fleece liner help

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handmeafish

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2010
Messages
919
Location
Colorado
I am thinking of switching to fleece liners and litter boxes instead of lining the whole bottom of my cage with the litter... but I have a strange cage (IE not FN or CN) And I was wondering if any of you awesome seamsters or seamstrises might have some advice as to the best way to make a line for my cage.
This is the cage I have http://www.petco.com/product/10638/Super-Pet-Extra-Large-My-First-Home.aspx and i'm not sure if I should build something that will go around the purple part, or just get a piece of fleece and try to find a way to attach it to the bottom (I was thinking maybe velcro)
I have big plans for this cage when I intro the babies to Ron, and Right now its got a few home-made levels... It just takes a lot of litter to fill the whole thing, and I don't think Ron likes the yesterday's news... Its not very cuddly, but he's got stuff in there to snuggle in with out it.
I am also not sure if ron's litter trained, and I'm thinking that maybe I should do that before I start using the liners. I understand that he'll pee on just about everything, but I don't know that poo on the liner, in the washer would be kosher with my roomies.
Thanks friends :)
 
I tried velcro with fleece liners in our first cage, which had a deep enough bottom that wrapping up over the sides seemed wasteful. I put the sticky backed, scratchy side of the velcro on the bottom of the pan, and stitched the soft side to the fleece. It only took a couple of washes for the fleece to have stretched out/pulled up in the wash, to where it wasn't really covering the whole area, and for the boys to start getting under it/pulling it up/chewing it to bits. I would recommend finding some of the corplast everyone on here raves about, cutting it to the size of the bottom, and cutting your fleece to wrap around the edges and tuck under/clip on, or stitching it to stay on it. You can do the same thing with any wire shelves you want to cover, just cut corplast and fleece to match.

As for poops on the liners going in the laundry - just pick them off and throw them in the trash before you wash - they tend to not stick to the fleece and end up all dry and ungross anyway. We have three boys that we didn't put forth enough effort early on and we just gave up on litter box training. We may try again with our next babies, but we don't mind poop scooping each night before bed, and they never go in the wash. =)
 
I find, the more I try to secure fleece in place, the more determined my guys are to get under it/make a cuddle blanket out of it. I used to weigh down the edges with rocks and bricks and stuff, and I'd come home every night to find the entire liner stuffed in an igloo or something.

Now, I just fold the liner so that it's thicker and heavier, and I lay it neatly at the bottom. Most of my guys tend to leave that along, until it gets dirty, at which point, they very helpfully will pull it into their litter box! ^_^
 
:D I love the system that I have going for my cages that are the deep bottom tray.

My boyfriend took a carefully measured length of 14 ga. galvanized electric fence wire and made a frame that fit in the bottom of the tray. I then took those animal blankets that you can buy at the dollar store (you may need a bigger piece because it is a bigger base then what my cage is) and fold it over the wire frame. I then secure it in place with 2 safety pins (THE GOOD KIND!!! They do not open).

NONE of my rats have been able to tear it up or get under it. It is an excellent system, and although the wire is not covered, it does NOT stink and I have been using it for about 1.5 years now. Even if it does start to smell a year or so later, then you can always make a new frame - the wire is inexpensive.

As for laundry, I just make sure that I do the rat laundry first THEN do my laundry. By the time I am finished mine, there is no residual "smell" (I don't smell anything but apparently others do).

Good Luck! Switching to fleece was the best thing that I did. I like it much better then using yesterday's news all over the bottom.
 
This is a really interesting thread for me. I was using care fresh in a large super pet cage. I just switched to the fleece today and yes I bought the dollar store pet blankets. My ratties have already balled it up and shoved out their igloo and wood house but I think I will just put a larger fleece in there and let them have at it.
 
I used to use YN all of my FN, but I recently switched to towels I weigh them down with rocks and litter pans, but the little friggers always get under it.
 
In my super pet cage, that I have, I measured out the fleece so that I would have some that would overlap of the edge of the tray. I then cut into the corners diagonally, so that I could tie them to the wire frame of the cage, right by where it meets the base. I used small binder clips to attach the fleece to the edging of the base almost every time there is a spacing in the wire. My boys haven't been able to mess it up yet, I just readjust the clips if I notice that the blanket is trying to pull out.

Good luck!
 
I'm not sure if you are making liners for the shelves as well, but I have that same cage I use it as a temporary cage. I've found the best way to make liners for the shelves stay is to sew elastic into the liners (using the same concept as you use to sew loops on a hammock so it comes out seamless and facing the right way). I tried corners but found it hard to do so now I do two pieces straight across it on each end. If this isn't clear and you want to try this I will try to take some pictures.
 
I think I would try a pad type liner, so multiple layers sewed together. The thicker the liners the harder it is for them to bunch it up, if you put some sort of padding in the middle it makes it even harder, if they are not chewers though, if they are chewers sorry but good luck :(
 
Just wondering why you wanted to switch to fleece because if it were me I would be thankful to have a cage that you can put bedding into. I just spent $50 to get pans for my CN to be able to bedding in it.
 
I don't like the way the bedding is all so dusty, it makes Ron's sneezing so much worse. He's been much better since i switched to fleece, but right now i just have a piece of it folded up in there.
I think i'm going to make a few of the "pads" i think it will work best. thanks for the help!
 
In my single CN, which I bought deeper pans for (not for bedding but to keep the raisins from ending up on the floor as much), I just cut a piece of coroplast (corrugated plastic) to the pan size and wrap the fleece around it, then drop it in the pan. That way the edges are underneath everything and it's harder to pull up.
 

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