Cutting Nails

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AnnaS

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I cut Chernish's nails for the first time yesterday. It went good.
He was very scared, and my husband had a hard time catching him, since he was afraid too pick him up and hold him firmly.
He was afraid he would hurt him.
Back feet were no problem, but front feet and his face, Chernish kept hiding in my husband's hand.
He was so cute. After I was done(I was trying to be as quick aspossible), I offered the bunny raisins. It took him 2 minutes torealize the worst is over and he can eat the raisins.

At the end my husband got kisses, but not me. Very not fair.The bunny just loves him no matter what.:?
 
Funny you post this, Anna, my husband and I justsuccessfully clipped both Abby's and Valura's nails. Neither were crazyabout it, especially Abby, but it went fairly well. Chompers on theother hand would have none of it and was freaking out so we gave up.
 
Chernish was freaking out too, he scratched myhusband. But I think I would have done a better job at holding himsince I am not afraid to hold him firmly so that the bunny feels safe.
I held him at the doctor's office, and he was fine about it.
 
It's funny how they behave at the doctor, but youget them home and they turn back to their usual diabolical ways.Chompers actually jumped into my arms at the vet last time he was thereand he HATES being held.

I've been shown a couple different techniques and I've concluded thatit depends on the rabbit and the person holding the rabbit. Dave heldthem so their belly was out, and I cooed and talked baby talk to them,with a raisin or two for good measure.
 
I clipped Winston's nails for the first time twodays ago. His front claws went fine, but I had difficulty gettingthrough the hind ones. They are so much thicker and difficult to clip!I decided to leave them alone for now. I was just using a regular humannail clipper, so maybe I'll wait until I get home and can use my ferretones. Any tips on clipping the rear nails?
 
Well, once a rabbit is on his or her back, theyusually calm down. That is how you trance a bun, by flippingover on the back. You just have to be careful to hold themfirmly so they dont squirm or kick out. Could hurt themselvesthat way.
 
Well he probably wont like it all that much, butit is an effective way of doing it. One person cradles himlike a baby on his back while another goes snip! That is thefastest and safestway I have found to do it
 
At the vet, they made me hold the bunny vertically. With one hand holding his tommy and with the other his bottom.
But you have to hold him so he won't move or scratch you.
 
I must be one of the lucky few. Peabody actuallysits still and lets me do his nails. He just must like to look freshlygroomed. Only time I get kisses is when I tell himwhat apretty bunny he is...lol!
 
Wow, impressive. Mine does not really respond to praise much.
I tell him he is cute all the time, but no kisses for me.
 
Ok, it is now time to cut Peppers nails. Ive hadher for about a year and its the first time ive had to cut her nails.Are you suppose to cut them more often than that? :?

I picked her up to cuddle her earlier and she struggled and her nailsscratched right across my wrist so it now looks like ive tryed tocommit suicide :p. I had never noticed how sharp/long they are before!It is definetly time! As its her first time at getting her nails cut,and my first time at doing it at home, do you think i should take herto the vet to do it? It does sound really easy to do at home. is iteasy? lol I dont really have the money to keep taking all my animals tothe vets just for their nails to get cut, so i would like to startdoing it at home.

What kind of nail clippers do you all use?
 
I read in a few books that if your bunny hasdark fur and nails it is best to be done by the Vet. anyone know whythis is? Thinking about doing it myself but as Sam has dark fur andnails i'm unsure.

-Gillian
 
I've never had to clip my bunnies nails asthey've always stayed a good length and they get clipped once a year bythe vet when they get their jabs. I've noticed that they are gettinglong now and they don't go to the vets untill December but i think iwill have to take them just to get them clipped because they have darknails and i'd be scared of hurting them, i've also never tried puttingthem on their backs, they don't like being held so i didn't want to trytipping them over.:shock:We have this rabbit savvy vet at ourvet's tho who hadrabbits as a child and when they got theirstitches out after their spay they were brilliant when ontheir backs, they didn't even put up a bit of a fight.
 
My Rue is good when i cut her nails, but it's a2 person job. Kweli however has dark nails, this is difficult to seethe quick. so i shine a flashlight under the nail, it makes it mucheasier. (someone on the forum suggested it but i forget who)

Nicole
 
Gilfly wrote:
Iread in a few books that if your bunny has dark fur and nails it isbest to be done by the Vet. anyone know why this is? Thinking aboutdoing it myself but as Sam has dark fur and nails i'm unsure.

-Gillian
As Linz_1987 stated, it's because the cutcile is hard to locate.

We have 2 buns with dark nails. I use a flashlight behind the nails to help see the cuticle. Then I cut just a bit at a time.

If the nails are overdue for clipping then the cuticle has probablydropped down with the growing of the nail. In this case I would clip abit and then do it again a couple of days allowing the cuticle toreceed.

It's also easiest when two of us do it. We use the "bunnie burrito"method and wrap the bun up in a towel, only exposing the foot thatneeds to be cut.

We do clippings about every 4-6 weeks.

~Jim
 

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