Calming a piggie during nail cutting

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Miss Magpie

Miss Magpie

Teenage Guinea Pig
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Well...the biggest test for me and my boyfriend is trying to get my little greta to stay still when cutting her nails. My boyfriend sits them up while holding them under the paw pits and then i hold the paw and cut. My other piggie Lady Iris is marvelous but Greta really does get herself into a right state! She just wriggles and wriggles and winds herself up and no matter how calm i talk to her she just wriggles and wriggles until we have to leave her go to hide and calm down. Ive never hurt her while I'm doing it like cutting down too far. I rescued the girls about a year ago now but maybe she had some back experiences with her old owners? maybe?

So...Does anyone have any tips for keeping her calm? Ive tried bribeing her with food but it just wont work! I really dont want to take her to the vets to get it done but if she wont calm then I'm going to have to :(

x :)p
 
I'm afraid i have the same problem with one of my piggys!
iv had her since a baby and she is so so tame and isnt scared of anything not even the hoover and is very confident but when it comes to cutting her nails she wriggles like mad! while my other shy piggy just lets me do it.
The only thing you can really do is to persist and do it in a calm quiet room with her in a blanket as this calmed mine down and i also found she freaked out less when i did it on my own and not with my boyfriend as she had less people crowdin her, it does get easier with time.
 
The only reason my boyfriend is there is because i need someone to hold them up and still. Ive tried doing it with just me and its a complete nightmare! But thank you though, i think ill try the blanket method :))

x :)p
 
From my experience, there aren't many piggies that like having their toe-nails cut! :{

I usually pop them on my lap with their back facing me and do it from there. I can get away with doing their back feet ok but they usually hate having their front paws done!

The blanket method is a good one though.
 
Nigel and Toony are fantastic with this. No problems at all.

Rocky is a nightmare, even for back feet. I often used to get Roger (my vet) to do Rocky's nails, especially fingers, because I found it so hard. Both Rocky and Riff have curly finger nails which make it even harder.
 
I have the same problem with a couple of mine-Hamish is the worst! I give him a load of parsley, dill or grass and usually that helps but have to be quick! front fingers are the worst and also curl plus they are black!
 
yes i understand i used to get my boyfriend to hold her when i did it but found the best technique was to hold her with her back to my stomach and stand her up a bit but it takes a few types to get it right but she just struggled much less than when my bf was holding her
 
I tend to hold my pigs for a while before I start cutting their nails, stroking their feet to get them used to it!

They never overly enjoy it, to be fair!
 
definately the front are the worse and couldn't get the hang of rapping them up either as they seem to feel trapped and riggle more to escape!
 
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