Boys dont like the ramps!

I suggest you put a thickly folded fleece blanket over it. The texture and tempurature may scare the pigs. Once I put a plush layer of fleece on my ramp, the pigs were very comfortable as it was the texture they were used to. Could we see some pictures?

Sure! I uploaded them on my other computer.. I did have very fine sand paper under the grates thinking it woudl help keep there nails down but they DID not like that at all. Once I took it out a few would go up. Still noone is coming down. and not really going up either.

You may need to try different textures like they suggested.. I have to say though, I have one pig that REFUSED to do it again after he went up and down once, on a very sturdy, fleece covered ramp! After a week of trying we gave up. He started to eat the coroplast downstairs out of frustration.. We took it down because it was supposed to be a hayloft to keep all the hay contained. So we decided to take it off, since I had to put hay downstairs for the rebel..

oh man, if I have to adjust this cage it will be completly remodeled. We were trying to save space as well as giv ethe piggies as much space and freedom from one another as possible. The each basically have there own floor and its like a zig zag pattern. The coroplast is cut with the cutouts for the grates and stairs. Its totally customized. even the fleece is all precut to fit each level with extra sets. I worked my A$$ off on this cage! lol

Don't give up just yet... make sure the ramps are very sturdy, and not too steep, just like a rickety bridge would scare you, a rickety ramp is not enjoyable for these fearful guys. You've just started them in it right?

Yes, last night! It is all very sturdy. Its all zip tied and fastened down. I think I will slide some fleece behind the rails inf ront of the coro on the ramps. See if that helps. We just thought they woudl have somuch fun running up and down and zug zagging back and 4th. We were gonna put a tunnel on the 4th floor for them. Or make it the kitchen! I put pics in my profile.

It's very cool-looking but the ground level (the only one that counts) seems very small. It looks like a 2x3. How big is it, and how many pigs do you have?

It is 2x3. 4 pigs but the last cage I had was a rectangle of 43" with a top level of about 14 inches amd they all hung out up there and didnt use the bottom. LOL Go figure. They enjoyed jumping onto there log then onto the platform. and then back down. We figured with this many levels they have plenty of room. It comes out to I think 16SF total. Id have to re-measure. I just wanted to be over the 13SF.

Capron09 said:

Yes, last night! It is all very sturdy. Its all zip tied and fastened down. I think I will slide some fleece behind the rails inf ront of the coro on the ramps. See if that helps. We just thought they woudl have somuch fun running up and down and zug zagging back and 4th. We were gonna put a tunnel on the 4th floor for them. Or make it the kitchen! I put pics in my profile.

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The problem is it is too steep. Mine runs across the width of two grids and they still need a running start to get up it. YOu need to change it so it has less of an angle.

Flowers.. how do you suggest I change it to not be too steep. Several pics I have looked at barely give them room to run straight up and they go up as high. Let me check out your cage and see if I can get an idea?

Capron09 said:

Flowers.. how do you suggest I change it to not be too steep. Several pics I have looked at barely give them room to run straight up and they go up as high. Let me check out your cage and see if I can get an idea?

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Capron, My cage is a 2x4 on the bottom, a 1x4 running across the back. The ramp comes up in grid #2 of the 1x4 top. It ends at the end of grid #3 in the bottom floor. The picture only shows grids 2 and 3 so you can see the angle. There's a place on grid 1 for them to land at the top. Grid 4 holds the hay bin. The entire bottom is open except where the ramp lands. The black and white fleece you see to the left hangs from the upper level making a hidey under grids 1-3 (in the back half) on the bottom level. They sleep under the ramp behind that fleece. The black circle you see is a zip tie that holds up the water bottle. I took it down so you could see the ramp. Grid 4 on the bottom is barely shown. It makes the landing for the bottom of the ramp.

Also this cage is just for two pigs. I'd make it bigger on the bottom and thus bigger on the top if I had four.

Capron09 said:

It is 2x3. 4 pigs but the last cage I had was a rectangle of 43" with a top level of about 14 inches amd they all hung out up there and didnt use the bottom. LOL Go figure. They enjoyed jumping onto there log then onto the platform. and then back down. We figured with this many levels they have plenty of room. It comes out to I think 16SF total. Id have to re-measure. I just wanted to be over the 13SF.

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Capron,
When figuring the square footage for your cage, you are only supposed to figure the bottom floor. Upper levels don't count in the square footage.

Cool, a piggy scyscraper!!!

Try vetbed on the ramps maybe? I use that on my ramp and they took to it really quickly. In vet bed their feet sink in more than in fleece and I think it gives them a good grip, which makes them feel secure

To decrease the angle of a ramp you can put the bottom of it on a low hidey, or a brick or so.

cavycritters said:

Cool, a piggy scyscraper!!!

Try vetbed on the ramps maybe? I use that on my ramp and they took to it really quickly. In vet bed their feet sink in more than in fleece and I think it gives them a good grip, which makes them feel secure

To decrease the angle of a ramp you can put the bottom of it on a low hidey, or a brick or so.

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What is vetbed?

Vetbed is the fake sheepskin type rugs you can buy for dog beds at petstores and so. It's short for veterinary bedding, because it's what vets use for post op animals. It wicks like fleece and can be washed at really high temperatures. I use it on ramps but also in hideys. My piggies love it!

I suggest you buy one of those log-bridge thingies and bend it, then lift your ramp and rest that on top. This will make it less steep.

I do not think that the steepness is an issue at all now that I see other cages. I see plenty of cages 2x3 and 2x4's that do not have a lot of front head on running room infront of the ramp. Any cage with a second story no matter how big the cage is still has to go up as high. So I have added the shelf liner to the coroplast topped with the wire shelving and the little ones go up and down now fine. Its the 8 month old I am having issue with.

I also have folded fleece on my ramps to give them something to hang onto. I originally just had a rubber type of mat and they didn't like it at all but the fleece seemed to do the trick. As long as the ramps aren't too steep I think they will eventually get the idea. Took me bribing mine with parsley for a day or two and now they run up and down them like crazy.

Domino said:

I also have folded fleece on my ramps to give them something to hang onto. I originally just had a rubber type of mat and they didn't like it at all but the fleece seemed to do the trick. As long as the ramps aren't too steep I think they will eventually get the idea. Took me bribing mine with parsley for a day or two and now they run up and down them like crazy.

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Domino, thats why we made our cage the way we did. We figured they would have a blast running up and down ramps over running in a rectangle with a upper rectangular level. BORING! lol