Nail Trimming Alone

[bpash89]

 I’m pretty sure I’ve watched every youtube video on the web about bunny nail trimming at this point and I’m still just at a loss.  Does anyone’s bunny actually sit still like the bunnies in the videos?  Honestly?  My little girl turns evil when I break out the nail clippers – biting, lunging… the works.  She’s never been agressive but she simply refuses to have her nails done.  I’ve tried it while giving her food.  I’ve tried the bunny burrito.  I’ve tried just holding her when she’s calm.  I’ve tried to put her on her back.  Nothing works.  I don’t have anyone to help me and I think it would probably stress her out more to have a stranger trying to restrain her/touch her feet anyway.  

I’ve tried to make it a habit of handling her feet when I’m petting her just to get her used to it and she does fine with that.  Still a bit flinchy on the back legs but nothing, NOTHING like how she acts when I had clippers in my hand.  

I’m just really don’t know what to do.  She doesn’t like to be held or even really sit on my lap so she tried to bite me when she wasn’t restrain and the bunny burrito was okay but impossible to trim her nails because in order to reach her feet I have to loosen the blanket some and then she get’s squirmy.  

Seriously, how in the world do you trim a bunnies nails without 8 extra pairs of hands?

[BabyD]

You and me are in the same boat. We both have black bunnies which makes it impossible to see the quick. And I live alone, so there is no one to help me either. I think we need a groomer or vet to do this for us.

ps. I would think the bunnies will be more cooperative if they’ve been taken to an unfamiliar place.

[BubblesJo]

I’m in the same boat too… I haven’t even tried to trim Chester’s nails, since I’ve only got him a couple of weeks ago and we definitely haven’t build the trust to that point yet. I guess it’s gonna be a trip to the vet when the time comes!

[Jessie1990]

Okay so I had the same problem with Ashe. She is motion aggressive (I’m not sure if that is a real term lol). She lunges and charges if things move in her field of vision too quickly and hates loud sounds. SO I was very worried and tried the bunny burrito to save myself some scratches and bites… well, Ashe began weezing even before I finished putting her in the burrito and now attacks her towel repeatedly. She began ALL the bad behaviors I had trained out of her again right after I put her down out of the practice burrito. So I am not trying that one again. Instead I have been using clicker training (her favorite activity!) to reward her for letting me touch her toes. I then started moving the clippers next to her face as fast as I could while she was being given some of her favorite treat at the bottom of a small crock of parsley. There was no aggression, so I began clipping a few nails at a time and I now have a foot and a half done. We are working on sensatizing her back feet now.

[Jessie1990]

Also, Ashe’s nails are black, but because they are not really that long yet and just sharp I take off a small tip right now. I used a light to see how long the quick was in them before I cut.

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