Climbing/jumping/ramps?

[RosieGeorge]

Hi there,

Our pair of adopted boars seem to really enjoy running up and down ramps, and jumping up/down from platforms and hideouts. Before we built their C&C cage I'd read that most gps don't like ramps so only the ground level space should be counted when calculating how much room they'll have. But since our pigs seemed to like ramps and jumping so much, we added a loft and then built a sort of "ladder" of 1x1 grids placed alternately above the 1x2 area, with a 1/2 grid space vertically in between each one (and no horizontal space, i.e. there is no gap to jump or fall through). This did have ramps but they were ignored in favor of just jumping up/down. They now seem most happy in this vertical area and generally ignore the much larger ground level space. There is hay, food, water, toys/chews, and hideouts throughout, so it's not like they have to go upwards to get to anything, they just seem to like doing it.

I am just wondering whether this is normal behavior? They could never fall more than 1/2 a grid in height, onto soft fleece below, and they seem very sure-footed anyway so I'm not worried about safety, just that it seems very different to what I learned when researching gps before we built the cage and adopted our pigs. Should I be encouraging them to use the ground level space more?

 

[Maddykins]

It sounds normal to me, all pigs are different. One of mine particularly loves the loft space in the cage and he also ignores the ramp completely and just prefers to jump up and down. I do worry it's bad for his back though because I'm sure I read somewhere that lots of jumping can hurt their back as they're not natural jumpers? But what can I do if he enjoys it? Neither of them have ever fallen before either.

When I researched guinea pigs before I got them everywhere said they don't jump so I got the shock of my life when they were jumping up onto the loft and jumping back down again lol!

 

[Maisy and Poppy]

Hiya and !
You sure have done your research, buying a c and c cage! What are your piggies names and breeds? I am looking forward to some introductory pigtures!
As for the piggies jumping about and on/off ramps I think this is good as they are enjoying life! If you are really worried you can buy ramp tunnels!

 

[RosieGeorge]

Thanks for the welcome and reassurance! Researching and building the cage was actually a lot of fun and our pigs seem happy there. They are Percy and Toby. We adopted them from a family who ended up with more pigs than they intended due to buying a sow who turned out to be pregnant. I'm not too sure of their breeds, but I *think* Toby is a crested and Percy is a coronet. I'll try to take some pictures if they ever stop moving! They're both quite young, and very lively. Perhaps the jumping will calm down as they get older. Then I can have fun building them a new cage with lots of gentle ramps and places to chill out