Skating Piggies on Ramp!

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lesley

Hi ....having finally aired the new hutch I put the boys in and.....they seem terrified of the ramp down to the run! I put them in at the bottom and they made no attempt to climb up to their bed. Late at night I coaxed them with food and thought it would be ok. Today I left a trail of food on the ramp down to a pile in the run but they wouldn't be coaxed. I left them and 4 hours later no movement! The ramp is quite steep and as I gently placed them on it they seemed to be slipping down- its covered in roofing felt, a non slip surface...do you think I should add little bits of would like steps? I'm gutted because if they don't use the bottom part then they have no more room than their old hutch really! Is it just adjustment time? They are both young about 6 months? Lesley! :-\
 
we added extra steps on our ramp,works a treat! it still took them a little while to get used to it but now they zoom up and down like there's no tomorrow,good luck O0
 
Right hammer and wood here we come! Thanks Sammy, hope mine adjust or I'm moving in! Lesleyxx
 
they'll be fine just give them a bit of time,the two babies took a few days and georgie who is nearly 5 took weeks and weeks ,I spent hours putting food on the ramp,sitting her on the bottom and gently coaxing her...I even used to put her up to bed at night and bring her down again in the morning,then one day she just got it! :D
 
Ok I admit it patience is a virtue I need to learn! By the way, I'm also a bit worried about them falling off the side....it seems steep- my husband and kids think Ive lost the plot! Are yours ok without?Lesley 98)
 
I did ask my OH to put bannisters up but I cannot repeat on here what he said (had I nagged I would have got it done ,and he would have willingly obliged)....mine have never actually fallen off,they tend to go up against the back wall,welcome to the club by the way I think most of our husband think we are slightly Laa Laa 98) 98),but it won't take him long to fall in love ,my OH has his OWN piggie now called jakie :smitten:
 
Our two piggies took a while to adjust to the ramp in their hutch too. Ours has regularly spaced little bits of wood for more grip. They run up and down it now. On one occasion I was amused cos my son had put so much hay in their hutch after cleaning it out that the ramp access was obscured - they thought the ramp had gone and didn't venture downstairs until I cleared the hay out of the way!
 
Well the good news is they ventured up on their own! I have to confess my hubby loves them too and is often heard chatting away to them! Glad I'm not the only one to consider a bannister! The response I got was repeatable, along the lines of "we don't have bannisters and even our 3 year old manages!' So I guess my piggies will have to brave it! ;D Lesley
 
That's my hubbies job for tomorrow! Think the request for a bannister was a step too far- excuse the pun! ;D Lesley
 
i came up with idea of guttering for the ramps..... it has sides already and u can cover the bottom of it with non slip stuff...
 
A bannister is a good idea I have them on mine and the extra steps will help too :)
 
I agree the bannister is a very good idea, it will prevent them from Jumping or falling off. :)
 
hi
just caught up with responses...ooh good ideas! May investigate the guttering. Did you have wooden bannisters? Thought about perspex for a while! They have started to use ramp now but I do worry about how steep it is! ? Lesley
 
What about making one from cubes & correx? This is the one I made. It was inside the cage when we had 2 floors, but now the girls use it during floor time. Please excuse paper bags! Boogies goes nuts if she sees the ramp but the door is shut and I just put it up for a moment to take the pic 5 mins ago for this post.

ramp002.jpg
 
Oh that is fab! :o Does it come in long pieces as the ramp is very long to connect the two hutches? Can I piece it together? Lesley
 
I have plastic ramps in my cage, and they are useless. Piggies can't grip them at all, until somebody suggested pulling an old wooly sock over each ramp. Works a treat!
 
Mmm back to skating then!.....or maybe a leg off a pair of woolly tights! Actually I am watching my piggies, as we speak, literally running up and down the ramp! In the time I've taken debating this I think they've got the hang of it! Lesley ;D
 
My ramp is not useless. The horizontal stripes are strips of correx that have been heat bonded onto the ramp correx. They travel up and down the ramp very easily.

If you buy packs of grids either from Robert May, Screwfix or the USA you are likely to have spare panels once you have completed your c&c cage. I bent the panels 90 degrees into L shapes and zip tied them together, with the 2 top grids overlapping. Then I cut some spare correx to fit the ramp. With a stanley knife I cut strips of correx for the grips. I glued the strips to the correx at even intervals using a glue gun. If you use the glue sparingly and move quickly you can bond the plastics together as they liquefy under the heat.. Then I incised the correx at points all along the edges and threaded zip ties through to secure the correx to the grid ramp.

Above you can see I used 3 grids, this was so the pigs could get on and off easily when it went up to the 2nd floor because space was limited and the end was up against the wall of the cage. If you have enough space you should use 4 grids. Then you can use it as a bridge as well as a ramp. If you ever wanted to turn it into a tunnel to use externally between 2 c&c cages you should bend another 4 grids and zip tie them over the top enclosing the 'bridge' completely.

The ramp is attached to the cage with bulldog clips and removed when not in use.

You'll find loads more ramp, bridge and tunnel ideas on www.guineapigcages.com. I've also found that carpet offcuts provide good traction if you don't want a load of effort.
 
lesley said:
Mmm back to skating then!.....or maybe a leg off a pair of woolly tights! Actually I am watching my piggies, as we speak, literally running up and down the ramp! In the time I've taken debating this I think they've got the hang of it! Lesley ;D
Click to expand...

that's brilliant! did you bother to put on extra steps ?
 
Stood with wood and hammer in hand then laughed hysterically as they ran up and down happily! So they are step free! OOH hope toefluff didn't think I thought the ramp was useless I thought it was fab! Sorry for any offence caused! Lesley :-\
 
they are like kids when you take them to the doctors.....by the time you get there they're fine and bouncing around the waiting room.... ;D ;D
 
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