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Cutting your guinea pigs’ nails can be a bit of an unpleasant experience, but if you do it quite often then it becomes less of a problem, as less will need to be taken off and you’ll have had a little more practise. The key to properly cutting guinea pig nails is to thoroughly examine your guinea pig’s feet before you begin. If your guinea pig isn’t in contact with stone or earth very much then their nails won’t wear down naturally, and clipping them will be necessary to ensure that the nails don’t begin to grow in strange directions or cause your pets any discomfort. If your guinea pigs are on stone or concrete a lot when they’re in their runs, then they’re likely to need trimming less often. If you're not an adult, you'll need to find one to do this for you.
We recommend watching some instructional videos or asking a veterinary nurse to demonstrate before attempting this yourself
Have a good look at your guinea pig’s foot. This is generally easiest if you have someone hold the guinea pig still in their lap, whilst you very gently hold a foot and examine the nails. With light-coloured guinea pigs, you’ll actually be able to see where the blood vessel in their nail finishes, but with darker guinea pigs their black toenails will make it much harder for you to see the line. If you have a torch, shining a light through the nail may help you to see the line where the blood vessel ends. Hold the toe still, and, making sure that you’re not going to cut the blood vessel or the nail just next to the blood vessel, use a pair of human nail clippers to take a tiny bit at a time off the end of your guinea pig’s nails. We recommend watching a video or asking your vet to make sure you’re not cutting too much off.
Comments
Modesto, 26 October 2019
I have two guinea pigs, and every time they whistle I feed them, I figure they are hungry. I feed them sevral times a day, it seems as if they are never full or satisfide, am I feeding them the right way?