Curled Nails

[Kylie80]

I noticed yesterday that my two Guinnea Pig's nails have got real long as they haven't been clipped for two months since we have been looking for a new house and moving and letting them settle but the nails are curling. Patchy's are not bad but Coco's look bad, they can still walk normally. As soon as I saw them I made appointment at vets (and felt absolutely terrible) for Wednesday to get them clipped and a general check up. But ive been reading that the curling nails mostly happens in older piggies and the girls are only 8 months old. Are they perhaps lacking something in their diet or is it normal.

 

[CarnivalPiggy]

I'm curious, I didn't know that. My Ginny when he was younger didn't have his nails trimmed as often as he should've (lack of knowledge) and they did curl. I think it's when a pig is left with uncut nails for a long time they start to curl, and sometimes the nail can continue to grow curled. Hopefully someone more knowledgable will come along

 

[Freela]

They always curl in the sense of turning under as they get long. Some older pigs have nails that turn sideways or that attempt to corkscrew, which is what people mean when they say older pigs can have curling nails. But just growing inwards towards the pad of the foot is normal at any age.

 

[SkinnyPigRiver]

My four-month-old skinny pig River has front nails that curl sideways, so I'm trying to keep them as short as I can.

 

[Kylie80]

Ok so it's normal then for younger piggies to then. How often should they really be done then? The vet nurse last time I had them done said just to wait until they looked like they needed doing but i'd prefer not to let them get like this again because I feel like one of those people who neglects animals that you hear about on tv but with a cleaner cage and piggies with fat bellies lol.