Man, it’s that day again… I mustered up some courage to trim my girls’ nails. Last time, I accidentally cut Tofu’s nail too short, her nail started to bleed. I had to rush to the kitchen to get some potato flour to stop the bleeding. This time, I decided to go to the CVS to get some sceptic powder in case I cut the nails too short again.
I used two types of nail clippers for guinea pigs – one that looks like a miniature scissor and small human nail clipper. I mostly use the scissor style, but Dumpling has curly nails on her thumbs so it helps to use the human nail clipper for those.
I usually take around 30 minutes trimming both girls' nails, I find trimming their nails is always better when you take your time. The job was much easier although I was still nervous and held my breath while cutting nails. Having Angelique there to distract the girls with veggies helped. Plus, Dumpling and Tofu looked SO CUTE while getting their nails trimmed.
After the girls got their full grooming service, including manis, pedis, and lots of treats, Tofu and Dumpling went back to munching on some hay before they went under the GuineaDad Liner pocket and Queen’s Castle get a good nap. I think they were relieved to feel their nails a lot shorter.
If it's time to do more than just groom your piggy's nails and they're overdue for a full clipping, learn how to clip your guinea pig's nails with this guide.
Do you guys have any other tips on trimming your guinea pigs nails? Do you guys also hold your breath while clipping your piggies’ nails? Share in the comments below!
3 comments
@LizaMay @Liz At least for my Tofu, putting flashlight in the nail only works on one of her dark nails. Not sure if it’s my eye, but it doesn’t work on other couple nails, so what I do is just cut them more regularly a small amount – and keep it at a constant length. For the back nail, it’s actually easier because there is a spot the nail gets thin quickly. I clip it there.
A cavy owner suggested having another person shine a flashlight from underneath the guinea pigs paw/nails in order to identify where the quick is in dark colored nails.
How do you know where to trim the Black Nails?