[Slave to the Wheek]

People do make them without sides, but it is not recommended for several reasons. One is that cavy feet are easily broken, another is that pigs get excited and will push each other off. They can also popcorn off accidentally.

If your ramp is low and doesn't all the way up for a second level, then going without sides is not as big of an issue. Personally, when my boys start popcorning and flying up and down their ramp I could easily seen an injury happening if I didn't have nice high sides to a sturdy ramp. I am more of someone who would rather be safe than spend money at the vet.

I think ramps with sides are going to be more sturdy as well. I was told to put sides on when I joined the forum, so I never questioned it really. It just made sense to me. Besides, if your going to use grids, why not just bend them to build your ramp? That gives you sides, and makes it safe.

Also, you'll want to make sure that you find a way to connect it to the upper level securely. Many ramps I've seen in the galleries are unsafe, and are barely functioning..so be careful of your design choice.

You can click on the photo next to my profile and see a detailed set of pictures showing how I made my ramp by zip tieing 2 mesh grids together, then zip tieing coroplast to it for a floor base. (engineering to prevent it from stressing at the joint, as per hubby's directions) then covering it with fleece. I find it has to be washed once a month as they pee and it runs down the ramp to the bottom. That's why I chose a washable fabric that won't cause bacterial build-up from the urine.

I made a skinny little pad out of fleece and batting and put ties on it to tie it to the ramp as a "runner". Works great. But, you can also just cut the ends of the fleece so that you have long strands at the ends. No sewing even needed for that idea.