Nails of DOOM!

[Tesla's Mom]

So Tesla is becoming more social, he loves his out of cage time, exploring and getting into all sorts of baby bunny trouble (mostly trying to eat the carpet no matter how many toys I give him).

Anyways, he has needles for nails, he’s drawn blood on me a couple of times on accident, he’ll hop up onto my lap to explore and sniff at me, and sometimes in his hopping down he’ll get me with his nails, it’s horrible! I want to be able to let him in my lap if he wants to be there but right now I don’t want to be stabbed by the nails.  I just got some proper nail clippers for Tesla at the pet store yesterday, but he doesn’t want to sit still to get them clipped now.  I’m wondering if there are any suggestions. He is still very young and is less interested in people as he is in exploring and trying to get into all the stuff we have blocked off to him.  

[BinkyBuster]

I wish I had some suggestions for you, but I don’t! My bun despises being held, and won’t let me touch his feet. So I have to take him to the vet like every 6/7 weeks to get them trimmed. I’d suggest doing this for the first time. They’ll show you how you can do it (if you ask) and give you some pointers. I know that sometimes when it’s getting close to trim time he’ll run over my bare foot and it will hurt so much!

Could you put down a towel/blanket when he comes up to protect you from the nails?

[Tesla's Mom]

I will see about having the vet clip his nails for me. As of now, I make sure I wear my slippers and put something in my lap if I’m going to try and coax him to have some lap time. He is rarely holding still, always hopping around and nosing into everything so he doesn’t want to be in the lap very much.

[BinkyBunny]

I think that watching a vet do it a few times and show you how may be very helpful.With Jack, because he would just all of sudden kick hard with his back feet, I was more worried about him breaking his spine, so I would wrap him in a towel as seen in the https://binkybunny.com/BUNNYINFO/tabid/53/CategoryID/21/PID/940/Default.aspx (scroll down). With Rucy, I would just try hold my arm over her back legs (wearing long sleeves of course). You will see that in the above link as well.

There is also another method that is very good, but it takes practice and it keeps the bunny’s feet down on a surface and it consists of gently pulling the leg out/forward and clipping nails with the bunny in that position. There is a certain way to do this so that the bunny doesn’t pull back. It does seem less stressful and with patience, it can be a very good option. The video for purchase is here. http://www.rabbitcare.org/video.htm.

[Tesla's Mom]

Thanks BB, I will check those out and also have the vet show me the first time. I used to have rats and we found something to put under their water spout to help their nails file down a bit on their own, but not sure what could do the same for bunnies or if there was anything at all.

[Sam and Lady's Human]

I have to bunny burrito Samson, but Lady I can stick some food in front of and just grab a paw and go for it.

[Tesla's Mom]

Tesla is still such a little baby, he just wants to go go go and not stop to have his nails done =p

[jackieblue]

I’m looking into whether or not these might be an option and I will let you’ll know as quick as I do!!
I use them on my cat, Jackieblue, each one last several days to weeks depending on what stage of shedding the nail is in (or if I forget and shut a door he wants in or out of which him clawing to get in will break the nail and take the claw cover with!)

[Baxter n Boos Mom]

I saw a video on Youtube once…where a girl worked to de-sensitize her bun (that did not like to be carried) to nail clippings…by giving her bun low grade treats (oats) while she sat near him and clipped uncooked pasta. The sound is very similar to nail clipping. Then over time, she would start making the sound very close to the buns nails, and he wouldn’t react….eventually she was able to use the clipper on her bun, while he remained standing by her…while she continued to reward him with oats. It was pretty amazing – but I’m sure it required amazing patience.

[BB Administrator]

Looks like this older thread has been replied to bringing it current so hopefully the OP has figured out a way to clip nails or have someone do it as that is the best thing for the rabbit. Long nails can lead to foot issues like sore hocks. But I wanted to be sure to respond to the post about the nail caps. I do not recommend using claw caps for bunnies. Even if a bunny doesn’t successfully chew them off, rabbits nails need to stay trimmed to prevent the nail from pushing the foot back and causing foot sores. Bunnies nails are usually blunt and the caps are meant for more of sharper pointier nail — rabbits can develop sharp points when they are running around on carpet and/or they are getting too long, but that also means the nails need to be trimmed. For the health of the bunny, keep nails trimmed and if you feel the sharpness is still there, you can smooth them out a bit with a nail file.

Helloworld!!

[Caroline22]

Tesla’s mom, I feel you pain on having a young bunny who tries to eat carpet. My bunny only tries to eat it in the room with the newest carpet though. I have to watch her anytime she’s in there, it’s such a pain. I’m hoping that once she’s spayed it’ll stop.

As for the nail things, I’ve gotten quite a few scratches from her jumping off something and then into my lap. I usually just try to have a blanket over my legs when I know she’s probably going to climb all over me.

[Caroline22]

Hahaha I just reread the title to this post, I always call them “demon nails” 

[Lola's owner]

To get the rabbit to hold still hold their ears to their head and hold them there with ur hand and flip him upside down on his back In ur lap and he will hold still

[oatmealpie]

I’m in the preliminary phases of clicker training our buns, but I’ve read that you can use the clicker to train your bun to be OK with nail trimmings. As Baxter n Boo described you take baby steps. I don’t remember the exact sequence, but it’s something like this: first click and give a treat when the bunny lets you hold the clippers near her, then click and treat when she lets you touch her paw, then when she is OK with the sound of trimming pasta, then when she lets you touch the clippers to her paw, then when she lets you trim one nail, then two, and so on.

Each baby step requires a separate clicker training session, so it could take weeks to get her to be OK with nail trimming. I’ll probably have to bunny burrito ours while we’re working on the basics of clicker training.

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