Sweating like a 5mile run!

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AbiS

AbiS

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So Toby & Barney are now 8months old and needed their claws clipped for the first time. I started with Toby as he is the more chilled out of the 2. With a little pile of lettuce in front of him I managed to do all his claws by myself with relative ease, one little squeak and no blood.

And then it was time for the ADHD kid......

I called in reinforcements, I called in a full wheeky bag, I called in every ounce of patience .... next time he is getting put in a vice on a workbench....

We have had squeaks, bites, climbing, jumping, wriggling. We have one nail that bled - luckily just a tiny bit as when I looked at MrS's styptic pencil it expired in 2010. We took a mid way break as the 3 of us were all getting a bit stressed. 1 of us chilled out with the introduction of a carrot. 1 of us is feeling guilty as hell and 1 of us needs a shower as is sweating like after a 5mile run.

We just cant wait until next time......

:laluot_20:
 
Dear me! You've really had it tough with little Barney!

At least Toby was ok with it all, yup! I bet you really can't wait until next time :))
 
ADHD kid ....... we have a couple of piggies who are a bit like that. When it's nail clipping time it shorts and t-shirts for us as we know exactly what you mean - like being for a five mile run :))

Lisa & Ali..xx
 
lisaali said:
ADHD kid ....... we have a couple of piggies who are a bit like that. When it's nail clipping time it shorts and t-shirts for us as we know exactly what you mean - like being for a five mile run :))

Lisa & Ali..xx
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Oh lord - does that mean it isn't going to get easier??

I figured that if we block paved our lounge and gave them lots of floor time then we wont need to do it ever again and I won't have to worry about cleaning the carpet anymore....:))
 
AbiS said:
Oh lord - does that mean it isn't going to get easier??

I figured that if we block paved our lounge and gave them lots of floor time then we wont need to do it ever again and I won't have to worry about cleaning the carpet anymore....:))
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Good idea! XD
 
Need to atempt ,y four girls that HATE being picked up and I have no reinforcements.Sui of armour and chain mail gloves maybe?
 
madguinealady said:
Need to atempt ,y four girls that HATE being picked up and I have no reinforcements.Sui of armour and chain mail gloves maybe?
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Am very pleased I do have reinforcements - Barney only like cuddles for a couple of minutes at a time and then he turns into a Tasmanian Devil if he can't get away immediately!
 
Any flour will do and I dab a bit of Sudocrem on it once the bleeding has stopped. Sedatives next time? For all parties haha x
 
Well done for getting that out the way. It is very stressful for all involved.
 
We use cornflour. If you want something more antiseptic then get some CX Antiseptic Dusting Powder.
 
Well done! Claw clipping is the worst part of piggie keeping :( Hate it. Are you using piggy or hooman nail clippers?
 
sport_billy said:
Well done! Claw clipping is the worst part of piggie keeping :( Hate it. Are you using piggy or hooman nail clippers?
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I have piggy clippers. They are really easy to use and do the job well - all I need is 2 piggies who both sit still!

How often do they need clipping?
 
We tend to do it every 4-6 weeks or so. 3 of our girls nail grow quite slow but Cookies.... are another matter :)
 
There's nothing like nail clipping for making you break out in a sweat, is there! Everyone seems to hate it!

One of our piggies finds the procedure so terrifying that she absolutely freezes (poor thing!), but it does mean that I can get her nails done in no time at all - it's also good because she's our only black-nailed piggie. The others aren't TOO bad, as long as they are distracted by a lettuce leaf - except for the oldest one who thinks she has been around too long to be deceived by such sneaky tricks - doesn't stop her eating the lettuce, but she keeps snatching her feet away, leaving me sweating even more in fear that I will cut at the wrong place!

I think I have got nail cutting on the books for tomorrow, unfortunately!
 
Katherine said:
There's nothing like nail clipping for making you break out in a sweat, is there! Everyone seems to hate it!

One of our piggies finds the procedure so terrifying that she absolutely freezes (poor thing!), but it does mean that I can get her nails done in no time at all - it's also good because she's our only black-nailed piggie. The others aren't TOO bad, as long as they are distracted by a lettuce leaf - except for the oldest one who thinks she has been around too long to be deceived by such sneaky tricks - doesn't stop her eating the lettuce, but she keeps snatching her feet away, leaving me sweating even more in fear that I will cut at the wrong place!

I think I have got nail cutting on the books for tomorrow, unfortunately!
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Totally agree - Barney was going absolutely frantic yet still managed to grab a piece of lettuce to munch on - I'm sure he was faking it. Neither of them had big scared eyes so it can't have been that bad!
 
AbiS said:
Totally agree - Barney was going absolutely frantic yet still managed to grab a piece of lettuce to munch on - I'm sure he was faking it. Neither of them had big scared eyes so it can't have been that bad!
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They were probably just asserting their independance, and making sure you know who's boss!
 
We used to have a lot of trouble like this when it came to cleaning out Mr T's parts. We found that if person A holds the pig upright against their tummy and does the clipping/cleaning whilst person B deploys and holds a long skinny treat (thin strip of pepper/green bean/babycorn) for the piggy to munch on they happily munched away whilst the other person could clip/clean in relative peace. The boys are usually really good nowadays and its very rare we have to get the bribes out!
 
Bit the bullet and clippedthe girls.Arms scratched and a couple wentt up my sleeve but not too bad.Hardest part catching them.5X3 C&C cage so loads of space for them to get away. My fattest girl jumped over my arm when I thought I had her cornered.Didn't think they could jump but mine can.
 
I had my first tentative go at nail clipping last night. It was surprisingly successful! Frodo stayed still the whole time and only pulled his paw away once or twice. I'm not entirely sure how well the nails were clipped as they are black and so the vet advised just to do the very tips. Thankfully there was no blood drawn and they certainly look better so I think it's all worked out. Just need to try out Sam next - I have a sneaky suspicion that he won't be so easy!
 
Tbag said:
We used to have a lot of trouble like this when it came to cleaning out Mr T's parts. We found that if person A holds the pig upright against their tummy and does the clipping/cleaning whilst person B deploys and holds a long skinny treat (thin strip of pepper/green bean/babycorn) for the piggy to munch on they happily munched away whilst the other person could clip/clean in relative peace. The boys are usually really good nowadays and its very rare we have to get the bribes out!
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Will try that hold next time although I still think Barney will be a nightmare!
 
I don't know if anyone elses piggies do this, but one of my girls literally curls her toes right round so its really difficult to get underneath them to clip! She's done it ever since she was a baby so I literally have to pick up each toe and gently try and do my best to get it straight haha! P.S. I use talcon powder if we have a bleeding nail..
 
I'm just so worried that Barney is going to dislocate his joints of break his little leg when he is snatching it away from me. Am sure will get easier with practice and if not I might just have to pay out and take him to the vets!
 
AbiS said:
I'm just so worried that Barney is going to dislocate his joints of break his little leg when he is snatching it away from me. Am sure will get easier with practice and if not I might just have to pay out and take him to the vets!
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Could be easier to take him to the vet, although i'd always avoid it as much as I can because the stress from the journey and actually being in the vets could make the situation worse!
 
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