There are many beddings available to purchase for your lovely guinea pigs. Certain ones have more benefits than others and there are just ones that are not suitable at all for various reasons. A good bedding needs to be comfortable for them to lie and walk on, that doesn’t move about all over the place. It needs to be able to soak urine up, whilst they are in their home for many hours. Something that is easy to clean and doesn’t cost the earth. I will include the bad options, just to inform you of them and go through some advantages and disadvantages.

Here are the bedding options:

Paper based

They come in different sized bags and there are various brands. Back 2 nature are pellets made from recycled paper and come just in the one colour of blue. They can be purchased in bags of 20 or 30kg. The problem is with this, is that the urine soaks through a lot of it and the soiled areas will need replacing.

It moves about when they are walking/running over and boy can they run quickly. Even used in a small toilet corner, it just would need replacing very often and definitely need to be used with other beddings. It doesn’t mask the odour very well. I am not saying its all bad, but maybe better to use for other small animals. Also, its hard on guinea pigs feet, but I have seen it used in a pet store. From my own experience, it didn’t work out for me or my little furry ones.

Carefresh is the most popular paper based bedding that comes in more sized bags than the back 2 nature. Also, comes in some interesting bright colours to. Again from recycled paper, they are small pieces. It’s actually a brand I use for my syrian hamster. But again it just wouldn’t cope well enough with soaking up urine. You want something that will last the amount of time they are in their habitats for. It may be better at masking the odour for a certain length of time.

Fetch is produced from recycled newspaper and comes in at a cheap price. Talking about newspaper itself, if you are looking to use this, place plenty of it down with other layers of bedding.

Megazorb is made from wood pulp, so still paper based. It’s not dusty and compacts to make up a good layer.

I just had to mention about Oxbow, who sell bedding produced from paper that’s never been used before. Comes in at two bag sizes of 8 and 16kg. It says that its good at absorbing and with the all important odours. That no dust is present and has been tested. So this is another option available to you. There are a good deal of paper based beddings currently being sold, I have not mentioned them all, but hopefully enough for you to decide, once you have looked them up. It’s just a case of reading the reviews and seeing what people are saying about them.

Sawdust

Go for sawdust that is not dusty and put a good covering down. It’s a soft option which is good for their feet. But needs replacing, because it won’t be hygienic for them to keep lying and walking through, ewww.

Fleece

Is nice and soft and wicks away the urine through to other absorbable layers underneath. It comes in many colours and patterns. It’s very hygienic and can be washed at 30 degrees in the washing machine. Lasts a long time and probably will end up cheaper than any other bedding, as you won’t need to keep buying it so often. Read my article here in more detail about fleece.

Vetbed

I used to use vetbed, but it did start getting a bit messy. Like fleece, it wicks away the urine below and is a warm bedding, as well as being around for some time and being used by vets for ill and elderly pets. Vetbed is like a carpet and again comes in some colours.

Hay

They will probably eat the hay as well as sleeping and going over it. Will start to smell after a short time as its not the best at absorbing and masking odours. Meadow hay will be the best to use, as its softer.

Straw

Is good at insulating, if the guinea pigs are outside in a hutch and they can hide away. Can be a bit sharp and make sure that you don’t get dusty bags of straw, because it can cause a lot of sneezing. Not bad at keeping the smell down from urine.

Summary

You need to choose what is going to be best for you and your piggies. But do not use pine as it damages their health and choose something that is not dusty. Always do at least three layers of bedding, so it soaks up the urine. Even if you’ve got a toilet for them and they use it to a certain extent, the bedding is there in case and its still good for other needs.

Thank you for reading my article, feel free to leave a comment below and I will reply back as soon as possible. Some of the products that I have talked about, that you can purchase below. 

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