Guinea Pig Won't Stay Still While Trimming Her Nails.

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Adrianne88

Adrianne88

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My 6 month old guinea pig will not stay still while I trim her nails, she gets extremely stressed out and even starts to bite. I've bribed her with treats and have tried wrapping her in a towel and that doesn't even work. I'm terrified that I might scare her to death. She has a neurological problem also and I'm afraid she might injure herself by wiggling around so much. Any suggestions?
 
I had this problem with one of my older gals...in the end I did two things depending on the mood she was in.
instead of holding her, I let her stand and then lifted one leg at a time,
or
I'd get the husband to hold her whilst I did the trimming but I had to do it quickly.
I'd be shaking like a leaf after, but she only got her treat after the deed was done.

Sometimes I have to hold them to my chest, one hand under their front paws, then rest their bum on the edge of a table and as their feet are then sticking up. I manage to hold the foot in place whilst the palm of my hand keeps them into my chest and trim.

My little Marmalade had head tilt some time ago and she's never been totally right so any stress sets her off.
I never found the towel wrapping worked for me.
Good luck, anything is worth a shot in my books.
 
lil said:
I had this problem with one of my older gals...in the end I did two things depending on the mood she was in.
instead of holding her, I let her stand and then lifted one leg at a time,
or
I'd get the husband to hold her whilst I did the trimming but I had to do it quickly.
I'd be shaking like a leaf after, but she only got her treat after the deed was done.

Sometimes I have to hold them to my chest, one hand under their front paws, then rest their bum on the edge of a table and as their feet are then sticking up. I manage to hold the foot in place whilst the palm of my hand keeps them into my chest and trim.

My little Marmalade had head tilt some time ago and she's never been totally right so any stress sets her off.
I never found the towel wrapping worked for me.
Good luck, anything is worth a shot in my books.
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Thanks for the advice, it's greatly appreciated. I've tried having someone hold her while I trim and that gets her even more worked up, so I think I'm going to try to hold her against my chest with her butt rested on the edge of a table. Hopefully that works. She hated having the towel wrapped around her, she actually ripped the edge of the towel and that's when I called it quits for the night.
 
Treacle said:
You could try taking her to a vet for advice. Vets and vet nurses have techniques to deal with this sort of thing.
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Thank you for responding. I'm going to try a couple of other methods I read about and if it doesn't work, I'll definitely get her to a vet.
 
I wonder if letting them stand in a very low amount it water would help? Just enough to cover their feet? Plus if you hit a quick the water would help it to stop bleeding? Has anyone ever tried this? I might give it a shot. Nancy or as I call her Jaws Hates to have her nails cut and bites me when or after I do it. :(
 
KittyandNancy said:
I wonder if letting them stand in a very low amount it water would help? Just enough to cover their feet? Plus if you hit a quick the water would help it to stop bleeding? Has anyone ever tried this? I might give it a shot. Nancy or as I call her Jaws Hates to have her nails cut and bites me when or after I do it. :(
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Now that's creative! She might be so focused on the water that she pays me no mind. Thanks for the suggestion. The comment about Jaws made me laugh, last night that is exactly what my Jellybean looked like.
 
Adrianne88 said:
Now that's creative! She might be so focused on the water that she pays me no mind. Thanks for the suggestion. The comment about Jaws made me laugh, last night that is exactly what my Jellybean looked like.
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Let me know how it works and I'll do the same.
 
Adrianne88 said:
Thanks for the advice, it's greatly appreciated. I've tried having someone hold her while I trim and that gets her even more worked up, so I think I'm going to try to hold her against my chest with her butt rested on the edge of a table. Hopefully that works. She hated having the towel wrapped around her, she actually ripped the edge of the towel and that's when I called it quits for the night.
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Marzipan does that so she has her own towel for that reason take her to the vet for now until she grows out of it marzipan has now and she lets me ! x
 
ASTRID said:
Marzipan does that so she has her own towel for that reason take her to the vet for now until she grows out of it marzipan has now and she lets me ! x
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I'm thinking she might grow out of it too.
ASTRID said:
Marzipan does that so she has her own towel for that reason take her to the vet for now until she grows out of it marzipan has now and she lets me ! x
Click to expand...
 
If you get lots of your guinea pigs favourite food (I use little gem lettuce)
Hold the food through the bars of his/her cage high enough that the piggy has to stretch his head up and hold onto the bars
While they're holding onto the bars they will be distracted and too busy reaching up to munch their food that you can clip away at the front paws easily.
and if theirs wee toes you cant reach just move the food over so they reposition their paws to make it easy for you.

Then to do the back paws i sit them on my lap holding a bunch of lettuce between my knees, rest a paw on my finger and get waded in, lol

My pigs are wee nightmares when its time to cut their nails, and this is the only thing ive ever found that works and it doesn't stress them out cause their movements not being restricted at all. :)
 
Coco&Luna said:
If you get lots of your guinea pigs favourite food (I use little gem lettuce)
Hold the food through the bars of his/her cage high enough that the piggy has to stretch his head up and hold onto the bars
While they're holding onto the bars they will be distracted and too busy reaching up to munch their food that you can clip away at the front paws easily.
and if theirs wee toes you cant reach just move the food over so they reposition their paws to make it easy for you.

Then to do the back paws i sit them on my lap holding a bunch of lettuce between my knees, rest a paw on my finger and get waded in, lol

My pigs are wee nightmares when its time to cut their nails, and this is the only thing ive ever found that works and it doesn't stress them out cause their movements not being restricted at all. :)
Click to expand...
Thank you for the wonderful suggestions. I really like the idea about doing it while she's stretched out eating a treat. I never thought to try that. I have tried bribing her with her favorite snack(cantaloupe) while I'm holding her in my lap and she still wouldn't let me lol. She's pretty smart haha.
 
lol, i know how you feel. Every month it was like a scene from Rocky while I rolled up my sleeves and tried to mentally prepare myself for battle (...then lost pitifully lol). Theres no way i'd be able to do their front paws on my lap, i'd get headbutted into next week, lol. I really hope it works for you!
 
So last night I cut jaws nails. She did well. I held her with her back against me and her butt on my lap. I put my fingers around her middle with a finger between each front leg in a way she couldn't reach me with her mouth and she didn't wiggle much at all. YAY! So I got it done.
 
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