Cardboard Whelping Boxes

I hope this is in the right place.

Has anyone used one of these ? What did you think ? Was it up to the job ? How did it deal with the wet, mess and nibbling ? Did anyone manage to break out of it ?

I have a custom made marine ply job, which is excellent, but I am hoping for 2 litters at the same time. First time ever - and probably the last, so I dont need another permanent one - plus OH is definitely NOT a 'Handyman'

Thalice's Mum

Why not just get another Ply one.. Cardboard doesn't sound brilliant at all. But I don't breed or anything so I wouldn't know

No advice but...litters...of English Setters???? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pics

We had one last year and it was great. Lasted the whole time that it was needed. I can't remember where I got it from but it was recommended. I seem to remember there was a waterproof liner.

Didn't have any problems with nibbling, wetness or breaking it.

Helen

Thanks all

My marine ply was horrendously expensive, but has lasted 11 years. Dont want to go there as I would have to store it too.

I like the idea of being able to burn the cardboard as the wooden one has to be scrubbed, disinfected, sanded and revarnished every time.

Patience, now. Piccies when they are available ! All puppies now spoken for and I dont even know if the bitches are in whelp!

Thalice's Mum

Ive heard good things about the cardboard ones for the first 3/4 weeks or so, after that they can get a bit messy as pups grow.
I had a wooden/ply one made so haven't personally used one... But I did use cheap asda shower curtains underneath newspaper/ vet bed for the actual whelping that I then threw away... Perhaps you could use the same so as to avoid the mess seeping through at whelping time and therefore prolonging its life!?

Edit: oops just read it comes with waterproof liner!

can you not borrow a whelping box from a friend?? ihaven't use a cardboard one for whelping but i do use one from when they are 3- 4 weeks and that gets very messy

This is where we got ours from: http://www.petnapwhelpingboxes.co.uk...lping_box.html

It isn't a waterproof liner but you buy absorbant pads but tbh, we just used loads of newspaper. There was a sort of shiny back to an extra bit of cardboard which came with it all.

I think ours were in it only for a few weeks and then we switched to a plastic bed and puppy run. It certainly didn't get to the stage where it was getting messy but our litter was a border terrier litter.

No way an expert as we've only done it once but it certainly worked for us and as we aren't regular breeders, decided it was the best option as it was disposable and we wouldn't have to find room to store a wooden one.

Helen

i used a cardboard one for my litter this year. it worked well. stood up fine against the wet, and once they were up and about, i swapped the box for a bed anyway.

im not sure how a cardboard one would cope with lots of tiny setter teeth though

I didn't like it at all. It wasn't sturdy enough for my (40 kg) bitch to lean against the pig rails and push. Her nails marked the base and it did go soggy with a prolonged birth and I wasn't able to disinfect and keep it dry. It went on the bonfire pdq.