The ramp dilemma: Clover goes down, but she won't go back up!

I moved all there, food bowl and treats in the upper deck, so they eat there for sure and go for food. At first they came right down when they had just a cozy. But with the goodies there, they have no problem now. You can give it a try with moving all food there, just for a week or two, see how things go. Maybe she will get used to it, then put the cozie, and afterwards move the food back down.

Are you sure the ramo isn't to steep? Could you post a picture of it?

Sure, I'll post a pigture right now!

https://www.guineapigcages.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/13013

It almost seems like its less than 30 degrees. Anyway, its made up of two bent grids, a piece of coroplast, and a towel folded and clipped to the ramp's sides. There is plenty of her to get on and off at both ends. I want to see if I can make it a little more secure, it wobbles a little bit when she puts her weight on it (but it will not fall down, I'm sure of it). Any help?

Hmm, it doesn't seem too steep.

If i was in your position I would move her food bowls and water bottles and cozies and such up there and try to entice her.

If she is a lone pig getting her a friend might help. If she see's the other piggy going up she might try to.

I've already had the "get her a friend" discussion on here, and unfortunatly, I cannot. But, I have moved her food up there! I know that she knows where it is, and eventually she will go up there! Don't worry, if she doesn't, I'll move the food closer to her reach.

Oh yes! I seem to have forgotten that thread! My apologies!

It seems you've got a plan. Some piggies just don't like ramps though. There are other styles of ramps if this one fails.

Oh, its fine! Its too bad that I can't get her a friend, but I just, well, can't.

Anyway, its that very last foot that bothers her. She just doesn't want to put it on the ramp! I'll update you with anything that happens!

The ramp is too steep, despite others saying it isn't. Try putting something under the edge to raise it up a bit to make it easier for your pig to go up and down.

Don't move any food upstairs until you know she can get up and down easily otherwise you may end up cutting off her food supply totally if she's too scared of the ramp as it is.

Oh, okay! Thanks for letting me know! I had seen ramps on this website much steeper, so I thought it was okay, but I can change it. How much should I elevate it? Would a brick do the job?

I would make it longer if you could. This will help make the grade a bit less steep. Once you add on a small lift (like a brick) will also help flatten out the grade. Just make sue that she then isn't afraid to get on it because of the brick and having to step up onto the ramp.

Well, I put a large pile of hay about 3/4 up the ramp, and she slowly made her way to it! She was completely on the ramp, and was not slipping or sliding. Is it still necessary to make it less steep? I could, but it seems like she is slowly getting used to it!

This is mine. As I said, they have no problem with it, but it's not that steep.

It's steep, but I don't think it's the grade. To me it doesn't look stable enough. If you have a baby pig it will take a couple days for them to get used to the idea. One day you'll catch her going up and down it, but for her to use it more freely you'll want to look at how secure it is attached as well as how secure of footing it has.

A steep ramp is okay as long as they have a really good base on it for them to get a good grip on. It looks like you put some material on it. The material looks like its not secure, so she might not like the slippery feeling if the material slides around as she goes up and down it.

I made a ramp pad out of a piece of fleece and some polyester batting. I sewed two pieces together with the batting between. It worked great as it sucked up the pee when they pee'd going up and down the ramp (yea..they do pee and it gets gross when it runs down to the bottom of the ramp) I sewed some strings into it (like chair pad has) and tied the strings to BOTH ends of the ramp. It was super secure under their feet, gave them something to grip on and was cushy.

I'm pretty sure I have several close-ups of it in my gallery.

The boys were babies then and it totally made them use the ramp with a lot of gusto. If you take a look at the camera in my profile above it will bring up my picture galleries. I have lots of pics of it.

Forgot to mention, I had an old windshield wiper that I've cut and stuck each few inches for my piggies not to slip.

It is very secure, because I not only secured it to the bottom, but the sides and the top of the cage too. The part that moves when she steps on it is the coroplast strip I have along the bottom, not the actual grids. I'll try to find more supplies to secure it, but I ensure you that she won't fall off and it won't fall down while she's on it.

And, she's turning 4 this month

Well you seem pretty sure that it is fine, so I am sure it is. I will just tell you what I had to do. I started out with a ramp to my Tess's second level. She did not like it at all and was very apprehensive. I then put some bricks under it to make it less steep. Didn't work, she still hated it or was scared of it. Step 3 was to lower the second level and make a brick staircase to get up to it. She now loves her second level. I think it all depends on the pig, because my two boars run up and down their ramp continuously with no issues.

Some pigs are a bit more leery than others so that same steepness may be fine for some pigs but others don't like it. You have to fix it so your pig is comfy going up and down it.

Well, I raised the ramp about two inches higher (making it considerably less steep), supported it with an empty cottage cheese container, and put a brick underneath it, that jets out to make a little stair, if you will. I hope it makes a difference for her!