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Nail trimming

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emilovely1

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Oh boy nail clipping is going to be the death of me with my boys. They absolutely HATE me trying to clip their nails. They wiggle around a lot and I’m afraid I will hurt them. I actually accidentally clipped one too much because he jerked his leg away from me while I was literally clipping it. Hoowwwwwwww does one do this without hurting them or scaring them? I thought since they are young it would be a great time to start but it seems easier said than done. And I feel like me forcing them makes them dislike me more than they should. They still run whenever I try and pick them up and the one straight up screams very dramatically. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated!
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Hello emilovely1 welcome - that’s always tough - my two boars are nearly 3 and have lived with me since they were 4/12 old - they don’t like nail clipping and always run away - I bribe them into a tunnel or carry case and then at every weekly weigh in I do one or two feet. At first it was 1 or 2 nails ! You can use a cloth for them to hide in ! It does get a bit easier.
Saskia of the Los Angeles guinea pig rescue has lots of You Tube videos on this very subject 🥰
We’d love to see photos of your piggies
 
I echo the advice of only doing one or two nails at a time if that's all they'll tolerate- you might have to gradually do them all over the space of a week or so.
Lots of healthy treats like cucumber etc. work wonders, and an extra pair of hands is really useful!
I always found it harder to clip babies' nails, as they were much more wriggly, whereas adult guinea pigs aren't quite as agile.
If all else fails, many vets will happily cut piggy nails for you.
There are lots of threads on the forum about nail trimming already though, so if you search for 'nails' in the top bar you might find a lot of answers to flick through.
 
They are only about a month or so old. The one I know for sure is about a month since I just got him from the pet store and they usually have them as babes. They are little wiggly worms when it comes to holding them to try and clip their nails. And I had one bite me hard enough to draw blood 🥺 Wednesday and Pugsley are their names, Wednesday got his name for obvious reasons and I was told that he was a girl when I first got him. He was rescued from being snake food, he was very timid and was not a fan of people. He was isolated and kept in a bin in the same room as the snakes, and witnessed his sibling being eaten 🫣 he’s getting better with me in general but still runs when I get close. But when I have him in my bed he’ll come right up to me. Pugsley was saved from Petsmart about a week or so later because Wednesday was alone and I worked and didn’t want him to be lonely. He for sure is TERRIFIED of me and screams dramatically when I pick him up. I’m not sure what happened when he was at Petsmart but he loves to sit on my shoulder and he loves to run around my room when I have him out. I’m definitely going to try to the foot at a time thing or maybe even one nail lol. Slow and steady wins the race. Their nails aren’t curling under yet so at least that is okay and they won’t hurt their paw pads. But they sure are sharp, I have marks on my chest just from last night when they crawled up my chest. Mind you they fight to sit under my chin lol, who knows why.
 

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Be extra careful with your piggies' nails, as it may be harder to see the quick (pink bit) if they have dark nails.
Guide to Cutting Guinea Pig Nails | The Guinea Pig Forum
Sometimes shining a torch through the nail can help, but I found it OK to just trim tiny bits off at a time (I would have needed significantly more hands to for the torch technique!)
It's lovely to see your piggies and hear about their stories. They've obviously landed on their Paws with you. 🥰
 
ScrufflesRules said:
Be extra careful with your piggies' nails, as it may be harder to see the quick (pink bit) if they have dark nails.
Guide to Cutting Guinea Pig Nails | The Guinea Pig Forum
Sometimes shining a torch through the nail can help, but I found it OK to just trim tiny bits off at a time (I would have needed significantly more hands to for the torch technique!)
It's lovely to see your piggies and hear about their stories. They've obviously landed on their Paws with you. 🥰
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I actually bought clippers that have a light on them for this reason. Both have dark nails so it’s definitely hard to see. The one had some white toes so it’s easy but his others are black. The clippers have both regular light and a blue light on them. When I have been able to do a few nails I literally did just a little to just trim it down, they are sharp as heck lol. They are really sweet boys though but just need to get used to me more and they need to stop wiggling so much
 
Well done for rescuing those piggies! I find it helps as a two person job if you have someone that can assist. That way one person can hold the pig while the other trims the nails. I agree, definitely check their quick since they have darker nails also if they’re only a month old they may not need their nails trimmed just yet either.
 
Someone told me to put a red brick in the cage under the water so they can step on it and it helps with nail care. What do you all think? I think it might be beneficial in the long run so they don’t get traumatized
 
emilovely1 said:
Someone told me to put a red brick in the cage under the water so they can step on it and it helps with nail care. What do you all think? I think it might be beneficial in the long run so they don’t get traumatized
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It’s highly unlikely to do anything. They won’t be walking on it, all they’d do is step on it with their front feet so that wear their nails down. Plus some piggies hardly ever go to their water bottles.

It’s better to just get them used to a little handling, and do a nail at a time even if it takes a couple of weeks to do them all.
 
Piggies&buns said:
It’s highly unlikely to do anything. They won’t be walking on it, all they’d do is step on it with their front feet so that wear their nails down. Plus some piggies hardly ever go to their water bottles.

It’s better to just get them used to a little handling, and do a nail at a time even if it takes a couple of weeks to do them all.
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Yeah I wasn’t so sure about the brick idea, I mean they do go to the water bottle all the time so maybe it would help their front paws. Last night I did attempt one paw at a time, I got 3 on one and 2 on another. The one screamed like I clipped it too short but didn’t even get close to hurting him. Tomorrow I’ll try the next law, spacing it out so they aren’t traumatized every day
 
Don't feel like you have to get a whole foot at a time; it's okay todo a nail here and a nail there on whichever foot happens to be most available.
Sometimes animals can be little drama queens. Our bichon used to complain about combing even if you were combing the air or your leg rather than her ... sometimes it's more about being outraged than actual distress.
I'll admit I do cheat with Lexa because of her dark nails ... I'll do some trims, but she gets a manicure from the vet a few times a year, once during her routine annual appointment (complimentary) and then 1-2 more times depending on my lack of desire to do it myself vs willingness to pay someone else to do it for me. Latte has three white feet and a brown foot, so I do hers myself.

Sometimes it's helpful if you have a second person, one to hold the piggy (and maybe a distracting treat) and one to gentle position paws and clip. (Don't be grabby, just gently adjust so the foot happens to stick out and then clip without rushing or making quick motions.
 
I am happy to admit that I get my boys done at the vets. Dignified Sir George has all black nails. Mischievous Master Boris has white nails but is an absolute drama queen and when I was trimming his with The Daddy Slave holding him, screaming like I had amputated his leg before I even picked up the clippers made me so nervous....
I also occasionally have issues with my hands and like that they get an MOT with the trimming.
And I do like showing them off, the vet nurse is a big fan as are the receptionists because they are very friendly boys.
 
Our vets office absolutely adores our pigs ... Lexa has definitely been paraded around (even after she wet on them during her appointment). She's pretty good for being held ... she just objects to some of the less dignified portions of the vet exam, like the looking in her mouth.
And, I mean, she's so cute and furry ... who wouldn't want to parade her around? I am fortunate that her nails seem to grow pretty slowly. I don't know if it's affected by her habit of climbing on top of her bendy bridge (it's her throne ... she sleeps there and purveys her surroundings) or if it's just the luck of genetics.
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