this is a piece of shelving with a piece of coroplast over it. i put a piece of carpet padding (?...the stuff underneath rugs and carpets) for traction...
I am still tweaking elements of my new second story (maybe a picture tomorrow) ... and right now I have a ramp made of a 24" shelf made of the same stuff as C&C grids. I tacked on a long hunk of short pile carpet (like berber) with zip-ties and then zip-tied the whole ramp to the cage side. I added a cubicle grid along most of the open side so a piggy wouldn't fall off from a great height.
I have a few questions, though: First, what about them nibbling at the carpet fibers? Is this a really bad idea? Should I use something else? I see others have used variations on carpet. And some even have open sides! I don't think that would work here, as I noticed Murray thought he'd try to jump off the ramp way too close to the top, which is why I added the grid along the side to prevent him from doing that.
Is there somewhere here that talks about acceptable inclines? It looks like most people's ramps (assuming we all have about 14" grids) span two grids to get from one floor to the other.
Thanks for any info. This is driving me nuts already and it's only been one day. Besides, I'm trying not to think about the new hassles I've added for myself in cleaning the whole cage now!
If you are concerned about the open ramp try using these instead:
Ferret tubes - they are like hampster tubes but larger and fit a pig
PVC pipe - nice and strong, add a strip of carpeting inside with some hot glue for some traction.
I worked for hours today to make my first C&C cage and it turned out great! I made a second story and in making our ramp, I used three panels and the incline is much softer than some I have seen. What I am wondering is... how long does it take for them to go up to the second floor? Marilyn and Audrey ventured part way up the ramp but came back down after they had eaten the lettuce I used to try and lure them up. Bette hasn't noticed that it is there evidently. She is still content to lay around and look at her new surroundings. Anyway, would putting one of them up there help them to find it? Or should I just wait and see what they do?
I havent had any piggies eat carpet/fleece/etc. Bunnies either. Piggies that havent had a ramp before can take a while to use it. In one of my cages it took the older piggies nearly 2 months to venture up the ramp. The younger the faster they take to it from my experience.
