More Questions.. Noises And Ramps

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Tomsmum

Tomsmum

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For first few days the girls made no noise at all, now they have started making little squeaky noises when they are alone in their hutch.. Is this a good noise?

And the ramps, they happily go up but tend to slid down with that claws out. Normal or do I need I reduce the angle a bit?

They have been with us nearly a week now, we are enjoying having them very much ❤️ Though truly I need to cut down on the hay that seems to be being tracked through the ground floor of our house!
 
Piggy noises take a while to understand!

Here is a link to a useful website with recordings of noises. Jackie's Guinea Pigs you will need to play it on a laptop/pc I think.

There is also a thread Here on the forum you may find useful How To Understand Guinea Pig Instincts And Speak Piggy Body Language This helps explain the body language that goes with the noises.

Even though I've had piggies for years I find that a new piggy has different sounds/ behaviours and I have to learn their "speak".
 
Btw I've never managed to get a single piggy to go up or down a ramp so I wasn't ignoring the second part of your question - I just have no answers! There are many owners in here whom can help with ramps.
 
Sounds like they are starting to relax and talk to each other. The ramp should have some carpet etc on it to increase the grip for them when coming down. But as you sumise, it might want the angle reducing.
 
The ramp needs something on it for them to grip. I have fleece lined my ramp and the piggies run up and down happily. Bonnie likes to sit halfway up the ramp watching the goings on in our house.

As for noises the start of squeaking is them settling in. I was so excited when my new girls started making noise. Now if they hear my voice a room away they start wheeking and run over to see me. Still not great at getting picked up but definitely more comfortable with the connection between me and food.
It will take a while for them to settle in and get used to you. Talk to them all the time.
(My husband thinks I'm going crazy talking to the piggies and dog, and I chat to the goldfish too)
 
Thanks, I have added a couple more grips to the ramp and that seems to have helped a lot. I used strips of old Lino but have just used tape to hold them on at the moment. Do I need to find a safe glue or will normal all purpose do?

I have started sitting with them whilst I have my morning cup of tea :)
 
Tagging in @PiggyOwner for you I think she has a ramp and may be able to advise how to cover it, hoping others with ramps may know too
 
sport_billy said:
Tagging in @PiggyOwner for you I think she has a ramp and may be able to advise how to cover it, hoping others with ramps may know too
Click to expand...
I use ramp tunnels on my ramp - I got mine from C and E cosies

ramp_and_bannister.webp

here is a picture taken from the bottom of the ramp - PS you can also see part of the greenhouse heater which is mounted inside their hutch
 
sport_billy said:
How do you secure it?
Click to expand...


I had my ramp tunnels made bespoke - with a material lip at both ends . I think you can just make out the lip at the top in the picture - dangling over the end of the ramp . The bottom lip gets tucked under the ramp and there is a velcro tie in the centre. ( I think you can see a small gap in the bannister where the velcro goes).


The standard ramp tunnels from C an E cosies come with velcro at both ends and in the middle for securing.
 
I recently purchased a fabric ferret tunnel and fixed it onto my wooden ramp and then put a long strip of carpet along the inside for the piggies - my chicken piggie Freckles now uses the ramp and he just wouldnt before - I think the combination of the rough texture for grip and the covered sides have helped him overcome his fear - now poor Spud has nowhere to hide!:lol!:

p.s. got the ferret tunnel quite cheaply on amazon and didn't have to alter the ramp angle either.
 
We have a homemade ramp, and use old tea towels and decent quality cardboard on the bottom, the tea towels mean they have enough grip...spent forever yesterday phasing with my heavy duty hole punch and cable ties to secure it, with all the cable tie bits secured under the tea towels so they can't chew it. It worked and they have been running up and down it happily (we also used plastic sheet we had to make the actual ramp, the cardboard and tea towels just add weight and grip if you see what I mean) ... We want to get them a 'proper ramp' soon but are on a tight budget at the moment.
 
Here they are, having a traffic jam :)

IMG_20150914_WA0007.jpg


Noise wise, we have only had our boys about three weeks, and we keep thinking that we are getting closer to understanding thier squeaking and then it seems to mean something different! I'm hoping it just takes time!
 
Okay, adding ramp tunnels to the list of things-to-make-on-the-sewing-machine! They are cool! I may just get my boss to pay my next pay cheque directly to the fabric shop....
 
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