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Foot Spurs: What Did I Do Wrong And Should I Remove Them?

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Tinka

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Recently when I was trimming Tuulikki's nails, I noticed little hard growths on her feet. After freaking out, I did some research and discovered that they are in fact little foot spurs. I have been monitoring her and don't see a change in activity level so I don't think they're hurting her. So my question is, should they be removed? I watched a few tutorials on how to trim them and apply iodine.

My other question is why? Tuulikki is my most active pig. She's constantly bouncing and running laps and hopping up on her house. Tove is my lazy pig and she doesn't have any sign of foot spurs. I keep their cage clean, but I don't use fleece as bedding- I use aspen shavings.
 
You haven't done anything wrong, some piggies get spurs, others never will. My 4 boys are all kept on the vet bed and have the same activity and diet, some have had spurs, others not.

You can use nail clippers to remove them or pinch them off between your finger nails if they are very soft but don't trim them too close to the pad of the foot as it will be sore and bleed, risking infection so just be careful with them. Removing them is better as it saves them getting caught on things and pulling.
 
Recently when I was trimming Tuulikki's nails, I noticed little hard growths on her feet. After freaking out, I did some research and discovered that they are in fact little foot spurs. I have been monitoring her and don't see a change in activity level so I don't think they're hurting her. So my question is, should they be removed? I watched a few tutorials on how to trim them and apply iodine.

My other question is why? Tuulikki is my most active pig. She's constantly bouncing and running laps and hopping up on her house. Tove is my lazy pig and she doesn't have any sign of foot spurs. I keep their cage clean, but I don't use fleece as bedding- I use aspen shavings.

Foot spurs are very common in guinea pigs; about 1/4 - 1/3 of piggies develop them. Unless they are massive and getting in the way of things, just leave them be.
 
Both my girls have foot Spurs. My vet gently trims them down if they need doing when they go to have their nails cut but like already said, it's best to leave them alone if they're not growing big or causing discomfort
 
Very useful thread. My old girl recently developed one. She has heart disease and gets very stressed when having her claws clipped so I have just left it. she is on medibed and fleece in her sleeping area. With her I think it's age.
 
Thanks for all the info, y'all. I was really worried and felt really guilty for a while. :(
 
I have had 6 guinea pigs in total, of those 2 developed spurs. I trimmed them occasionally as they grew long and thin and were in an awkward place that the pigs could catch them doing more damage. My vet once suggested to use file them occasionally if I didn't want to clip them (I took them to the vet the first time to be shown the best way to clip it) but I found it easier to just take a bit off when they got long.
 
You haven't done anything wrong, some pigs just get foot spurs. I've had four pigs over the years, two had foot spurs and two didn't. Same bedding, same everything. My pigs were never bothered by them at all and were more stressed out by the trimming process, so I only trim them back if they are extremely long and look likely to catch on something. When Sundae used to get dental trims the vet tech used to trim her foot spurs when she was under anesthesia and she had lovely pink little feet, but thankfully now her teeth issues are resolved so she is back to foot spurs again! But I'd rather have foot spurs than dental issues for sure!
 
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