Description
This rope ladder perch is a great way to expand perching areas in an exhibit without taking up a lot of extra space within the exhibit. Its also extremely useful due to its maneuverability, this is a great way to change up the exhibit without having to move trees and other exhibit features. This rope ladder perch is made out of rope and bamboo and requires very little time and skill in order to construct. 
Building Materials
- Nylon or Hemp rope (depending on how natural you want it to look
- Bamboo or Dowling
- Hand Saw
- Drill
- Sand paper
- Zip ties
Building Instructions
- To begin this rope ladder perch build you will need to first decide how tall you want the ladder to be as well as the size of the rungs. Once you have decided this you can then cut your bamboo to length, keeping in mind that you want a few inches on either side to stick out. Be careful of splinters if using bamboo!
- Once your rungs are cut you can then cut your rope to length. To determine the total length you need to decide on how many rungs you want as well as how far you want them spaced apart. In the picture I put about one foot between each rung, each rung also requires a knot so adding 1′ 3″ per rung and adding a few feet for the top section should give you the total length of rope you will need. You will need to cut 4 lengths of rope.
- Next you can drill holes and sand the edges of all of the rungs with a drill bit wide enough to make room for the rope.
- You are now ready to assemble the lope ladder perch! To start this feed the rope through 4 of the rungs so it makes a square. Since this is the top of the ladder you will need to secure them into this square shape using zip ties. After it is secured you can tie a simple square knot under the rung in each rope in order to stop the rung from sliding down.
- Repeat the above step for the total amount of rungs you want, you do not need to zip tie the remaining rungs if you want the ladder to move freely.
- Once you get to the bottom rung, simply tie a tight knot at the bottom of the rung and use a zip tie to reenforce it. Then tie a loop at the very top of the rope and clip a carabiner to it. You are now ready to hang your rope ladder perch!
Tips/ Comments
A variety of modifications can be made to this perch such as drilling more holes in the rungs in order to hide seeds, as well as using the natural hollowness of the bamboo to your advantage. Id love to build a larger one of these using fence posts and chain some day, that would be a great addition to a large ape exhibit!