Wood Pellets/Chips How to use pellets in a loft with a ramp

[gwennifer]

Hi, this may seem like a silly question, but hopefully I get some helpful responses. Here is Meeka modeling the entry to the kitchen/loft for my piggies:

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Hopefully you can see that I cut the entry out at floor level. This works fine with a fleece liner, but I can already tell the kitchen gets way too stinky and I can't deal with it - it seriously needs to be changed every other day if I don't want to smell like I live in a zoo. I want to switch to pellets at least in the kitchen (but probably the whole bottom floor eventually). But obviously with this cut out doorway into the loft, I can't fill the loft with pellets as they'd just come spilling down the ramp.

I have more Coroplast and can modify or remake the loft or the ramp. But how? If the kitchen loft were a complete tray to hold the pellets in, how does your ramp attach? Do the piggies have to hop over the edge once they get to the top or does the ramp come up to the edge of the loft tray somehow? I'm just not getting it and don't want to re-invent the wheel. Please share pics if you can. Thanks!

 

[bpatters]

Mine hop over the edge of their kitchen bin, but it's not right at the top of a ramp.

 

[gwennifer]

So you have a landing of some sort at the top of your ramp?

 

[bpatters]

No ramp. But the bin with the pellets has fairly high sides. I put it on the bottom of the cage, then put pellets around it and in it. But they have to hop to get in it.

 

[Elbatross]

Your ramp is so neat! It would be a shame to have to take it apart. Do you have enough Coroplast to make a removable inner tray for the loft? It would be easy to clean and a ramp to get over the lip of the tray could be build into it. I haven't tried making this yet but I think I would do something like this:

"X" would be equal to the width of your ramp. The space would be positioned where your existing ramp enters the loft. Some Coroplast, folded into a triangle, could be fitted into the space as an extension to the ramp.

The required space in the side of the tray could be made by scoring along the dotted lines and cutting along the solid lines of the diagram above and folding the flaps inwards. The height of the lip of the inner tray would have to be half the width of your ramp for this design to work.

I hope my explanations and drawings make sense. If they are not very clear, I have some spare Coroplast and can make a demo, if you are interested. There must be a few different ways to solve this issue. I would love to hear what other people would do as well.

Whatever you decide to do, please post some photos of how it works out.

 

[pinky]

Cut a small piece of coroplast about 1" by 2" longer than the width of the opening of the loft. Use industrial strength velcro to attach the small piece to both sides of the inside of the opening which will hold the pellets in.

 

[gwennifer]

Elbatross, I had written a longer response to thank you for the work you did, but then the power blinked out and I lost it all. I can understand your diagrams perfectly, thank you for the time and effort you put in. The ramp is neat, but it's a pain to clean - they poop all over it and the poops get hung up on each and every ridge when trying to sweep it.

pinky, I did already think of that (though I was going to use double stick tape). I'd have to make the opening on the grid taller. I thought it may be uncomfortable to have a hurdle awaiting them at the top of a steep climb though.

 

[pinky]

It's not really a hurdle because you cut the coroplast strip to the depth of the wood pellets or bedding so they are just taking a step down onto the ramp. You can even make it less than an inch. I attached a photo of a cage I made that way. It worked well for the person who bought the cage. Velcro is better than double sticky tape because you can easily remove the strip if you don't want to use it or want to replace it.
https://s738.photobucket.com/user/kavykeeper/media/silvercage004_zpsf46cc520.jpg.html (<div class="bbImageWrapper js-lbImage" title="How to use pellets in a loft with a ramp" data-src="/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi738.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx28%2Fkavykeeper%2Fsilvercage004_zpsf46cc520.jpg&amp;hash=a4bcb4f6dd3a2051dda03e9c0ee4df93" data-lb-sidebar-href="" data-lb-caption-extra-html="" data-single-image="1"> <img src="/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fi738.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fxx28%2Fkavykeeper%2Fsilvercage004_zpsf46cc520.jpg&amp;hash=a4bcb4f6dd3a2051dda03e9c0ee4df93" data-url="https://i738.photobucket.com/albums/xx28/kavykeeper/silvercage004_zpsf46cc520.jpg" class="bbImage" data-zoom-target="1" style="" alt="How to use pellets in a loft with a ramp" title="How to use pellets in a loft with a ramp" width="" height="" loading="lazy" /> </div>)

 

[gwennifer]

Thank you for the picture! I do understand it would be just a step and not a hurdle. I think it will work just fine, so long as I cut the opening taller.

I like how you zip-tied your loft cubes so they fit inside the other cubes and can be set down there lower and the whole loft is removable rather than just the insert. Very clever. I feel a re-make coming on.

 

[pinky]

Thank you for the picture! I do understand it would be just a step and not a hurdle. I think it will work just fine, so long as I cut the opening taller.

I like how you zip-tied your loft cubes so they fit inside the other cubes and can be set down there lower and the whole loft is removable rather than just the insert. Very clever. I feel a re-make coming on.

I use screw eyes to hold the wooden I beam in place. Keeps it in place and it's easy to remove.

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