How can I trim my bun's nails?!

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random faerie

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He needs some trimming. ; 3 ;
I got him from a breeder who did not bother trimming his nails before passing him on to me.
We've been together a little over a week. Although he trusts me a bit now, I can pet him and he would eat off my hand, HE WOULD NOT LET ME LIFT HIM UP... Let alone flip him over for some trimming/filing. ; 3 ;

I'm afraid to force him as his struggle might cause him injury... But I've had some nasty scratches from his talons too... So I really want to trim it!

Help me... What to do? ; 3 ;
 
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A couple of different ways.

1. bundled in a towel

wrap him up in a towel.
You can do this by dropping it over top him and then bundling him up in it.
This keeps him nice and secure. You can take one foot out at a time and if you bundle him in such a way that you can set him up on his butt that helps. :)

2. take him back to the breeder and ask "can you show me how to clip his nails".

3. set him up on the floor.
this requires that you hover over him a bit and be very alert to his actions. You simply pick up a foot, one at a time. Play with it a bit, and then snip away the excess. Don't worry about perfect, just worry about manageable. You could get a friend to help you with this... ask them to have a hand over bunnys' shoulders and just hold him firm in one spot. You then do the one foot at a time thing.
 
A couple of different ways.

1. bundled in a towel

wrap him up in a towel.
You can do this by dropping it over top him and then bundling him up in it.
This keeps him nice and secure. You can take one foot out at a time and if you bundle him in such a way that you can set him up on his butt that helps. :)

I will try this one first! I think he will hate me so much after it though. Haha. Must be ready with a treat after. xD
 
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towel method is probably a lot easier than doing it with him standing upright, especially since you can hold the foot still/have more control that way. you may also find it helpful to get someone else to hold him while you clip.

I find it helps a LOT to be quick and confident in your movements - just pull up a claw/snip, pull up a claw/snip... don't take too much time looking at the quick/lining up the clippers just right, etc. and try not to be too anxious about it because bunnies can sense that - just clip off the little tips and err on the side of leaving them too long since you can always go back and take a little more off. if you have trouble seeing the nails/lining them up in the clippers because of fur getting in the way, you can dampen the tip of his paw a bit to get the hair to lie down (NEVER clip the hair back - they need it to protect their feet since they don't have pads like cats and dogs do).

bribes help a LOT. I keep a little bag of craisins beside me... I pick up the rabbit, give a craisin, flip them over, do two paws, give another craisin, do the last two and then flip them back over and give another craisin and some pets. if someone's being particularly fussy/squirmy about it that day, I might give as many as 4-5 by the time I'm done.

since he's new to you and not accustomed to being handled on his back yet, you might try doing one paw a day the first time you trim his nails (or wait an hour or two between paws, whichever) so that he's not on his back for very long. in-between nail clips, try to flip him over once every day or two, hold him that way for maybe a minute, touch his paws a little, flip him upright and then give him a tiny treat - this will gradually get him accustomed to that sort of handling so that he's more tolerant of it come nail-clipping time (especially once he's learned to associate being flipped with getting a yummy treat).
 
here's a great video on syringe-feeding - skip to about 2 1/2 minutes in and she shows how to do a bunny burrito :)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iGZVYVm5Bg[/ame]
 
I wold recommend having somebody help you too. That way if the bun escapes the towel they don't hurt themselves.
 

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