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Who cuts their own pigs nails?

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Graceandowen

Graceandowen

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Just curious if anyone here cuts their own piggies nails?
I have always taken Sonic to the vets for his nails trimmed and I'm wondering if its a cost that cant be cut down...
I'm in 2 minds about doing it myself, have seen the clippers for sale but am a little dubious.
Is it easy? Would you reccomend trying? Or shall I stick to what I know?
Also does putting the run on concreet help keep them short as I always put my pigs on the grass.
 
I do mine myself and have done for the past few years, since my old vet charged me £12 a time and made them bleed every damn time!

Pale nailed piggies are easier as you can see where the blood ends in the nail. Dark haired piggies are harder, I just do it very very carefully and most of mine have at least one white foot so I trim that and use that as a guide!

The first time have some cotton wool and hibi water to hand just in case, and only cut a tiny bit off.

The other option I have heard of is to file their nails but I have never done this
 
There's a guide here for cutting nails http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=61
I do it myself, with 6 it costs so much to pay a vet to do it so I learnt myself. Little and often is easier as they get used to it. It's also much easier if someone else holds them, I can do some of them by myself but not the bigger boys that you need two hands to hold! A styptic pen is good to have on hand as well just incase you cut a little short and make a nail bleed, you can get these from the chemist for a few pounds. (they're for men if they cut themselves shaving)
 
I do mine myself. Well when I say my OH does the clipping and I hold. Couldn't afford to take all mine to vet for nail clipping. Tend to look at mine once a month. Little and often as someone else has already said.
 
I've always done ours. Tried all different clippers, piggie and human and the best ones by a mile are the sprung cuticle nippers, you can see what you're doing they're easy to control and sharp, so a nice clean cut. But that's just what I've found, others may disagree.
One white foot is always good for a guide but if they're all dark try holding a little torch underneath the nail, sometimes you can see the quick that way.
If you've got a ginger piggie just sitting by a window with enough light shining through should be enough to illuminate the quick.
Err on the safe side: better to not take enough off the first time than too much and have a piggie who doesn't trust you, you'll soon get the hang of it.
Good luck! :)
 
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I've always done mine myself (or in conjunction with my hubby or another person helping.) Generally I hold the pig in one hand, hold their paw steady in the other hand, and have dh do the clipping. The clipper we like best looks like a set of scissors- you insert the nail into the opening between the blades and snip.
 
I've always trimmed them myself. Dark nails are harder to clip as you can't you can't see the quick. Quik Stop is great at stoping bloody pig nails. Squirmy pigs are alway a chalenge but a food they love always keeps them distracted.
 
I was too scared to do the boys, Duke and Sully, but i do my girls Velvet and Onyx.....they do have the combo of pink and black nails......i put my glasses on and ask them to please be still for mummy :))
I tend to do them every 3-4 weeks even if it's only just a nip off at the ends.
 
I do mine myself too usually needs trimming once a month they have clear nails so i can see the quick
 
I did my William & Keith's and they were fine - I couldn't afford £12.90 per piggie per nail visit! That's £25.80 every bloomin' month malletheadmallethead

So I bought piggie nail clippers on Ebay.

I've yet to do Alan & Clives - but they're not old enough for nail trims yet.

I am dreading doing ADHD Alan's nails :))
 
Yes - I use human nail Clippers it makes for an interesting evening. I have a mixture of White/Black nails - Pebbles also has Curly nails!
 
Always do mine once a month. Got some great little rabbit/piggie scissors from ebay about £2.95. I even take the sharp tips of younger piggies nails as this stops them from scratching you when you pick them up!
 
I just use a pair of small scissors...like baby nail scissors, much easier to do it when you're trimming coats and means you don't have loads of different implements lying around! I find that with scissors the 'hook' under the bit of the nail which is the extra growth and I very rarely trim them off too short...my only problem is hair getting in the way of the feet! :))
 
I trim my piggies nails too - I use either human nail clippers or tiny scissors - sometimes one is easier than the other. The light nails are easier to clip than the dark ones as you can see the quick.... but I have a lot of dark piggies with dark nails.....
x
 
I do Podge and Loki myself. I try and do it every couple of weeks so it's just part of the routine for them. I can do them on my own but find it easier with Mr Banana's assistance as Podge is a wriggler.

I hold and he snips. We use a pair of small, sharp side cutters which work very well.
 
Well I'm going to attempt Sonics 2moro :)
Altho they arent overly Long at the moment we are going to have a try and see how we get on lol! Hubby is very reluctant and said why not ask the breeder round the corner to do it for us, tell him we'll give him a fiver lmao!
But I said nopes we are having a go lol

Should be fun:{
 
when i first got the girls i took them to the vets to get them done. they charged £14 to do the back feet of two pigs, so i decided to have a go myself. it definitely definitely gets easier, but i do occasionally clip a little too far and they let out a squeak, especially as meg's nails are all black, but they soon get over it! give it a try and you'll soon get used to it x
 
I do - I used to have my first two piggies' nails done at the vets, but with so many, it gets expensive! Most of it is a matter of practice.

I use human nailclippers and piggy clippers for any thickened nails.
 
Double teaming it definately helps..... My OH holds while I trim or the other way around.

Re: ADHD Alan for William&Keith - we put Suilven in a really open weaved wooly sock to keep him calm and his toes & wee nails stick through the weave ready for us to clip them! It works really well as he's calm in a dark, cosy space and he's easier to hold on to. Only problem is that as he gets larger we'll need to start to find new larger, nail clipping socks! that might work for you too.
 
I would alternate between me doing it and taking him to the vet. Rodney had curly front nails so if I left them too long between cuts his outside nail on each fromt foot would curl in towards his pads and it was a nightmare then to cut them!:...(dont worry, I never let them grow into his pads :))

Taking him to the vets to have them done was also an opportunity to give him general health check.
 
I do all mine myself :) I did have the little scissor like cutters but couldn't get on with them so went back to human cutters. I use them sideways though so I don't squish the nail.

I found the easiest way is if you hold them quite tight to you so their back is aganst your chest with thier feet facing out

Even Marmite survived her first nail trim and ALL her toes are black :)
 
I do my own, have a set of tiny claw trimmers similar to the type I like to use (but of course much larger) for the dog and I used to trim goats sheep and cows feet proffessionally so have an advantage with the confidence thing. Fudge is a right fidget but I just take my time with them all and trim off little and often if they are not being helpful, or if able to I mostly manage to get the sharp tip off mine.

Flash is like freddy cruger with his nail rolleyes and no matter how much I support him when carrying he always manages to gouge me somewhere so I keep the tips cut off (him especially).
 
I do all the nail clipping myself. I have 8 piggies so no way I could afford having the vet do all of them!
 
I cut my own, my son's, the piggies' and eeew, yes my OH's toe nails cos of his back condition he can't reach his feet, at least that's what he says to me!
 
Doeylicious said:
I do mine myself and have done for the past few years, since my old vet charged me £12 a time and made them bleed every damn time!

Pale nailed piggies are easier as you can see where the blood ends in the nail. Dark haired piggies are harder, I just do it very very carefully and most of mine have at least one white foot so I trim that and use that as a guide!

The first time have some cotton wool and hibi water to hand just in case, and only cut a tiny bit off.

The other option I have heard of is to file their nails but I have never done this
Click to expand...

hi licious, I'm still worried cutting my oinks nails :... so as you local ,can i bring my 2 round lol rolleyes:)) and ones a bit of a tart so if you can do bright red varnish for him :)):))
 
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