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Polar Fleece As Substrate?

pridecity

pridecity

Patients took over asylum
I've been wondering this idea for a while. My guinea pigs are on Polar Fleece and towels. My puppy's kennel will be as soon as I get more. And I'm hoping I can use fleece in my bird aviaries once I build them. Only the spider, fish, and gecko won't be on fleece. I'm pondering about the gecko being put on it as well.

The idea of Polar Fleece is that it will wisk away moisture to a bottom layer, often towels or puppy pads, and keep the surface dry. Works great with piggies. It is a substrate that can be washed and reused for years (assuming that the animal using it does eat it). It's a "green" product as it doesn't contribute to landfilling. It's cost effective as it can be reused. It comes in pretty colors (great for picture taking?) and it can be cheap if you look hard enough. It can be cut to size and it does do that stringy thingy like cotton or like jean pants you make into shorts.

With guinea pigs, one usually has at least two sets so that while one is being washed, the other can be put into the cage.

If laid properly, do you think that it would be something to use with snakes? I doubt that any would have a desire to try to eat it (unless you feed on it) and it's less expensive than paper towels (which I like better than the aspen or other alternatives).

I really don't see too much of a problem with it as snakes don't have claws to snag in it, or really any body parts that could have a problem with it. It's soft and cost-effective.

Opinions?
 
OOOOH I was wondering this too! All my ratties are on polar fleece. I would recommend not putting Guinnea pigs on Towels, Their lil toes can get caught in the loops of thread. Fleece doesn't have this issue at all. I love to use fleece as it is easy to clean, cheap, and environmentally friendly.
 
Well, I don't see it being any much different than paper towel or newspaper as a substrate. Personally, I prefer to use the aspen, since the snakies seem to like it to burrow in. But if you are one that uses paper towel or newspaper anyway....well, then go for it! I think an exception might be when you are using paper towel or newspaper because of a mite problem.

On the gecko, I don't see why he can't go on it, since some people use cage carpet for them. What kind of gecko is it?
 
seems like a fairly decent idea to me, i'm all about "eco-friendly," i use shredded paper as a substrate.

the fleece seems like a great idea, similar to "reptile carpet" which is the exact same idea...MUCH higher price though! you can get fleece at walmart in any length you wish.

as for the humidity thing though, i have no idea how much of an effect it would have.
 
Light colored polar fleece would show the mites. And it can be washed in pretty darn hot water, which ought to kill things that are bad for snakes. The only issue I can see is that my snakes like to tunnel in bedding & they couldn't do that on polar fleece. However, snakes are individuals, and others that aren't big tunnel diggers might love polar fleece as a substrate. And you could feed right on it, because the worst that could happen is the ingestion of a tiny bit of indigestible fuzz which they should poop out no problem.
 
Speaking of ecofriendly, does anybody here compost aspen snake bedding? I'd like to give it a try.
 
I think I like this idea...I never would've thought to use it. Could it be used with hamsters as well?
 
Before my adult girl's surgery over a month ago I removed everything from her viv except for her water bowl and two hides. I replaced the aspen substrate with two towels layered in her cage. I've found her on top in her hides, between the towels and underneath them (granted it's a custom wood viv with lino above the UTH instead of glass). She seems to be choosing from a multitude of spots to suit her temp and burrowing needs. I think using polar fleece and/or towels as a permanent substrate is not unreasonable.
 
Betsy I have been considering it too...it would be nice to not have to just toss it as I use aspen with the hamster too (and she has to be completely changed over weekly.)
 
Aislin said:
I think I like this idea...I never would've thought to use it. Could it be used with hamsters as well?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can use fleece with hamsters too. Just don't use cotton or towels because the fibers can cut off the circulation to their toes or feet if they get caught which is quite common. Fleece isn't woven though so it doesn't have this same problem.
 
That is what I was worried about. Her little claws are so hard to trim. I have nightmares that I'm going to snip her whole toe off.
 
Yup, no worries with fleece! Its great. Just be careful what you wash it with as residue kind of will hang on your clothes and the fleece from the laundry detergent and It can bug your lil guy's noses.
 
Okay..thanks for the info. I'm going to go buy a couple lengths of it this weekend. It will so much cheaper to use.
 
@Sinsational: The towels are under the fleece to hold the urine. I go to guineapigcages.com and they all do the same.

@Sweetseraph: I have a female leopard gecko named Banana. I never see her unless I pull her out and she's not eaten since I've had her (got her in January). I'm trying to figure out her problem. I am worried about the carpet thing with things that have nails because they can easily get caught. I'm hoping the fleece won't have the same problem.

@Aislin: I would think that hamsters would eat it. They're great chewers. I even have problems with a guinea pig or two who will eat it if they get an end to it. Maybe ask at a hamster forum?


Another thought, I'm thinking it would be sufficient to wash it in water and vinegar. Detergent doesn't bug guinea pigs too much, but snakes are a little bit closer to it. Vinegar is an ammonia neutralizer and being highly diluted shouldn't leave a strong smell, if at all.

I hope it's okay to post this link. It's the fleece preparation thread used by hundreds of guinea pig owners. It's a must read because it explains a lot better than I can.

http://www.guineapigcages.com/forum/bedding/21568-fleece-project-study.html
 
Pride - Sorry, I didn't realize that the towels were under the fleece. As for them eating it, my rats love to chew on things. I provide them a lot of things to chew on, but occasionally they choose to chew on the fleece. I'm not sure if they are consuming it or not, but it doesn't happen too often.
Water and vinegar is a great idea.
 
Rats are on my bad list right now. The last pair that turned into pets figured out how to get a hold of a pair of my favorite sweat pant that were about three inches away from the cage. They chewed on them like there was no tomorrow and when I got home all I found was the leg cuffs. Everything else was shredded. I swear that the cats helped them reach the pants.
 
My new C&C cage for my piggies is almost finished, and I am sewing some fleece pads for substrate. The second layer will be Zorb, a super absorbent fabric, and the third layer will be a waterproof vinyl based fabric.
I like the idea of fleece as substrate, it is soft, wicks away moisture, and is cost effective because it is washable and reusable.
Here is a link to Zorb btw, for those unfamiliar: http://www.wazoodle.com/cgi-bin/catstore.cgi?user_action=detail&catalogno=4001007
 
I personally would think that the snakes, which are inclined to burrow, would disrupt the layers and end up pooping all over it. Under, on top, on the pads....

I'm sticking with aspen. It's compostable and made from smaller trees than would be used in most commercial uses. So they can grow the trees over a couple years, trapping CO2, and then be cut to make our bedding. Given that young trees use more CO2 than older trees, there is some benefit to my using aspen made from younger trees. Green works in many ways... ;)
 
I hope it's ok this thread is moving away from snakes, but maybe we could discuss this in General Chit Chat?

I'm assuming you've got Banana at the right heat? UTH is best. Most accept crickets, but maybe she would prefer mealworms. Can you post pic in General Chitchat?
 
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