Our ramp is the one that came with the cage when we ordered it from the cage store. It is the coroplast with the "carpet" on the walking surface. I've suspected that they were using it as the bathroom as the majority of the mess was ending up at the bottom of the ramp, both poop and wetness from pee. To the point where I currently have 4 layers of towel between the uhaul and the fleece in that corner just to have a shot at keeping it dry.
I've been wiping out the entire cage worth of coroplast with the diluted white vinegar solution every week when I do the full change, because when I was doing the daily spot clean all I could smell was pee. Well, now I'm not smelling pee until I move or sweep the ramp down.
This morning, on her first run back down the ramp (they both go up there to check out the new fresh hay and to beg for pellets as soon as the ramp is replaced after the spot cleaning every morning) Callie stopped to pee. As she was finishing her ... call of nature, Hammie was on her way up the ramp and stopped nose to nose with her sister to join in answering nature's call.
The ramp, because of the carpeting, is the only thing that doesn't get a weekly scrub down (ok, let's be real, wipe down - it only got really scrubbed the first time). I am thinking that they have just decided to use that as the spot to go. Problem is ... how do I clean it properly? What do people do?
Any thoughts on how to handle this problem would be appreciated. I do not really have the option to take the ramp and extend the main floor until after the basement is finished off, and our girls spend a lot of time up on the loft, so I don't really want to remove the loft all together -- but I would love to give them more space to run and fly on the main level.
I've been wiping out the entire cage worth of coroplast with the diluted white vinegar solution every week when I do the full change, because when I was doing the daily spot clean all I could smell was pee. Well, now I'm not smelling pee until I move or sweep the ramp down.
This morning, on her first run back down the ramp (they both go up there to check out the new fresh hay and to beg for pellets as soon as the ramp is replaced after the spot cleaning every morning) Callie stopped to pee. As she was finishing her ... call of nature, Hammie was on her way up the ramp and stopped nose to nose with her sister to join in answering nature's call.
The ramp, because of the carpeting, is the only thing that doesn't get a weekly scrub down (ok, let's be real, wipe down - it only got really scrubbed the first time). I am thinking that they have just decided to use that as the spot to go. Problem is ... how do I clean it properly? What do people do?
- Should I make some sort of ramp fleece flipper? How do I keep it in place if I do?
- Should I steam clean it with my bissel carpet steam cleaner with the furniture attachment thing? (not even sure it would fit in the ramp ... if I could find the attachment) Wouldn't that reduce the effectiveness of whatever they use to make it stay put?
Any thoughts on how to handle this problem would be appreciated. I do not really have the option to take the ramp and extend the main floor until after the basement is finished off, and our girls spend a lot of time up on the loft, so I don't really want to remove the loft all together -- but I would love to give them more space to run and fly on the main level.