Upstairs Downstairs

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Mattt1985

Mattt1985

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Hi everyone,

New member - hope I'm posting in the right place!

A few weeks ago I became the proud new owner of two long-haired guinea pigs after a friend no longer had room for them. They're only a few months old, so I'm told.

They came in a single storey hutch - as they're two boars, I wanted to make sure they had enough room to flex their legs so I bought a larger, two storey hutch for them which they've been in for about a week now.

The trouble is that I'm having trouble encouraging the guinea pigs to go up or down the ramp. I have tried tempting them with treats, to no avail. I read somewhere that they may have difficulty gripping the ramp so tacking some old carpet on is a solution. I also have tried this but still no luck.

I've tried picking them up and putting them downstairs myself to see whether they would work their way back up, but again, no.

I'm concerned now that if they spend all of their time upstairs, they'll end up with even less room that they had in the original hutch.

One of them seems to be getting a bit grumpy and makes that low grumbly sound when his room-mate pushes past him so I want to get the problem sorted before any fighting breaks out.

Can anyone out there help me?

Matthew
 
I find one levels best for piggies as many do not like to climb. If you have tried treats and they still do not want to go up there I can only assume they do not want to use the ramp. Is there no way they could have a one level cage?
 
Yeah piggles aren't great climbers, I kno some peopl have ramps but I personally wouldn't bother...

Not really sure what to recommend unless you somehow attach an enclosed run to the bottom level?!
 
Ideally not, as I've just spent £100 on the new hutch lol

Friends of ours have guinea pigs and all seem fine in two-storey hutches so naturally assumed this would be fine.

Worst case scenario is I could move them downstairs every morning, along with their food and water, so they'd have more space.

But I'm more interested in learning whether there are any tips for getting them used to climbing...it's a large hutch so the ramp isn't particularly steep.

Thanks

Matthew
 
All I can think of is to put them up and down and get them used to moving.
 
I used some bricks to raise the end of the ramp up so it's not as steep, as well as using some carpet to give them a bit more grip. One of our girls is a lot more adventurous so I put her down to the bottom level, with lots of treats on the ramp. She got the hang of it pretty quickly and our other little one came down to see what all the chattering was about!
I want to get a tunnel for the ramp though which I think will help too.
 
You can buy specially made ramp tunnels which encourages them to use the ramp! I have heard many people having the same problem as you and once they brought a ramp tunnel it was sorted! You could also just buy a tunnel from a pet store then attach somehow to the ramp.
 
We have a 2 tier hutch and my piggies are fine with the ramp. To start with we had a ramp tunnel which they loved but the material which is on our ramp, kind of a roofing felt stuff made it really hard to stick the velcro on and eventually we had to stop using it. they are actually fine without it though. maybe because they'd got used to it by using the tunnel for a few days first. we got the tunnel from cosy cavies but i know she's not making made to measure things at the moment. You could have my ramp tunnel, not sure how long it is though and you'd need to buy some heavy duty velcro to stick it to your ramp. Am home on Wednesday so if you're interested in having it i can measure it then and you can measure your ramp to see if it'd fit.
 
Thanks very much! Both the bricks and the tunnel sound great ideas!

Will consult my other half :-)

Thanks folks, hope to become a regular poster
 
I went to B & Q to the bit where they cut your wood to size for you - bought 2 pieces of plywood cut offs for 20p and got my brother to cut them to fit the ramp to make sides - stuck them on with no more nails - dried after 24 hours,then popped a small fleece blanket over it - this gave them some grip and stopped them keeping me awake at night as I could hear their nails when they went up and down the ramp - when the ramp has sides they feel secure - then you can tempt them up / down the ramp by placing a plate of veggies upstairs if they are downstairs and vice versa - you also need sides on ramps if you wish to avoid piggies trying to get past each other at the same time and perhaps pushing each other off the ramp,which could lead to a broken leg etc.
 
I've got a 2 tier hutch and my 3 older piggies have no trouble using the ramp. Although, it did take Primrose weeks and weeks to figure it out (it was possibly even a couple of months), then all of a sudden she just started using it and whizzes up and down now. Perhaps they just need a bit more time to get used to it? I introduced a 4th piggie on Thursday and she hasn't used the ramp yet - I'm going to give her a couple more weeks though, before I try fitting tunnels to the ramps.
 
I used to have a ramp for mine, but it was too steep so I lifted the bottom of the ramp and put a tunnel up it and they used it just fine :)
 
I have a two storey hutch, they love the freedom! Took them a little time to get used to it, and when they were young i would move them about and put them downstairs during the day then shut them up the top at night, now they have the freedom of the whole hutch and are very happy lively pigs xx
 
Mine is a 3 story indoor cage. One of mine took longer that the other and there are wooden ramps inside - what we did to start was attach (great fun with tape and things lol) a corregated tube can get them form most pet shops the extendable ones. This seemed to give them more traction and grip. one of mine would only go up the ramps for ages but they both sussed it out with in weeks. Eventually though the tubes had to go as they were getting fairly big for them and I was finding good cleaning a problem but they soon sussed them out now they go whizzing up and down. Perservere I thought to begin with I had bought this lovely big cage and was going to end up with one at bottom and one at top but they got there x
 
As I have a similar problem, me and my dad are planning on making our own ramp tunnel. We are going to use a cardboard postal tube (one of the bigger ones) cut it in half, then staple it onto the sides of the ramp to form a tunnel. Don't know how well it will work but it's worth a go!
 
Progress

Hi all,

Just wanted to thank you for your suggestions - we bought a tunnel yesterday, and raised the ramp using a brick and today Holmes has ventured down and then back up again...Watson remains dubious but I'm sure he'll get the knack!

Cheers again all,
Matthewxx>>>
 
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