Adapting a cage ramp for safety

PigglePuggle

PigglePuggle

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So Theo is neutered, Puggle is in love, Piggle is a bit bored and wants to climb on everything, so I need to adapt the cage ramp that came with their new 2-floor homecage all 3 piggies will live in and train them to use it (5 weeks 4 days to go all being well!). I can see looking at the developing herd dynamics how Piggle (piggy gymnast, always looking for the highest point in the playpen) might want to live mostly upstairs, Puggle (not keen on climbing, likes dark secure hidey houses) mostly downstairs, and Theo will probably commute between them if Piggle and Puggle will let him.
So the ramp is a plank of plywood with grooves in and I plan to stick a strip of doormat to it so their little feet grip. But how do I attach some sides? What do I use for sides? And once its in the cage how do I stop the top end slipping? It has a wider piece of wood attached to the top so it wont fall through the gap but I can see how this could slide forwards (with help from Piggle) and leave a precipitous drop... the top cage tier just has a hole in the plastic base. Duct tape? Am I missing something?
Any advice appreciated because I want to finish the ramp and start ramp agility training in the playpen in the next couple of weeks!
 
The most straight forward way I recon is a piece of square guttering with carpet tiles cut to size and glued in place. Drill holes in one end of the guttering to accommodate cableties to fix to the loft to stop it from slipping. Hope this helps :)
 
Jamston said:
Have you got a picture?
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Not yet- still all packed up in gigantic box (after initial check its all there bit) until we knew Theo survived his neutering operation ok- saving the new cage for the week post op move in together time :)
 
Tim said:
The most straight forward way I recon is a piece of square guttering with carpet tiles cut to size and glued in place. Drill holes in one end of the guttering to accommodate cableties to fix to the loft to stop it from slipping. Hope this helps :)
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Cable ties! That might well work, cable ties are marvellous things... not sure about drilling the plastic base without cracking it though? I'm a zoologist so good with animals not so much with power tools...
 
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PigglePuggle said:
Cable ties! That might well work, cable ties are marvellous things... not sure about drilling the plastic base without cracking it though? I'm a zoologist so good with animals not so much with power tools...
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:))
It is possible ;) try putting the guttering on a piece of scrap wood before drilling, so it doesn’t bite as it goes through the plastic :)
 
I have a fleece ramp tunnel on mine but I don’t think they’re sold anymore so that isn’t helpful. I also taped some old carpet on to the ramp and rest it on a wooden block to make it less steep
 
I plan to put the bottom end on a carrot cottage to reduce the slope... but how does yours attach at the top @Claire W ? Do you have a picture?
 
Maybe I should have got the proper ferpast 2 tier cage not a cheaper version but other than the ramp questions its a brilliant cage!
 
Mine has a piece of wood at the top to hold it in place and stop it slipping through. It was the ramp I used in my old hutch and it's fine. I never found it moved too far (only about an inch or so) in the old hutch and it doesn't move at all in the new hutch. I didn't use the ramp that came with the new hutch as it seemed to me like it was on a thin bit of bent metal to screw it to the top floor and you couldn't take it out for cleaning.
 
PigglePuggle said:
I plan to put the bottom end on a carrot cottage to reduce the slope... but how does yours attach at the top @Claire W ? Do you have a picture?
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I’m out at the minute but I’ll get a picture tomorrow but there’s basically two small hooks on the top of the ramp that slots in to two holes where the gap is on the top cage to allow for the ramp
 
Ramp coming along nicely :) I bought a door mat with raised rubber edging and cut it up with a stanley knife and used carpet tape to stick it down. The edge without rubber trim will be against the cage bars. And once I tried it out with the lower end propped up on a medium size carrot cottage the slope is very shallow and the ramp doesnt slip forwards at all. My husband was ecstatic to have to lug out the giant 2-tier cage box, help me assemble the cage, run up and down stairs with various sizes of carrot cottage to test out, pop to B&Q for the carpet tape and doormat, then help pack it all up again and lug the box away to store for another 5 weeks!
 

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Claire W said:
@PigglePuggle this is how my ramp fits in the cage although I have a fleece crash pad covering the small gap as I’m paranoid about them getting their feet caught

View attachment 90966

View attachment 90967
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Thanks! Mine doesnt have hooks, it has a wider piece of wood on the top to stop it falling through, and the cage doesnt have holes... think I have figured out how to wedge it so it cant slip forwards and leave a gap. If not I'll add some hooks and try drill some holes, I'm worried I'd crack the base drilling it though!
Later this week I think we'll have a bit of carefully supervised ramp training in the new cage to see how it works with fat wriggly piggies on it:)
 
PigglePuggle said:
Thanks! Mine doesnt have hooks, it has a wider piece of wood on the top to stop it falling through, and the cage doesnt have holes... think I have figured out how to wedge it so it cant slip forwards and leave a gap. If not I'll add some hooks and try drill some holes, I'm worried I'd crack the base drilling it though!
Later this week I think we'll have a bit of carefully supervised ramp training in the new cage to see how it works with fat wriggly piggies on it:)
Click to expand...

Good luck :)
 
So its a rainy day, I'm not at work, I thought I'd set up the new cage with the newly adapted ramp and let the girls play in there... the ramp is baited with a trail of parsley... an hour later they are both still standing there like piggy idiots looking at me expectantly, like "can you bring that parsley down here for us please?"
This ramp training business may take some time!
 
Aww bless them, it's so hard to make your slave understand your needs, fancy putting that parsley out of reach! Mine have all used ramps quickly, in fact my 2 new boys ran straight up and behaved as if running up and down chasing each other was great fun. Good luck with your girls.
 
Well after 2 hours Piggle went up the ramp to eat the parsley then came back down without going onto the top floor. Puggle took a quick look round the ground floor of the new cage, realised she was in different room of my house to Theo, then sat and sulked in the carrot house. Can't see this working for Puggle until Theo can go in the new cage with her... Theo sulked all morning too with Puggle out of sight! Shame I cant get them little piggy phones so they can text each other constantly like human teenage couples :)
 
PigglePuggle said:
So its a rainy day, I'm not at work, I thought I'd set up the new cage with the newly adapted ramp and let the girls play in there... the ramp is baited with a trail of parsley... an hour later they are both still standing there like piggy idiots looking at me expectantly, like "can you bring that parsley down here for us please?"
This ramp training business may take some time!
Click to expand...



did you say "it's raining!"plllllleeease send some this way, it's now been five weeks without any!.
 
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