Afraid to go down ramp

[NinaBree]

Hi,
I've got a greek tortoise, Countess, and she's afraid to go down her ramp. When we first got her she wasn't very active and never used her ramp to get to the second floor of her table. Now that she's been romping around more often, she has discovered her ramp and can't resist going up it. Sometimes we find her up there three or four times a day. The only problem is once she's up there she's too afraid to go back down. If you put her on the ramp she backs up or tries to turn around. I've successfully led her down a few times with treats but she won't do it on her own and them moment you stop offering her treats she freaks out. Sometimes she tries to climb over the wall on the second floor, which scares me, but I don't think she'd ever be able to fully climb over it and fall (she can just prop herself on to it). Why is she so afraid of going down when she clearly has no problem at all going up the ramp? Any tips for getting her used to going down? Does anyone else have a tortoise who's afraid of ramps? Should I just take the second floor out? Thanks for your help.
Nina

 

[Edna]

How steep is the ramp? What is the surface of the ramp made of?

 

[NinaBree]

It goes up about a foot over two and a half feet, not that steep. It has AstroTurf on it.

 

[Edna]

One of our members (can't remember who) recommends a 1:4 ramp. AstroTurf has a nap, doesn't it? She might feel a lot of difference in the surface between going up and coming down. If you rub your hand over it going down the ramp, is it soft, slick, pokey?

 

[NinaBree]

I figured it out. I don't think she liked the bright green color. When she would go up to the top she wouldn't even want to go near where her ramp was, she'd literally tortoise sprint over to the other side. I moved the little heat lamp (75W) over to where the top of the ramp is to make her more enticed to go over there and then covered the ramp with her substrate. As soon as I did that she B-lined to the ramp and raced down it. The first time she got scared again about half way so I put a block under the ramp to make it less sleep and then put her back at the top. She went all the way down and then strait into her hide. Too much drama for our poor little girl. Here are some picks of the new set up. (I know we have to come up with a better way to secure her heat lamps)

 

[lynnedit]

that looks like it should work.
as far as the clamp light, you can get a 'C' clamp and secure it through the loop of the light clamp to the enclosure. That should keep it in place, unless it is precarious anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-clamp