Making a step for Snowy

[mouse_chalk]

I need to make a step for Snowy to jump up onto the first level of their grid cage easier. Barney occasionally gets a little too.... 'enthusiastic' shall we say.... And Snowy doesn't like this, so she gets away, by going upstairs. But, when she tries to do it quickly, she misses the shelf, and falls down, or she ends up paddling in the water bowl on the way.

Here is what their cage looks like:

I was thinking of making the 'step' with the grid that currently sticks out, here:

I imagined that I'd just put that grid about halfway up, instead of a whole grid high, so she could jump onto that, and then up to the first floor quite easily.

But, to support it, I can only think of using a grid, vertically, between the first shelf and the floor? Which would work well, but it would divide up the downstairs space somewhat, and give them less room to manouvre down there.

Basically, I can't think of another place to put the step, or another way of doing it, that wouldn't divide up the downstairs floor space?

Thanks in advance- if that all makes sense lol! :?

 

[Spring]

You could zip tie the shelf halfway up, then put in a short box on it's side the same height to fill with hay? Then it would be using the space underneath while still supporting the shelf.

Or you might be able to remove the grid sticking out, zip tie two grids together an make a ramp with a towel zip tied or cardboard to give some grip.. would take up some floor space, but then they could also use the area under the shelf/ramp as a little covered area.

 

[Jess4921]

You could use a grid as a ramp, but cut it in half or something so it doesnt block as much space.
Or how about those steps that the make for dogs to help them get up on furniture?
Smudge had the same problem, and I solved it by putting a rug on the bottom of his cage, so he has better traction when he jumps. If yours wont eat the rug, it might be worth a try!

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I use the brackets made to hold up shelves. They are L shaped and fairly cheap. Zip tie it to the shelf and the cage wall. If you want, you could use 2. I have 3 steps in Korr and Penny's cage and each one has a support and it works fine.

 

[missyscove]

I use a vertical grid to hold up my shelves.

I have two cages just like this, only they're mirror images of eachother. The step is zip tied onto the outer wall and onto the vertical grid. I don't have the vertical one touch the floor - I have it sticking up to keep the litterbox in place. It works wonders for me. The entire front of my cage functions as the door so I can clean it out easily. This means the shelf is only zip tied on two of its four sides, but it holds the bunnies up just fine.