Nail Trimming

[Ellie-May]

Hi everyone,

I know this is probably a stupid question, but how will I know when to cut their nails? I check them daily and at the moment they look short and not sharp at all

 

[Piggies&buns]

Really it is just when they look too long. Can sometimes be better to trim little and often. Are you planning on doing it yourself or taking them to the vet?

 

[Ellie-May]

Really it is just when they look too long. Can sometimes be better to trim little and often. Are you planning on doing it yourself or taking them to the vet?

I have no clue how to do it, but will probably do it myself as it is cheaper

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’d advise you to go to a vet for the first time (or a few times) and watch how they do it. It isn’t hard to do but I found it easier to to learn by watching someone do it rather than reading how to do it.
What colour nails do your piggies have? White nails are easier - you can shine a torch through the nail to be able to see the quick and therefore avoid it, but black nails are fairly tricky. Don’t attempt it alone either, have somebody else hold piggy wrapped in a towel and then you can concentrate on the cutting

 

[Ellie-May]

I’d advise you to go to a vet for the first time (or a few times) and watch how they do it. It isn’t hard to do but I found it easier to to learn by watching someone do it rather than reading how to do it.
What colour nails do your piggies have? White nails are easier - you can shine a torch through the nail to be able to see the quick and therefore avoid it, but black nails are fairly tricky. Don’t attempt it alone either, have somebody else hold piggy wrapped in a towel and then you can concentrate on the cutting

I have white and brown? Well Ernie is ginger so

 

[Piggies&buns]

White nails are easier, as mentioned above, you can shine a torch up through the nail and you can clearly see the quick through. If you can see the quick then it is much easier to avoid cutting into it (it shows up as a pink area). With black/dark nails, nothing much shows up when you shine a torch on them so clipping them is a lot harder to avoid the quick.

 

[Betsy]

Meg was traumatised today as I had to trim her nails she nipped me which she never has done before. Dennis just took it in his stride, surprisingly, Christian just let me trim his nails and Betsy was swearing at me good and proper Guinea Pig style I'm sure the air was blue!

 

[DMS260820]

Isn't the key to trimming guinea pig nails, to clip only a tiny bit off the end, so that it makes the quick recede, making it easier to trim the nail the next times, and keeps the nail straight, as they can be anyway

 

[Ellie-May]

White nails are easier, as mentioned above, you can shine a torch up through the nail and you can clearly see the quick through. If you can see the quick then it is much easier to avoid cutting into it (it shows up as a pink area). With black/dark nails, nothing much shows up when you shine a torch on them so clipping them is a lot harder to avoid the quick.

I will probably take them to the vet when they start to get long but they’re really short at the moment

 

[Ellie-May]

Hi everyone,

I know this is probably a stupid question, but how will I know when to cut their nails? I check them daily and at the moment they look short and not sharp at all

I managed to get a picture of both their nails, but from what I can tell Berts look much shorter than Ernies. What do you think? Bert is the mixed one and Ernie is ginger

 

[Ellie-May]

I managed to get a picture of both their nails, but from what I can tell Berts look much shorter than Ernies. What do you think? Bert is the mixed one and Ernie is ginger

Any thoughts?

 

[Piggies&buns]

Yes bert’s are shorter and certainly don’t need cutting. Ernie’s don’t look too long at the moment either. It does depend how far beyond the quick they extend though. You obviously can’t cut until the nail extends a safe distance away from the quick to enable you to have something to cut

 

[Ellie-May]

Yes bert’s are shorter and certainly don’t need cutting. Ernie’s don’t look too long at the moment either. It does depend how far beyond the quick they extend though. You obviously can’t cut until the nail extends a safe distance away from the quick to enable you to have something to cut

I can’t really tell that’s the problem

 

[Piggies&buns]

You need to shine a torch up through the nail to be able to see the quick. You’ll be able to see it as the light won’t shine through that area.
It is harder to see on darker nails but his don’t look too dark that it won’t work.

 

[Ellie-May]

You need to shine a torch up through the nail to be able to see the quick. You’ll be able to see it as the light won’t shine through that area.
It is harder to see on darker nails but his don’t look too dark that it won’t work.

Managed to get hold of them and look. Berts definitely don’t need cutting as they’re still so short but Ernies look quite long at the back

 

[Ellie-May]

You need to shine a torch up through the nail to be able to see the quick. You’ll be able to see it as the light won’t shine through that area.
It is harder to see on darker nails but his don’t look too dark that it won’t work.

Ernies back nails

 

[Ellie-May]

Ernies back nails

Here are his front

 

[Ellie-May]

You need to shine a torch up through the nail to be able to see the quick. You’ll be able to see it as the light won’t shine through that area.
It is harder to see on darker nails but his don’t look too dark that it won’t work.

To be fair I don’t think there is much room from the quick on Ernies nails to be cut..might wait till the new year

 

[Piggies&buns]

To be fair I don’t think there is much room from the quick on Ernies nails to be cut..might wait till the new year

Yes that’s the thing. They may look long but if it doesn’t extend far enough away from the quick to get clippers onto the nail then it can be cut without risking hurting him

 

[Ellie-May]

Yes that’s the thing. They may look long but if it doesn’t extend far enough away from the quick to get clippers onto the nail then it can be cut without risking hurting him