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My Rats Long Nails--How to Safely Trim Them2007-11-24 22:12:59

My rat, Lily, loves to crawl over me and even my dog, bt her little nails are very sharp and a little long, and it makes it very uncomfortable and even painful to let her climb on me.

Is there any way to trim her nails besides a nail clipper...clipping them scare me. She is very fidgity and has such tiny fingers. I dont want to hurt her. Is there anything I can do to trim them down, or get her to trim them her self, that is a little safer?

Answers:

Well, nail clippers work best- at first we turned it into a 2 person job, one person holding, one person clipping, but she learned to hold still and I can do it myself now. But, if that's out of the question, try putting a brick or a rock inside the cage. We put one right under the water bottle so they had to stand on it. It worked a bit. We also found a thing at a pet store that is for birds. It's shaped a bit like a giant carrot and covered in a rough material similar to ... a rough swimming pool bottom...kinda sand paperishy and is meant to be attached to a bird cage as a perch. Anyways, we hold it up in the air and stick our rattie on it and move it around so they're forced to climb/hang/stand/walk around it, (hah, we called it the "rattie rotisserie") and it worked pretty well. Best of luck!

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You can file them but not farther then you see the little red line in there feet or take her to a vet and ask them to cut her nails.

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My rat was fidgety at first too. You have to start young with them otherwise they start squeaking and flailing...not a fun experience for rat or owner. I'd suggest cutting them in the early afternoon, or whenever you see that your rat is sleepiest. If she's tired, she's less likely to put up a fight and get hurt. I'll wrap my rat in a towel keeping her head free and pop out one foot at a time. I just snip the tips if they seem to bee too long. Watch for the pink vein in her toes, if you trim too close it could really hurt.

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First, don't use human nail clippers on her. Get the small animal clippers. Second, you should probably take her to a vet if you don't feel comfortable clipping her nails yourself. It's a pretty cheap procedure that's usually ranges from free to $15. Your vet can also instruct you on how to clip for her nails in the future.