Clipping my bunny's nails

[schnauzig]

I have a dwarf bunny who is 3 months old and is very tiny. His nails have been getting pretty long, but I'm terrified of hurting him, so I haven't clipped them. I have clipped my cat's and my dog's nails before, but since my bunny's nails are so tiny, I don't know where to start clipping and where to start clipping so I won't hurt him. Any tips on how I can clip my bunny's nails without hurting him?

 

[PaGal]

You need to find the quick which is the blood supply in the nail. You will want to trim the nail avoiding trimming through the quick. If you do it will hurt and bleed.

If your bun has dark nails holding a flash light behind the nail will help you to see the quick. You may need someone to help you if your are using a flashlight since holding a rabbit, the nail clippers and a flashlight could be difficult. If you can't get someone to help you, you could try propping the flash light up on some books or some other object.

You can use cat nail trimmers or bird trimmers for your bun. Try not to cut through any hair as buns need the hair to cushion their feet since they do not have pads such as dogs. Also, if the clippers pull the hair your bun may jerk while you are clipping.

Once you see the quick you can then place the trimmers on the nail and give a firm squeeze at first without cutting through the nail. Pay close attention to your bun. If at this point your bun jerks it's foot or squirms you may be cutting too close to the quick.

If your bun is not used to having nail trims and seems really stressed by the process then you could try just doing one foot a day until all are done. If your buns nails are very long then cut off some of the nail. A week later cut off a little more nail. The quick grows as the nail grows so when they are very long you can cut a little off once a week and as the nail gets shorter the quick will recede getting shorter.

 

[FreezeNkody]

I would start by just trimming the tips. I never cut my rabbits nails to short

 

[pani]

You need to find the quick which is the blood supply in the nail. You will want to trim the nail avoiding trimming through the quick. If you do it will hurt and bleed.

If your bun has dark nails holding a flash light behind the nail will help you to see the quick. You may need someone to help you if your are using a flashlight since holding a rabbit, the nail clippers and a flashlight could be difficult. If you can't get someone to help you, you could try propping the flash light up on some books or some other object.

You can use cat nail trimmers or bird trimmers for your bun. Try not to cut through any hair as buns need the hair to cushion their feet since they do not have pads such as dogs. Also, if the clippers pull the hair your bun may jerk while you are clipping.

Once you see the quick you can then place the trimmers on the nail and give a firm squeeze at first without cutting through the nail. Pay close attention to your bun. If at this point your bun jerks it's foot or squirms you may be cutting too close to the quick.

If your bun is not used to having nail trims and seems really stressed by the process then you could try just doing one foot a day until all are done. If your buns nails are very long then cut off some of the nail. A week later cut off a little more nail. The quick grows as the nail grows so when they are very long you can cut a little off once a week and as the nail gets shorter the quick will recede getting shorter.

I would start by just trimming the tips. I never cut my rabbits nails to short

:yeahthat:

If all else fails, head to a vet or shelter, or maybe even a reliable breeder - they'll probably be happy to clip the nails for you, and show you how to do it yourself next time.

 

[Sindri27]

Yeah you can just clip the tips or take it to the vet. Mine gladly did mine and I got to see how they did it. I have decided though that its cheap enough I will just let them do it for now on. Best of luck!

 

[Flick]

This is a video of my Skyler getting his nails clipped. Believe me, he is NOT a calm rabbit. This method works very well with him, however. The most important info is the "squeeze-squeeze-clip" explanation.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyyxQRoAhcw&feature=share[/ame]