A new ramp for York!

[wiggley_narco]

Although my previous corrugated drainage pipe ramp worked well for Wiggley and Narco, York was terrified of it and wouldn't go into the hayloft. If I put him in the loft, he would sit there for hours refusing to go down on his own until I put him back on the bottom level. I tried cutting the top off of the tube to give him more room, but that didn't work either. I think he's claustrophobic... So the new ramp design is wider and open on top. It's also a little less steep. For the first time, York went up and down (with a little coaxing) all by himself!

I have one question, though. The bottom of the ramp is lined with a rubber bath mat I cut to fit. I thought this was a good idea at first, but they've started nibbling on it... and rubber can't possibly be good for them. Any suggestions?

[TX_2_Pigs]

Personally I would replace the rubber with fleece. If you feel there isn't enough traction you can makes treads. (slideshow of how to make treads)It looks a little steep to me so you may want to put a brick under the end of it to make it less of an incline.

[SerpentineSylph]

I had to switch my ramp to almost exactly the same thing, I also use a brick to make it less steep like TX_2_Pigs suggested. I use bare grids and then cut a $2 bathmat (the one's made to fit around a toilet) in half to line the grids, and safety pin the bottom in place (no piggies can get to the pins). You can see the rug in the picture of my cage. The picture has the original ramp, but it still works the same. And no piggy feet fall through the squares, the bathmat is strong enough on the bottom to support the weight. My pigger does mad dashes up and and down, and also sits on it. It's easy to clean the poops up off of the rugs, it can handle anything, doesn't shift, and you just toss it into the wash! I love it.

[wiggley_narco]

Originally Posted by TX_2_Pigs

Personally I would replace the rubber with fleece. If you feel there isn't enough traction you can makes treads. (slideshow of how to make treads)It looks a little steep to me so you may want to put a brick under the end of it to make it less of an incline.

Haha, that's exactly what I did right after I took this picture. I got to looking at it and decided a brick was necessary. Great minds think alike...

And thanks so much for the fleece with treads idea. That's wonderful! That slideshow is great.