Cavy Savvy is a guinea pig blog written from the perspective of three guinea pigs: Lola, Buffy and Broccoli. We review guinea pig products, pet food, toys, bedding, cages and more to provide humans with all they need to know about guinea pigs!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Review of ECO-Bedding for Guinea Pigs
A few days ago, the humans did something new and scary to our cage. First, they cleaned it, which is pretty scary by itself. Imagine if a giant reached in through your roof, pulled you and your roommate out, and then threw all your furniture out of your house into the front yard. That’s pretty much what it’s like for us to have our cage cleaned. Now, imagine if all of that happened, and then when you finally came back home, you found that your floor was completely different. That’s what happened to Lola and me! They replaced our Care Fresh with this stuff:
More comfortable, you say? We'll be the judge of that!
Looks pretty weird if you ask me.
What did you do to our home? This stuff looks weird, feels weird to walk on, and makes weird crinkly noises when we walk on it. Change is scary! WHEEK!
Hmm… I guess it’s easy to forget that you’re terrified when there’s yummy hay to eat.
We tried nibbling on this new stuff afterwards, which scared our humans a bit since they didn’t know if it was safe for us. (Not fun being scared, is it, humans?) We got bored of that pretty quickly, though. This stuff is not tasty at all.
Pros: It's cheap, as easy to clean as Carefresh, and has zero dust. We thought this stuff wouldn't be very absorbent, but it actually does a decent job of staying dry. Cons: We do occasionally nibble on it, but usually it's because we accidentally eat some that get stuck to a piece of hay.
So if you can afford Carefresh, it's the safer bet. If not, don't feel guilty about buying Eco-Bedding instead. Just keep an eye on your piggies and make sure they're not eating it.
The Eco-bedding looks really nice and soft, do you like it piggies? Because we are getting some girls and I wouldn't mind giving them some of that stuff, looks really nice and comfortable! Or is Carefresh better in your opinian? Maybe the pet stores will sell something nice... (I'm NOT buying my piggies lavendar smelling bedding because it might be toxic!)
Here's what Guineapigcages.com says about how often you should clean: "How often should you clean the cage? There is no one, correct answer. Your cage should NEVER smell. On average, cages are completely cleaned once a week (bedding replaced, cage sides and bottom wiped clean). You will need to spot clean particularly wet spots an additional 1 to 2 times during the week. Some people spot clean every day. Some change the cage as often as every 3 to 4 days. It all depends on your particular setup, how many pigs you have, their urine and poop output and location, the age of the guinea pigs, etc."
Make sure you never use cedar shavings because the strength of the scent is toxic to them and they end up with respiratory issues such as upper respiratory infections
How are your piggies getting on with this bedding after a week?
ReplyDeleteHere's our opinion after a week:
ReplyDeletePros: It's cheap, as easy to clean as Carefresh, and has zero dust. We thought this stuff wouldn't be very absorbent, but it actually does a decent job of staying dry.
Cons: We do occasionally nibble on it, but usually it's because we accidentally eat some that get stuck to a piece of hay.
So if you can afford Carefresh, it's the safer bet. If not, don't feel guilty about buying Eco-Bedding instead. Just keep an eye on your piggies and make sure they're not eating it.
I'll just stay with hay... they have a wooden cage outside so carefresh would work but wont work!
ReplyDeleteThe Eco-bedding looks really nice and soft, do you like it piggies? Because we are getting some girls and I wouldn't mind giving them some of that stuff, looks really nice and comfortable! Or is Carefresh better in your opinian? Maybe the pet stores will sell something nice... (I'm NOT buying my piggies lavendar smelling bedding because it might be toxic!)
ReplyDeleteWe like the Carefresh better than the Eco-bedding, but the Eco-bedding isn't bad.
ReplyDeletewe have carefresh it's nice but very dusty know any bedding that's not wood chip or dusty
ReplyDeleteYou could try fleece.
DeleteDoes the number of guinea pigs effect how many times you clean the cage?
ReplyDeleteHere's what Guineapigcages.com says about how often you should clean: "How often should you clean the cage? There is no one, correct answer. Your cage should NEVER smell. On average, cages are completely cleaned once a week (bedding replaced, cage sides and bottom wiped clean). You will need to spot clean particularly wet spots an additional 1 to 2 times during the week. Some people spot clean every day. Some change the cage as often as every 3 to 4 days. It all depends on your particular setup, how many pigs you have, their urine and poop output and location, the age of the guinea pigs, etc."
DeleteMake sure you never use cedar shavings because the strength of the scent is toxic to them and they end up with respiratory issues such as upper respiratory infections
ReplyDelete