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When should you start clipping nails?

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Threepigs

Hi,

We have 3 guineas that are about 8 weeks old and I wondered if anyone could advise me when we should start clipping nails.

Many thanks

Threepigs
 
You should start cutting nails when they are long if they are 8 weeks then i would certainly give them a trim, just get an ordinary pair of nail clippers and just clip the ends. For your youngsters i tend to wrap them in a little hand towel that way they wont scratch you as much when they try to escape
 
minky said:
For your youngsters i tend to wrap them in a little hand towel that way they wont scratch you as much when they try to escape
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I wish I'd thought of thst the first time I clipped a young pigs nails.... i got scratched to pieces. USE A TOWEL :(|)
 
;) Oh yes beleive me i learnt the hard way ! Thing is they only see me coming in the shed with a towel and they scarper !
 
What do you do if you clip the quick and it bleeds ?
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Well I was taught to pinch the nail gently to stop the bleeding. We also found small animal antiseptic powder at p@h and dipping the end of teh nail in this usually stops the bleeding. Also if you dip the end of nail in some aluminum sulphate power the bleeding should stop too.
 
Usually young piggies have very sharp nails until you trim them.
As has been suggested above, wrap the pig in a towel with its head poking out the top.
Trim but only a very little for young pigs. Watch out for the "quick", i.e. the line of blood that runs through. That can be very difficult to see if the pig has dark nails.
But just the very top trimmed off is fine, from my experience, with youngsters. They might moan and make out to your neighbours that you are killing them, especially when you get to do their front feet! :o
 
Yes I do, especially the end toes as they seem to curl under and when I used to try and cut my piggies nails she would curl her toes.
 
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