Clipping your bunnies nails

[Cocoa]

My two bunnies hate having their nails clipped. My parents don’t want to pay to get their nails trimmed by a vet. I don’t have enough money to pay for it. I have to clip their nails every 3 weeks. I know its normally longer than that, but I’m worried about cutting it too short. Do yall have any tips on clipping their nails? 

[sarahthegemini]

I can’t clip my bunny’s nails. Actually, tbh I’ve never tried. I know how they’d react so I get a vet to do it. So take my advice with a pinch of salt…

Are you able to bunny burrito them? You could have one person holding bunny in said burrito fashion and you bring one foot out at a time. You might need to desensitise them to the sound of it first. I’ve heard of people cutting uncooked spaghetti near the bun as apparently the sound is quite similar!

[Cocoa]

Ill look into getting my moms help with that. They seem scared by the noise so ill try that. Thanks!

[Luna]

Some buns need their nails trimmed more than others. I usually trim Luna’s nails every 3 weeks, so I don’t think you’re cutting them too often . Are their nails dark or light colored? It’s hard to see the quick in dark colored nails, but if you shine a flashlight from the side of the nail, you can see the quick that way to avoid nicking it. If you do accidentally nick the quick and it starts bleeding, putting some flour on the nail will help stop the bleeding faster than putting pressure on it alone.

[Cocoa]

Cocoa has dark nails, but Lily has light and dark nails. I saw the trick about flour but i wasn’t sure if it would work. Lily will start twisting her body even if she wrapped in a towel. Any advice on getting her to be still?

[Luna]

I was skeptical too! But I’ve used it before and it really does work.

Luna is a burrito escape artist and would always get so stressed whenever I tried to restrain her. I read that if you place them on an elevated place, like a table, they won’t be as comfortable moving around. It works for Luna; I just put her on a towel on top of the kitchen table so she doesn’t slide around, and she stays still for the most part. I either block off the edges of the table or have someone there to help make sure she doesn’t try to jump off the table and accidentally injure herself.

While she does better on the table than anywhere else, I still only do two paws at a time because she won’t stay still for long and also so that she doesn’t get too stressed. I do her front paws one day, and then her back paws another day.

[Cocoa]

So you are saying don’t pick her up to clip her nails? I don’t know how I could get her to let me do her back feet. I did one of her front feet today with that suggestion Luna. She keeps her back feet under her so im not sure how to do that

[Luna]

Nope, I don’t pick her up. She sits there and I lift her paw as little as possible to clip the nail. She tries to tuck her back feet under herself too. I just gently push her back foot out to the side so that it sticks out from under her, and grab one toe at a time (she won’t let me lift her whole back paw). It’s not always easy, and she doesn’t always cooperate , but its the least stressful way for her that I’ve found so far where she stays the most still.

[Cocoa]

Okay thanks! I’ve been trying to find easy ways to do it, that sounds like the best way to do it. Lily acts more like a wild bunny than a pet bunny sometimes so it can be difficult. Are than any natural ways to file their nails down? With our dogs we just play with them in the driveway and that helps file their nails down. Is there anything similar to that that i can do?

[Bladesmith]

I’ve tried the burrito and coaxing out one foot at a time, but it doesn’t work. Clover’s big enough that if she doesn’t want you to hold her, you won’t. And Dawn, well, the only way you can do her nails is to pick her little ninja butt up. I hate turning either of them over, so instead I incline them on my bent legs so I can get to their feet, but they can’t kick or get traction. Once they realize it’s toenail time, they relax and we get done quickly. There are treats after.

[Cocoa]

I have tried the incline with her on my legs but she scratched me and ran into her cage.

[Luna]

You’re right that walking on cement works on dog’s nails, but it doesn’t quite work the same on buns. Wild rabbits keep their nails naturally trimmed by digging all the time, so the filing happens with digging, as opposed to hopping on hard surfaces.

[DanaNM]

this technique works really well and can help you realize if you are too close to the quick:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9KemnaTGIs

I do have a helper, so if you can have a parent clip while you hold, it should work out pretty well! I tend to trim every 4-5 weeks, but my buns are older so their nails prob dont grow as fast.

I tend to hold the bun on my lap, upright like in the video, with their back against me, so they are very supported.

. . . The answers provided in this discussion are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet. Seek the advice of your veterinarian or a qualified behaviorist.  

[Cocoa]

I had seen an idea where you get a long bin and fill it with play sand for your bunnies to dig in. Could that work? My bunnies will not let me hold them like that. Ive tried ways like that where im holding them but they do better when they are sitting on the table using the way Luna suggested. Thanks for that suggestion though.

[Luna]

While that is a good idea, it probably wouldn’t be as effective as clipping their nails. The digging wild rabbits do is in hard dirt, which can be mixed with small stones, twigs, and other organic matter found in nature. And the digging is quite extensive because they dig out large systems of burrows/tunnels. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/explore/rabbit-burrow/

[Cocoa]

Okay. I would still trim their nails even if I did that. I was just going to try that to do it less often

[JMC]

Can you get anybody to help you? One of my buns is a two-man job. My partner holds him wrapped in a towel, on his lap with bun facing his knees, and I clip one paw at a time. He’s actually great with his front paws but he hates having his back paws done so we go one claw at a time. Sometimes we spread it over two days and do two paws one day, others the next, so it’s less stress all at once. I talk to him and give him head rubs between each clip and he stays pretty calm. Treats afterward. He has black claws because of his breed so I don’t trim too far down and check them once a month.

[mschoonover11]

clipping my rabbits nails is literally the hardest thing in the world. I’ve gotten help snd other stuff, but Toby just won’t let it happen. He even nips at us! I think I’m going to have to get my local HRS to do it

[Cocoa]

They hate being wrapped in a towel. They nip me if i try to wrap them. So this may sound kind of weird, but Cocoa hates adults. She loves me and my friends but hates every adult she has ever met. She will bite them really hard and wont stop even if we do the high pitched squeal. I don’t really trust any of my friends to try to hold her like that and my parents can’t help. I used a towel the first two times i clipped their nails but on the second time they hated it so i stopped trying that way. Lily freaks out if you try to flip her over to do her nails even if she’s wrapped in a towel. My parents wont pay for it and there is no way i can pay for it. I already owe them money which is from getting them spayed so i can’t take them to a vet for their nails. After school today i will do Cocoa’s nails and if that goes well, tomorrow i will do Lily’s. I am going to try the idea where she is sitting on a table and i just gently lift one paw at a time. I will also try the idea where you use spaghetti to get them used to the noise because it startles Cocoa every time. Thanks for all of the ideas!

[Cocoa]

I managed to trim Lily’s nails by letting her sit on a towel on the couch and trimming her feet without picking her up. Cocoa is letting me do some nails but its still difficult. Could i trim some of the fur around her feet so I can trim nails easier? She doesn’t give me very much time with each nail before she moves away and it takes too long to try to move all the fur out of the way.

[Harley&Thumper]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0we5CJ-YvCo
This video gives some tips on a good way to get fur out of the way when trimming nails. I don’t think you would hurt Lily by trimming her feet fur but you aren’t really helping either.

[Cocoa]

They wont let me wrap them in a towel. Both of my bunnies will continue kicking and trying to twist so they are standing normal until I unwrap them and put them in their cage with a few treats

[Author]

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