Let’s know about How to trim a guinea pig’s nails. Having a guinea pig as a pet means that you must take care of it in order to satisfy everything it needs in terms of food, housing, hygiene … and an activity that will allow you to engage in it from time to time. But what should be done is, without a doubt, cutting its nails. But how to cut the nails of a guinea pig?
If you’ve never done it before and want to learn, here we’re going to go over everything you need to know, from the accessories you’ll need to clip a guinea pig’s nails, to what Can happen if you don’t do it properly or if you want to fix it. Let’s come to the topic shall we?
How to Cut Guinea Pig Nails: The Tools You’ll Need
Before you fully begin how to trim a guinea pig’s nails, you should know what tools you should have, this way you won’t have to look for them and with this, more on your pet Have to emphasize.
To begin with, you need a nail clipper or some special scissors for cutting the nails of animals (more specifically guinea pigs). These are sold at pet stores and will help speed up the process because they are concentrated on them.
In addition, you should have a file or sandpaper on hand (you can also get this at pet stores, focused on guinea pigs) as well as some latex gloves to handle your pet so that it Don’t be saved
Finally, we recommend taking some cotton and hydrogen peroxide , as well as flour, close by. The reason being that they may be the ingredients you need if you go too far when cutting and it starts to bleed.
How to cut a guinea pig’s nails step by step
Now that you have everything covered, it’s time to learn how to trim a guinea pig’s nails. We recommend that you do this at a time when you know the guinea pig is calm (and not so active) as it will drool more. At first it is logical that fear and stress can do it, and that it is difficult for you to do it alone, especially if you are very nervous, but over time you will get used to it.
The first thing you should do is put on your gloves. Next, take the guinea pig and spend a few minutes petting it so it gets comfortable and doesn’t feel like anything is about to happen. Carefully, you must immobilize the guinea pig’s foot so that it does not move and take nail clippers or scissors. Now you should cut a little to the border of the vein to avoid bleeding. This is probably the most important thing, and where it can scare us the most, because that vein is easy to distinguish in some guinea pigs, but not in others.
The trick here can be a light (for example, your mobile’s flashlight) to help you locate the vein and cut it well before that. If you don’t see it, you can cut a little off with nail clippers and file the rest, especially avoid cutting where it shouldn’t.
You’ll need to do this process for each nail, which is why if your guinea pig moves around a lot, you may need help holding it while you do this (to be safe and quick).
Before letting go, you should file his nails a little. Keep in mind that nail clippers or scissors do cut, but don’t leave the nails well, and scratching them can also lead to wounds.
Once this is done, you can release the guinea pig and give it a treat so that it understands that if it behaves well, it gets a reward.
what if i make it smaller
As with dogs, cats…, when we go too far when biting, we can cut a ‘blood vessel’ and bleeding can occur, as well as injury to the animal. In fact, this is one of the reasons many people avoid getting it done, so that it doesn’t hurt or bleed. However, when a guinea pig’s (or a cat’s or dog’s) nails are not clipped, what do you think causes deformities, that the nails dig into the skin, etc.
That’s why there is no need to be afraid, yes there is respect. And you always have the option of filing instead of chopping.
But what if bleeding starts after cutting or filing? This is because there are blood vessels in the nails. These are visible on light nails (in fact, if you put them in the sun you will be able to see how far the blood vessel reaches and this will be your guide not to go too far when cutting), but in the case of dark nails They don’t show up, and you go a little blind.
For this reason, you may find yourself in a situation where your guinea pig’s nails start to bleed. In view of this, the first thing is not to panic and keep calm. Whenever you go to file or cut a guinea pig’s nails, keep some cotton wool with hydrogen peroxide on hand, if this happens, it is important to take the cotton wool and prevent moisture loss. Press it onto the nail as hard as possible. blood. Another option, when there is not much bleeding, but the bleeding is profuse, is to add flour, which is a good ingredient to cut it.
how to file guinea pig nails
You might prefer to file his nails instead of cutting them. This way, you avoid the fear that you might have to cut them too hard and cause significant bleeding. That’s why here we are going to tell you about it as well.
To start with, you should keep in mind that nail filing is much more common than cutting, because when filing them you don’t cut them hard enough for them to last long. In addition, they may break from daily use or be poorly cared for, which can cause serious injury to the animal’s skin. For this reason, it’s important to dedicate at least once a week (to filing), and once a month to cutting.
But focusing on the filing, it is done in the same way as when trimming the nails of a guinea pig. That is, you should take a guinea pig and be calm with it. In fact, we recommend that you spend a few minutes petting her so she doesn’t get scared. Next, take one of its paws and start rubbing it with a nail file to shorten it a bit. Keep in mind that the animal may not get used to it and will stir, so if this happens, you should enlist help so that one person can hold it while the other is in charge of the filing.
Once you have filed them all (take care not to file them too hard (or leave them without nails)), so they get used to it, you should give them a treat. And spend a little more time with her so that she can trust you. This way, over time, it will be easier for you to file your nails.