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Post by drummerchris on Sept 24, 2008 8:34:35 GMT
Sooooooooooo.... ....we got our piggies - Pinny and Gigs - on Sunday and they have been settling into their new hutch since then (although they are both rather shy, as would be expected). The hutch is a two level hutch with a ramp between the different levels. Last night, when we got home from work and we having a bit of "bonding" time - something, i think a bird, freaked Pinny out a bit and she started running around the hutch. Eventually she got a bit to close to the hole where the ramp come up, slipped off and then slid down the ramp like it was a slide! She didn't seem too phased by it and started to have a mooch about down there. However - the problems came with her getting back up the ramp again - we wanted her to try and do it herself so we left her but she seemed reluctant to go up any more than a few steps. We even tried putting some treats leading up the ramp, but she just shook the ramp until they fell off and ate them. In the end she was wheeking because she couldn't find Gigs so we gave in and returned her manually to the top level!
I'm just wondering whether Guinea Pigs are actually able to climb ramps, and whether we have done the right thing with a double levelled hutch - we wanted them to have as intersting a house as possible!!!!
Cheers,
Chris x
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Post by PigPog on Sept 24, 2008 8:56:52 GMT
That's too cute and rather funny. Most piggies prefer to be on solid ground and ramps usually don't count as solid ground in their world. Plenty of people have hutches with ramps and the piggies are happy, while some pigs just won't do ramps no matter how many treats you put on it! If the ramp is fairly steep I'd fix a little bannister to the side anyway to stop anyone falling off again. I'd then give them a couple more weeks to get used to the idea, but do keep an eye on Pinny to make sure she doesn't isolate herself to the floor that doesn't have her food and water on it. Alternatively if she doesn't get the hang of i then I would definately recommend getting a hutch on a single level.
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Post by drummerchris on Sept 24, 2008 8:59:50 GMT
Ah - we've now taken evasive action and popped a spare water bottle on the other level and keeping a stock of food down there as well just in case! I'm sure she'll get used to it. I feel some DIY coming on at the weekend!
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Post by PigPog on Sept 24, 2008 9:08:09 GMT
"Evasive action", loving it! Thing you'll learn about guinea pigs is they can be very stubborn and you'll soon find yourself doing what they want you to do, and not the other way around! Yep, DIY is definately your activity of choice this weekend.
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Post by meggiepiggy on Sept 24, 2008 11:42:17 GMT
Or you could do what has been suggested on the forum before..................block up the hole and use the other space for storage (piggy things of course) ;D
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Post by lisa on Sept 24, 2008 12:53:01 GMT
Mine use ramps and they are happy with them but it took them a while to get used to them My mums pigs however wouldn't touch them so as already suggested they have covered up the hole and got more piggys to go in the bottom of the hutch,but of course I am in no way suggesting you should get more pigs lol ;D
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Post by drummerchris on Sept 24, 2008 13:03:46 GMT
I think we probably will get some more pigs at some point - although we'll let Pinny and Gigs get settled in first I think!!
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linz
pig in muck
Posts: 74
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Post by linz on Sept 24, 2008 19:33:34 GMT
i have a two tier hutch aswell. at first neither of my piggies would go down the ramp. one of them went half way down, ran back up and wouldn't chance it again. so, i was a bit miffed thinking i had wasted my money buying a big two level house for them. i wondered whether the ramp was too steep, so i put something under it at the bottom and hey presto! it meant they had to do a little jump at the bottom to get down but they didnt mind and were soon whizzing up and down it at great speed! they don't need it propped up now , they are so used to it
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Post by drummerchris on Sept 25, 2008 13:24:17 GMT
Hey Linz! Now that is a fantastic idea and one which i may well try when i get home later - making it slightly less steep might make it a bit less daunting for them and encourage them to use it!
Thanks for the idea! xx
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Post by Hugs-Cavies (Doris) on Sept 25, 2008 19:37:36 GMT
We had one of these cages, not my choice it arrived with two piggies we took on, Ginny and Tina (well at the time Ginny was called Dave - don't ask ) They'd go up the ramp, at a rate of knots, but not down it put them together with your two and we'd have piggies that go both ways Seriously though, best option is to block off the hole and use it in some way for storage, we did this and we urm used it for two more piggies
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Post by snailspace on Sept 26, 2008 10:38:47 GMT
Doris
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nikkijb
new pig on the block
Posts: 7
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Post by nikkijb on Sept 27, 2008 10:15:58 GMT
Hi there, If you pigs tun out to be anything like mine, they will climb anything!! They wouldn't to begin with...... but now I cant stop them. I have a 7ft x 4ft pen and they have those large stick arches that you can get in most pet stores. not only do the climb onto them, they jump, even my 2 smaller girls. My experience is once they have done it once, you cant stop them. Maybe they just need some time to come round to the idea!! Good luck Nikki xx
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nikkijb
new pig on the block
Posts: 7
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Post by nikkijb on Sept 27, 2008 10:17:42 GMT
Hi there, If you pigs tun out to be anything like mine, they will climb anything!! Good god, look at my spelling, should have proof read it first!!!!!! Reason for Editing: fixed quote - Bob
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Post by meggiepiggy on Sept 27, 2008 20:00:16 GMT
Don't worry about it Nikki We had a piggy years ago who used to climb up onto our first stair.......but couldn't quite manage to get down again
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Post by guineapoo on Oct 1, 2008 10:00:17 GMT
hows it going with the ramp now? It took the girls about a week to get used to it, we tried teaching them to climb it (putting them half way up and encouraging them to go the rest of the way) putting treats and food up the ramp, putting them on the top floor in the hope that they'd learn to go down it and realise how to get back up it again... All the food and water is on the top floor and they sussed it out eventually and now they fly up and down it like nutters!
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