Guinea pigs will not use ground floor of their hutch

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Deathwing

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Hi I have two guinea pigs who are now about 3/4 of a year old and have been living in the top floor of their two-storey hutch. There is a ramp to the ground floor but they have never ventured down it, which is a shame because there is more space to play at the bottom and space for more guinea pig toys and things.

Will they start venturing down as they get older, or is there any way to encourage them to venture down the ramp?

Thanks!
 
i used to put mine down the bottom of the hutch during the day and then back up the top at night they did eventually get the hang of it. it might be that they dont know what is down there so they're staying where they are. :)
 
It could be that the ramp is too slippy- you could attach sandpaper or carpet. Or might be too steep- you could raise the bottom on a block of wood to reduce the steepness. Or you could add a side/ tunnel to the ramp so your pigs feel more secure.

:)
 
When i got the boys their new summer house hutch, they were very nervous at first, compared to the indoor cage there is so much space! And so what i did is attached bits of off cut fabric to the ramp using double sided sticky tape so it can be removed and washed, heres my thread about the boys new hutch and the ramp:
http://theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=52933

Now after a month they're really confident in using it and will happily go up and down :)) good luck x
 
lauralucy's idea of moving them up at night and down in the morning would probably get them used to being in the two places. Steepness of the ramp will definitely have an effect, as will how easily they can get up and down it.

I made ramps for my two boys. They are both covered in carpet (will be sewing some slip on covers soon - carpet has become a bit rank and its a pain to clean). They didn't use them at first, but I put their hay and their veggies up there. One of them got it straight away. With the other one, when I put the veggies in, I put the guinea at the bottom of the ramp, and lead him up the ramp by trailing the veg in front of his nose!
 
Oh thanks those are some really good ideas. I will try and obtain some carpet or something I can attach (sellotape maybe?) to the ramp. I can't move the actual ramp as it's nailed in place. I will also try putting them in the lower bit in the morning so they get used to it :)
 
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