Ideas to make safe the gap near ramp in hutch

custardcream74

custardcream74

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi there, we have two piggies in a 2 tier hutch with a ramp that between the two levels. Over the weekend I've made the ramp more grippy for them as originally only the younger of the two was trying his hand at going up and down (and not doing too shabby a job of it) but now they can both walk up and down it with ease.

I'm now looking to make safer the area of the top floor that runs along the edge of where the ramp is (if you see what I mean) so that the open access to it is just from where the top of the ramp sits. I'm a bit concerned that with, boys being boys, if they are chasing each other round up there that one of them might come a cropper if they slip over the edge so need to put something in place to prevent this from happening. Although perfectly capable and able to put flat pack things together I'm not much of a DIYer so I'm looking for ideas of what other people may have done to resolve this kind of problem. I don't really know what it would be best to use and I'm wondering how I'm going to manage to fix anything on given that access to that area is now bit restricted given that the roof is fixed in place so I'll be going in from the front and having to reach round to it (I'm loathe to start taking things apart as that's when they tend to become weaker and fall apart!
Any ideas and photos of what people have done would be much appreciated! Thanks :)
 
custardcream74 said:
Hi there, we have two piggies in a 2 tier hutch with a ramp that between the two levels. Over the weekend I've made the ramp more grippy for them as originally only the younger of the two was trying his hand at going up and down (and not doing too shabby a job of it) but now they can both walk up and down it with ease.

I'm now looking to make safer the area of the top floor that runs along the edge of where the ramp is (if you see what I mean) so that the open access to it is just from where the top of the ramp sits. I'm a bit concerned that with, boys being boys, if they are chasing each other round up there that one of them might come a cropper if they slip over the edge so need to put something in place to prevent this from happening. Although perfectly capable and able to put flat pack things together I'm not much of a DIYer so I'm looking for ideas of what other people may have done to resolve this kind of problem. I don't really know what it would be best to use and I'm wondering how I'm going to manage to fix anything on given that access to that area is now bit restricted given that the roof is fixed in place so I'll be going in from the front and having to reach round to it (I'm loathe to start taking things apart as that's when they tend to become weaker and fall apart!
Any ideas and photos of what people have done would be much appreciated! Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Hello :) can you add some pictures so we can see the set up? :)

This is my ramp set-up which I wrote about at: Ramps In Guinea Pigs Cage

new cage liners.webp
 
I have just left mine as it is - it is a lot smaller than the gap in my old hutch and the 5 of mine were OK with that. Have you thought of getting/making a ramp tunnel out of fleece?
 
I have put a plastic tunnel in and resisted the ramp on a little table/ramp that I made to make the incline gentler. They both love being in the tunnel but it is a bit of a pain to keep clean so I will be swapping it for some square guttering with a 90 degree bend.
Picture of Rose hiding in it and a pic of the bottom. Hope it helps!78F55464-BAF9-47E5-9EC0-7715DF153B13.webpB267A694-DA28-4D9B-A12B-6E62E78B47E9.webp
 
Betsy said:
I have just left mine as it is - it is a lot smaller than the gap in my old hutch and the 5 of mine were OK with that. Have you thought of getting/making a ramp tunnel out of fleece?
Click to expand...
Hi, thanks. I hadn't thought of doing that until I saw some on here, although tbh they are coping ok with the ramp itself, it's just the gap itself that worries me a wee bit - I know how much they like to chase each other about!
 
Jamston said:
I have put a plastic tunnel in and resisted the ramp on a little table/ramp that I made to make the incline gentler. They both love being in the tunnel but it is a bit of a pain to keep clean so I will be swapping it for some square guttering with a 90 degree bend.
Picture of Rose hiding in it and a pic of the bottom. Hope it helps!View attachment 87387View attachment 87388
Click to expand...
Thank you, it looks like your hutch is similar to mine and putting that tunnel in that you've got there does seem to be blocking the gap as the top of it fills the space up - does it completely fill the gap? I had read reviews of those tunnels that suggested they were a pain to clean because of the ridges which is a shame as it's the upper part of it that fills the space isn't it. Otherwise I'm thinking I need to create some kind of barrier along that edge, its annoying as they are now managing the ramp just fine since I put something on it to make it more grippy for them.
 
I spot clean the hutch every day and clean the tube out every other day. Every time I clean the tube I put wood shavings in to adsorb wee weeks that they do in there. They generally do them at the bottom. Poos do get stuck in the ridges but they tend to be dry and with a tap out and a bit of a brush they are clean again. Having said that I am going to fit some guttering so it is easier to clean. I think I will move the tube into the run so they can play in it! The tube fills the hole. They are on Amazon just make sure you get a large enough one for obvious reasons!
 
Jamston said:
I spot clean the hutch every day and clean the tube out every other day. Every time I clean the tube I put wood shavings in to adsorb wee weeks that they do in there. They generally do them at the bottom. Poos do get stuck in the ridges but they tend to be dry and with a tap out and a bit of a brush they are clean again. Having said that I am going to fit some guttering so it is easier to clean. I think I will move the tube into the run so they can play in it! The tube fills the hole. They are on Amazon just make sure you get a large enough one for obvious reasons!
Click to expand...
Fab thanks, don't know why I'd not thought of doing this before as they love their tunnels. I assume when you use guttering that will just form the top part of the tunnel? I might actually give that a go instead of the tube as it would be easier from a cleaning point of view.
 
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