Fleece liners for pans or not?

[broderp]

Is it purely a personal prefferance to line cages and shelves with fleece or is there any health or safety advantage to this?

As 'cute' as fleece looks in the cage, I like the look of a clean "less fluffy" looking cage.

I'm not opposed to (and in fact am making a PVC tube that will be covered in fleece as well as some pillow buddies, and maybe a hammock) fleece, but it seems like a LOT of extra work to have to clean and wash all the material.

Is there an advantage?

To fleece or not to fleece, this is the question....:hmm:

 

[Mookie]

Im sorry that this isn't an answer to your question but it may become one soon, I am converting to fleece tomarrow right after I clean the cages out. I was wondering how do you "potty train" the chins to only GO in the box of bedding? Also how often do you have to wash the fleece? Last question: Do you have to put the quilt inside the fleece when you are making it?

 

[Jazicat]

I use fleece to cover the plastic shelf on the top of the cage and have bass liners on the bottom. I'm considering using tile for the top though because I can just sweep it clean. I don't need fleece on the bottom but both my boys seem to like the fleece so part of the cage has a liner like blanket. I also use potty pans so I don't use bedding for the whole bottom of the cage which I think makes cleaning easier.

ETA My boys took to the potty pans after a few days. At first they seemed to have to mark all the corners. If you're having trouble you could put dirty fleece in the potty pan hoping they will go where the smell. Maybe someone will have better advise.

 

[cindyv3737]

It all depends on the person and chin. I can't stand cleaning shavings all the time. My little lady has also started to dig up her shavings. I do laundry almost daily. So washing fleece is not a problem.

 

[broderp]

I'm sorry that this isn't an answer to your question but it may become one soon, I am converting to fleece tomorrow right after I clean the cages out. I was wondering how do you "potty train" the chins to only GO in the box of bedding? Also how often do you have to wash the fleece? Last question: Do you have to put the quilt inside the fleece when you are making it?

This is also part of the reason I like a "fleece-less" look. I'm using the original FN cage plastic pans. (My chins don't chew plastic). I don't want to have to wash bedding every day. :wacko: BTW, you can (I believe) potty train a chin to pee in a litter box, you can not however stop them from pooing, as they can't seem to control the fact they are ALWAYS pooing. They are natures automatic 'pellet dispensers'.

I use fleece to cover the plastic shelf on the top of the cage and have bass liners on the bottom. I'm considering using tile for the top though because I can just sweep it clean. I don't need fleece on the bottom but both my boys seem to like the fleece so part of the cage has a liner like blanket. I also use potty pans so I don't use bedding for the whole bottom of the cage which I think makes cleaning easier.

ETA My boys took to the potty pans after a few days. At first they seemed to have to mark all the corners. If you're having trouble you could put dirty fleece in the potty pan hoping they will go where the smell. Maybe someone will have better advise.

By potty pans, do you mean a litter box? We just got one and it appears to be working. We only have to keep litter in the corner litter box. There are fewer pee spots in the cage tonight than yesterday and that was fewer than the night before. (I've been putting pee soaked paper towels (part of what I use to clean their cages) in the litter box.

Its nice, cause for the most part, I just need to sweep out the pellets (I'm gonna invest in a small vacuum just for this) and then wipe down the dust and food crumbs powder with a wet paper towel. Cleaning out the FN 142 currently takes me less than 15 minutes.

 

[Jazicat]

I mean a littler box. Because they don't urinate any where but their pans it means I don't have to change fleece daily. I like my bass pans on the bottom though because they keep the poop in the cage on that level. We got one for the upper level but didn't like how tall it is where the chin goes through the hole. I'm considering tiling the top of the FN with a lip.

 

[Mookie]

I just finished my fleece cage liners (I made them) and so far they seem good, I put litter boxes in their that they will hopefully use! good thing they haven't chewed the liners they took a while to make! how often do you have to wash them? everyday??

 

[Jazicat]

I usually change liners twice a week unless they urinate on them. If they do I change them more often but mine are pretty good about using their boxes.

 

[Stackie]

I have at least 3 liners per cage so I'm not doing laundry all the time. When I clean cages I just take out the dirty fleece, stuff it in a trash bag, and put in the clean liner. I swap liners twice a week and wash liners once a week. I hate laundry and liners do not cause me to do extra work by any means. If you have several sets, it's not bad.

I do not like just the plastic pans being exposed. Unless your chins are 100% potty trained (I have yet to meet a chin who goes in their pans exclusively- I have one boy who is really good about it but he still pees elsewear sometimes), they may pee on the plastic. If they pee on the plastic and you're not there to wipe it up right away, it's just going to sit there for them to run, sit, do whatever in the puddle of pee. When it dries, it's going to leave a gross stain. Plastic is porous, so it can seep into the plastic after awhile. Plastic is also extremely hard to clean due to it's porous properties.

I also have had a chin chew on the FN pan and get an impaction. He had a liner over it, but found a tear in it and ripped it off the pan. He almost died. I spent a pretty penny at the vet for his treatment and thankfully he made it. He never chewed plastic before. He just out of the blue decided one day that the pan looked yummy and chewed an entire corner over night. Just because your chins aren't interested in the plastic now, doesn't mean they won't be in the future. You could do just the same as I did and wake up one morning to a chewed pan and a lethargic chin in the corner of the cage going through GI stasis because a piece of the plastic is lodged in his intestine.