little peas! Recently, I also got Carolina Panthers colors, which are currently found in both chinchilla cages. Getting fleece from a fabric store is very cheap. I always buy enough to fold over the fleece at least once so there is a double layer at the bottom of the cage. For the pea-patterned fleece, I purchased 4 feet for only $3. The blue-and-black check pattern was the most expensive at $12 because I accidentally told my boyfriend, "Ok, take this to the Fabrics counter and tell them I want four yards." ...I meant four FEET! It would be have been significantly cheaper if I hadn't bought 12 feet of fleece. Math is important.
When cleaning, I pull the fleece up into a wadded ball, take it outside, and shake out any hay and droppings. Then, I pop the fleece into washable garment bag, throw it into the washing machine on Delicate, and then go do whatever I have to do. Later, I come back and either put it in the dryer or, sometimes, let it air dry in the sunshine. If you have two pieces of fleece per cage, then your animals don't have to wait for the wash to be done. You just place the other piece of fleece, which was previously cleaned, and presto! Their cage is clean!! Or, I usually let Makoa, Butter Stick, and Apple Butter enjoy floor time during the washing/drying process. Then, they go back home to a clean cage.
In between washings, you can take a small broom and dust pan to sweep up droppings or old food as well. The fleece makes it very easy. Of course, every so often, you need to clean the sides of the cage, food dishes, water bottles, and toys to make sure they stay clean as well. Otherwise... you're good to go. It is the simplest, nicest cleaning process I've ever experienced. I can't believe I wasted so much money and so many years of work cleaning cages with bedding. You also get to have fun, cute patterns in your cages as well. And, all of my pocket pets have seemed very happy with the switch. It's comfortable, fuzzy, and safe for their paws. Their teeth also can't chew the fleece like other fabrics, so their tummies stay yarn- and string-free. Plus, no respiratory issues from the fabric either!
Again, I know this advice comes completely unasked for, but I highly recommend for your benefit and your pet's.
***
When you use bedding, you're spending a chunk of money on something that will end up in the garbage. For a chinchilla, you're throwing away bedding about once a week to once every other week. For Makoa the rabbit, I was throwing away bedding sometimes every three days because rabbit urine is so potent. With Apple Butter, the baby guinea pig, she peed everywhere and needed a cage cleaning on a regular basis. That's a ton of work putting your critters elsewhere so you can clean their home, dumping cages, rinsing out soiled bedding still stuck to the cage bottom, drying it off with paper towels or an actual towel, and being bent in half as you distribute new bedding inside. It's also a ton of money going out with the garbage. I would buy the natural-colored CareFresh bedding from either Amazon, Walmart, or Petsmart. I would typically get the 60-liter bag, which, on Amazon, is about $24. I would go through one of those bags in about two weeks, so that's nearly $600 a year I needed to budget for bedding that would end up taking up space in a landfill.
If, by chance, you use aspen chips or non-paper-based bedding, there are health concerns as well. Those odors and dust can seriously harm your pocket pet's respiratory system. It could cause allergies, sneezing, infections, and even shorten your pet's life.
Ladies and gentlemen, there is another way!
Allow me to introduce you to fleece bedding.
I first came across fleece bedding as an option while watching the Little Adventures YouTube channel. A young woman in Europe posts weekly videos of her five Guinea pigs either eating, wheeking, or playing along with helpful hints and advice on how to properly care for your Guinea pigs. She recently became sponsored by GuineaDad, a cool company that makes rodent-friendly, healthy, pet store-alternative products for most pocket pets. She receives fleece bedding from them and made a video all about it. A whole new concept opened up for me!
Fleece bedding is a safe, comfortable way to line your cages whether for a chinchilla, guinea pig, or rabbit. The only type of pocket pet who might not enjoy fleece would be like hamsters, gerbils, and other types of smaller critters. Hamsters and gerbils like to bury themselves in bedding as well as stockpile food. Fleece doesn't allow for that type of instinctive hiding and burying, so fleece wouldn't work as well,especially if you went for fleece without pockets. For rabbits, chinchillas, and Guinea pigs, however, it is the greatest invention.
You can get fleece from two types of places - a local fabrics store or from a place that makes fleece bedding specifically for pocket pets, such as GuineaDad. I have both types. What's cool about the fleece made for small mammals is that it usually comes with pockets for burrowing. So far, none of my critters have shown any interest in the pockets. I also have lots of fleece that I found in the fabric section of Walmart. The cute designs just made me squeak with excitement - baby giraffes, baby jungle animals, and little peas! Recently, I also got Carolina Panthers colors, which are currently found in both chinchilla cages. Getting fleece from a fabric store is very cheap. I always buy enough to fold over the fleece at least once so there is a double layer at the bottom of the cage. For the pea-patterned fleece, I purchased 4 feet for only $3. The blue-and-black check pattern was the most expensive at $12 because I accidentally told my boyfriend, "Ok, take this to the Fabrics counter and tell them I want four yards." ...I meant four FEET! It would be have been significantly cheaper if I hadn't bought 12 feet of fleece. Math is important.
When cleaning, I pull the fleece up into a wadded ball, take it outside, and shake out any hay and droppings. Then, I pop the fleece into washable garment bag, throw it into the washing machine on Delicate, and then go do whatever I have to do. Later, I come back and either put it in the dryer or, sometimes, let it air dry in the sunshine. If you have two pieces of fleece per cage, then your animals don't have to wait for the wash to be done. You just place the other piece of fleece, which was previously cleaned, and presto! Their cage is clean!! Or, I usually let Makoa, Butter Stick, and Apple Butter enjoy floor time during the washing/drying process. Then, they go back home to a clean cage.
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| Makoa's baby jungle animal fleece |
In between washings, you can take a small broom and dust pan to sweep up droppings or old food as well. The fleece makes it very easy. Of course, every so often, you need to clean the sides of the cage, food dishes, water bottles, and toys to make sure they stay clean as well. Otherwise... you're good to go. It is the simplest, nicest cleaning process I've ever experienced. I can't believe I wasted so much money and so many years of work cleaning cages with bedding. You also get to have fun, cute patterns in your cages as well. And, all of my pocket pets have seemed very happy with the switch. It's comfortable, fuzzy, and safe for their paws. Their teeth also can't chew the fleece like other fabrics, so their tummies stay yarn- and string-free. Plus, no respiratory issues from the fabric either!
Again, I know this advice comes completely unasked for, but I highly recommend for your benefit and your pet's.
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| This message is Butter Stick approved. |
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