Thanks, how often would you recommend cutting their nails?I think I cut our boys‘ nails for the first time when they were about 8 weeks old because they were so pointy that I always ended up with cuts on my hands and arms.
Great advice about using a light for dark nails - works a treat! I personally prefer using human nail clippers to the special ones for pets. I feel like I can see better and cut quicker which comes in handy with squirming pigs. And food to distract them is also always good in our house! Nail clipping day usually comes with some extra sprigs of coriander. Ours are much more likely to sit still and let me clip their nails when they have something to nibble on! And don’t worry if you don’t get all their feet & nails done in one go - when I first did our boys‘ nails it took me 3 attempts to get them all done because they were squirming so. And also now, if they squirm too much or are visibly stressed/unhappy, I just stop, give them a treat, put them back in their cage and try again the next day
With ours it really depends - we‘ve got three that need their nails cutting roughly every 4 weeks, whereas the other one only needs a nail cut every 6-8 weeks. I usually cut them when I notice that their nails start getting a bit sharp and pointy
Thank you for this tip!Hi!
The growth rate can vary both individually and with age; so can the age at which nails start growing out. There is no set time for that reason; you just check the nails during your weekly health monitoring weigh-in and body check and cut them when there is enough growth that you are not cutting into the quick. It is usually plus/minus a month.
Apart from the light trick and especially with adult/older piggies you can also judge from which point dark nails are dead by seeing growth markings appear whereas the live part of a nail is always smooth.
With babies, you'd best cut just the very tip (ca. 1mm) once the nails start growing out for the time.
