How to Trim Guinea Pig Nails
What is the Best Way to Trim Guinea Pigs’ Nails?
The process of cutting a guinea pig’s nails is fairly straightforward. It should be done every two to four weeks to prevent any discomfort or pain to the foot. First, you’ll need some simple tools:
· Small animal clippers or human nail clippers
· Styptic powder
· A towel or cloth
· A torch
· Fresh veggies or treats
The best way to trim their nails is to hold the guinea pig against your stomach with their legs facing forward. Ideally, you should start trimming the front nails so they can better see what you’re doing.
Next, you’ll want to use a torch to identify the ‘quick,’ which is the blood vessel that runs down the middle of the nail. Once you find it, you need to take your clippers and trim just before the quick. If you’re worried about catching it, then trim the nail in small increments. If you do clip the quick, swiftly pop their nail into the styptic powder and the bleeding should stop.
Repeat the process for all the nails, making sure to reward with treats every few nails or foot to make this a more enjoyable experience for your guinea pig.
What Happens If You Don’t Cut Guinea Pig’s Nails?
It’s important to regularly trim your guinea pig’s nails. Their feet are very sensitive and overgrown guinea pig nails can curl inwards and start to embed into their feet. Not only will this make any attempts at trimming much more difficult, it can also cause extreme pain and discomfort for your guinea pig.
If the nails start to dig into their feet, it can lead to them having open wounds on their paws which are unable to heal. Having a consistent open wound can also lead to infections such as Bumblefoot.
How to Cut Black Guinea Pig Nails
Cutting black guinea pig nails can be a little trickier. The darker nail can make the quick more difficult to see which may be worrisome when it comes to clipping. But don’t fret too much. A way to overcome this is to use a light, such as a torch, to shine through the nail and give you a better idea where the quick is.
If the torch doesn’t help, that’s okay too. The safest thing to do is to be a little more reserved when trimming their nails. Stick to just trimming the tips of the nails, and slowly start working back once you are more confident of where the quick is located.
How to Cut Guinea Pigs’ Nails that are Curled?
If you notice your guinea pig’s claws have started to curl, don’t panic. While curled nails can be uncomfortable if left to continue growing, they can still be fixed if they have only recently started to curl. It’s also important to note that guinea pig nails tend to curl more often as they age as the nail becomes much more brittle.
To cut curled nails, you may want to opt for using a guinea pig nail clippers, or general small animal clippers.
These tend to cut entirely round a nail unlike human nail clippers which tend to just clip from opposite sides.
Once ready, proceed as normal and cut the nail before the quick. In overgrown guinea pig nails, it’s inevitable that a quick will be caught on occasion. Make sure to have your styptic powder ready to go.
If the nails have started to cause discomfort and dig deeply into the feet, it may be best to seek a vet’s assistance in cutting them as they can assess the foot and look out for any possible infections.
Should I Trim my Guinea Pig’s Teeth?
A Guinea Pig’s teeth should rarely need to be manually filed down if they are receiving the right care at home. Guinea pigs’ teeth naturally file down through chewing on their food, hay and other things in the environment.
Having a consistent supply of hay is always a must for guinea pigs, and is the main way they maintain their oral health. The constant chewing is not only good for their digestive system, but the texture of the hay is what keeps their incisors nice and sharp. The best types of hay for guinea pigs are:
· Timothy Hay
· Meadow Hay
· Orchard Hay
If you do notice your guinea pig’s teeth are getting a little long and they don’t seem to be managing to keep the length reasonable, then a vet will be able to file them down for you. It’s not recommended to attempt it yourself at home.
