Zooplus cage ladders

[Plebob]

Hi- my double storey cage arrived yesterday and my 2 girls are settled in to their new home. They will go up the small ladder to the platform but no way on this earth are they going to be able to climb the main ladder to the second storey and to be honest it looks far too steep and dangerous. Has anybody got any tips on how to adapt the ladder or suggest an alternative? I am waiting to adopt Cola from Walsall RSPCA and can't introduce him until I am sure the whole cage is usable. Thanks.

 

[Dindypig]

Hi, is it like the ones in this thread........
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=38985
If so I have adapted the ramps by sticking carpet to them and adding banisters to the sides. I will do some piccies if you want.
Since I adapted them Cupcake runs up and down thm all the time and Dindy can use them also without too much effort, which is good 'cause Dindy does'nt put too much effort into anything really.

 

[Plebob]

Thanks dindypig - yes that is the one! I've attached some cardboard around the ladder for now to stop them falling but it seems very steep. Does the carpet work for you at that angle? I was thinking of somehow either adding something to the platform to lessen the angle of the ladder or raising the wooden platform and getting a longer first ladder.

 

[Dindypig]

I have done some mods to make life a little easier and more secure for the Piggies.
I tried putting a block under the long ramp to lessen the angle but I found it didn't matter in the long run. I have stapled some carpet to the ramps and added some hardboard bannisters to stop them falling and to give them a little personal security so that they don't feel exposed when on the long ramp.
Stiff carpet would do the same job, just keep an eye out for chewing.

Long ramp from the front of the pen

Long ramp from the top of the pen

Long ramp frome the side of the pen

I did notice that the small ramp was overhanging the central hole and that Dindy would slip her back leg into the gap between the ramp and the wall, (she has a wide rear) so I decided to shuffle the small ramp nearer to the side wall so that it wasn't overhanging the central hole and to close the gap that Dindy kept falling foul of.
You might notice if you look closely at the shelf that I have filled in the original holes and drilled a couple of new ones so that the small ramp could be shuffled up. I had a piece of plywood that I used to make a new short ramp with, so I decided to make it a little longer than the original and shaped the edge so that there was no gap between the ramp and wall. If I hadn't got that spare piece of plywood I would have just put a wider piece of carpet on and trimmed it to fill the side gap, the new carpet is quite stiff.

Short ramp from one side

Short ramp from the other side