Healthy Nail Length Pics

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biscandmatt

biscandmatt

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has anyone got pics of a healthy nail length for adult piggies. thanks :)
 
we trim bits at a time but i'm not sure with mollie's nails what is the correct length for her. her nails are black and i can't even get an idea where the quick is, even with a torch shining underneath them. i think they look slightly too long but i'm not sure what a healthy length is anyway i just realised :mal:
 
My3cuteBoys said:
That's really helpful as I need to cut my boys nails but I've been to worried too :( , my pip has dark nails so would need help holding the torch too, I'm going to give it a go later after reading that. Thank you.
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I know how you feel about being worried. I was so scared when I first got my pigs to trim their nails. But I knew I had to do it for them and I didn't want anyone else doing it. I sit each of them down on my couch and my bf helps maneuver/sooth them so I have a lamp shining on their hands. I know myself and many people on this forum try to stick with just clipping the tips because it'd be scary to hit a kwik. I still get a little nervous each time I do it.
 
I don't use a torch to check for my dark-nailed piggy's (Caramel's) kwik. Instead I clip the very tips off once every week or so, but in the event I do hit the kwik, Caramel squeaks and I quickly stop before it can bleed at all. Of course I do what I can to avoid this because this means he's in pain, but I clip slow-ish anyway because actually cutting the kwik would be very very painful for my little darling.

Doughnut does not have dark nails so I can see the kwik for his claws, but sometimes I still accidentally cut a little close but stop when Doughnut squeaks. Even with my precautions I am still nervous because I don't want to hurt my babies. :(

Do Doughnut's front paw nails look too long?

 
This is a v interesting thread. Thanks for starting it. I clip just tips and am concerned whether some of our piggies back paw nails are too long but I can see the quick and to cut them any shorter would cut into it which obviously I don't want to do because you shouldn't.

I read that the quick should start to recede as you clip little bits. Not there and then but over time. However, I haven't noticed this happening so I'm wondering if the nails are actually at the length they should be.

When people say the nails shouldn't curl, how much curve is a curl that is too much? It would be great to have some pics of examples. Maybe someone who runs a rescue might have a few pics?
 
Hi, I was brave and cut my three boys nails yesterday for the first time I was very nervous and so were they i think but we did it with no problems at all thankfully, it was a huge help to watch @MrsSuzy cutting my Alex's nails before we brought him home that gave me comfordence to cut pip, fudge and Oreos nails :) I'm only cutting the tips of their nails and as that post with the pictures shows I hope the quick shrinks back over time.
Thanks for this thread it's been a big help :) so was suzy
 
I'm a bit braver with my pigs that have light coloured nails but with black nails I always go for little and often. Even so I managed to make poor Dahlia bleed on a couple of occasions as she is such a wriggler :(
 
My adult boys were from a rescue and they said their nails were left too long when they got them, and then they cut them before I brought them home - but I am still a bit unsure as to how long is too long - its easy to spot if they are curling but the back leg ones seem to grow pretty straight in shape so I wont be waiting for them to curl, I will just try and cut them a wee bit more often and hope that keeps them healthy.

Any real photos would be good as I think that will be an easier guide for general nail length.
 
thanks everyone. i do nails little and often, but i don't actually know where the healthy nail length is, if that makes sense? i don't know where i'm actually aiming to get to :mal:

i think mollie's are too long looking at the above pic someone posted. well her middle ones grow longer than the others :))
 
Yeah my piggies' middle ones seem to grow longer too. Just remember that front paw nails are always supposed to be shorter than the hind legs nails, I just haven't taken a picture of mine. I might do later so you can compare nail lengths. :)

Remember that you can't really "speed up" the receding of the kwik, you have to clip then just wait. It's okay if your piggy's nails are too long at the moment because they will get shorter as you clip. :D

I also wonder if my piggies' nails are too long, despite my frequent clipping. I agree there are no actual pictures of "healthy" piggy nail lengths, but it's probably just best to aim for as short as you can get them for maximum comfort for your piggies.
 
When I clip my pigs nails, I essentially let them control the whole thing. I put my clippers on the tip of the nail and I squeeze just a little bit, if I hear a squeak, I stop. If there's no squeak or reaction, I keep going with clipping. It makes it way less stressful for them, because they trust I will only clip if they say so, and it's way less stressful for me because I know they're comfortable with it.
 
My adult girls nails were to long when they arrived at the rescue but when I got them they were fine
 
i caught mollie's quick on her back foot :( only the very end of the quick but i feel awful :(
 
Is it easy to file their nails or are they too strong? I have never made the boys bleed but I am always nervous to the point of feeling a little bit sick when I clip their nails. I now think the kwik has grown a bit as I might not do them often enough. After looking at the pictures at the beginning of this thread I wonder if I could file their nails every 2-3 days and then the kwik would recede over time.
 
AbiS said:
Is it easy to file their nails or are they too strong? I have never made the boys bleed but I am always nervous to the point of feeling a little bit sick when I clip their nails. I now think the kwik has grown a bit as I might not do them often enough. After looking at the pictures at the beginning of this thread I wonder if I could file their nails every 2-3 days and then the kwik would recede over time.
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Can't remember if it was in this thread or another but I have read it isn't easy as they are strong.
 
Thanks for this post, great info. Now to get them to sit still (have been filing their nails with emery board like some kind of piggy salon)
 
I am glad I am not alone. I hate trimming my pigs nails too for the same reason but I trim just a small amount too. I find it easy to do cats and dogs but pigs are so small and are black. Here where I live I can go to a pet store and every Tuesday evening they do a free nail clipping for all pets and I took my guinea pigs there once so she could show me the correct length I would go every time but she is a bit far from where I live. My one pig squirms so bad that it is very hard to do.
 
I have found a neat trick for doing the back feet - I lay the piggy on my lap head to the left and bum to the right (thats just so I can use my nail scissors with my right hand!), so he's just lying having a cuddle as usual and then just extend his back leg out behind him and then his little paw pads are facing upwards and its really easy to gently hold the paw and trim the nails.

The front ones are still tricky - especially the one which would be in the thumb position for humans, as it tend to begin curling in quicker than the others so its a bit more harder to access - but its getting easy each time :tu:
 
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