The kind of bedding you choose is an important decision for your piggies. After all, this is what they will be living on, eating on, pooping on and sleeping on pretty much 24/7. But to choose something that will work for you and your pigs, you need to know some of the advantages and disadvantages of each kind.
Pine - Pine is a very popular bedding because it's cheap, looks nice, smells nice, and does a great job absorbing moisture and odors. It can be harmful to piggies though if it has not been dried well. Kiln dried pine is best, the drying process removes the harmful oils very well. You can buy large bags of kiln dried pine for a good price at your local feed store.
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Cedar - Cedar shavings may smell nice but they are not a good choice for piggies. The pungent oils are very bad for their breathing and may lead to respiratory problems.
Aspen - Aspen shavings are absorbent and completely safe for piggies, having no harmful oils, but they're expensive and don't do a very good job controlling odors.
Corn Cob - Corn cob bedding is hard on cavies' feet and has very little absorbency and odor control. Not a good choice for bedding.
Carefresh - Carefresh, also packaged as Critter Care, is another very popular bedding. It's safe, very absorbent and does a pretty good job with odor control if you clean it frequently, but it's very expensive and in my opinion it's too hard and not very comfortable for the piggies to lie on.
Towels - Some people like to use towels as bedding. These are especially good if you're keeping an eye on a sick piggie; how much it's eliminating etc., and some people like to use them full-time. They're very comfy and soft for piggies but they need to be changed very frequently; twice a day at least.
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Newspaper - Newspaper isn't a good bedding on its own but it is useful when used under other beddings. When it's cage cleaning time you can just roll up the newspaper with most of the bedding inside, and it helps to prevent "pee spots" on the cage floor. Only use black and white newspaper with soy-based ink, as other inks have chemicals that may be harmful if your piggie digs up the newspaper and has a nibble. Also some people think that the glue used in making paper is harmful if ingested in large quantities; I have personally never had a problem with this and my pigs are big nibblers but it's a good idea to be careful.
Hay - Hay isn't very absorbent by itself but works great with shavings underneath. When piggies pee and poo it falls through the hay into the shavings, keeping them away from it. They will eat it so you'll need to replace it as it runs out through the week. You can usually pick up loose hay for free at feed stores, be sure to check first.
Straw - Straw is really no good for piggies, it's not absorbent and they can poke their eyes on the sharp pieces.
My opinion? I like to use a layer of newspaper, then about an inch and a half of kiln dried pine shavings, and on top of that a good layer of hay. The combo keeps for awhile before it needs changing. The pigs love making their hay tunnels and I like the ease of clean up; everything wraps up very neatly in the newspaper. I'd recommend it to anyone!