2 story hutch

[Ste-EVo]

Hi everyone

We bought our 2x bonded males (almost 1yr old) a new 2 story hutch yesterday in the hope of giving them more room, however it would seem they are quite scared of the ramp and haven't ventured down yet.

I get that its a new house for them so they will be apprehensive so just trying to understand how long it usually takes for them to work it out and feel comfortable using the ramp. There is food and water and housing on the lower floor for them too.

Its a pets at home 5ft 2 story and the ramp has little ledges on it to help and a side piece to stop accidents.

Thanks

 

[Ste-EVo]

Just to add, should I be starting them at the top (as they are now), or at the bottom and encouraging them up?

 

[Piggies&buns]

There is no real answer to how long it takes - some piggies will learn quickly, others never do.
Putting them at the top or the bottom doesn’t really matter.
Remember climbing is not natural to guinea pigs and they prefer their living to be single storey (so double storey hutches are not ideal for guinea pigs).

Also keep in mind that a double storey hutch does not give more room - upper levels do not count towards the cage size (it doesn’t double their available room - it’s only the bottom level which counts) and in reality it gives less room due to floor space being taken up by the ramp and the opening at at the top level.
A 5ft hutch (providing 10 square feet of space) is minimum size for two boars so you will need to keep an eye on how they fare with it

Modifications are likely to be needed to the ramp -
The ramps as they come on on commercial hutches tend to be unsuitable for guinea pigs - they are usually too steep, the protective sides aren’t high enough (so they can feel exposed and at risk of falling), and with the ramp made of wood the areas between the ledges on the floor are too slippery for them to walk on, the ledges are too far apart

You will find you will need to:
- raise the ramp - pop a brick or something like that underneath to reduce the gradient
- cover the ramp with carpet tiles or something similar. I have had to cover the ramps in hutches with vetbed which I stuck on with Velcro so I could remove and wash (having spare pieces available)

In the end I completely removed ramps and only ever use single storey housing now

Ramps in Cages and Hutches

 

[Piggies&buns]

At the top level, if the hutch just has a hole where the ramp goes down and no guard rail, then you would be well advised to create a bannister around it (so they can only enter the ramp from one point) to avoid the accidents which do occur from piggies falling down the hole inadvertently

 

[Ste-EVo]

Alternatively, if it turns out they dont like it/won't use the 2 tiers, is there any harm in closing up the hole at the top, removing the ramp and creating efftivly 2x single story hutches and putting out 2x female piggies on the bottom and the boys up top?

Currently the girls are in a seperate hutch.

I really appreciate the help/advice so far!

 

[Piggies&buns]

There is no issue in turning it into two separate - it’s actually what I did with my two pairs of boys.
Girls at the bottom, boys at the top is the right way to house them stacked.
If they are outside then the smell of the girls is more likely to blow away but if they are usually kept far apart from each other and aren’t aware of each other, then do just keep in mind the boys may still smell the girls.
I would urge caution when it comes to having hutch covers on as it would mean the smell of the girls is kept contained and near the boys.