NAIL CARE: TRIMMING/CLIPPING/FILING/ETC. (merged)

Sat May 29, 2004 1:11 am

just be sure to ONLY get the tip of the claw. if you trim too far down then it bleeds and is highly painful for the rat. Good luck!

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~Sara and the ratties: Remi, Sulin, Chiad, Kaya, Min and Stitch~

Tue Jul 06, 2004 5:44 am

You might try going to the reptile section of the store and getting some reptile rocks for them to climb on. I've tried it and had mixed results. Also, if your girls like to run in a wheel, Wodent Wheels have an attachment that will file their nails as they run. I've clipped my girls' nails from time to time, but it can take as many as three people, since one has to hold the rat, one has to comfort the rat with head petting and the third clips the nail. It's possible, but I always worry that I'm going to cut her toes and not the nails 'cause they're not that much bigger. Good Luck

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Sarah
Gus, Electra and Lillie (cats)
Artemisia Serendipity Timoune Paikea Eowyn (RIP) Nimue Chrysanthemum Mozart, Elizabeth
Ruby Sunrise, Angelina, Madeleine, Claudia, and the Angels

Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:10 pm

I use slate kitchen tiles in the cage... you can usually buy them at home improvement stores. Get the natural slate kind, not ceramic. There are big pieces you can cut to fit and little ones you can out against each other if you dont want to cut. And they're so heavy the rats can't push them around. And they're cheap and really easy to clean (just pull them out and scrub!) It helps wear down their nails... don't get me wrong, they're still sharp, but at least now it's bearable, whearas before it was like having needles sliding all over your skin.

Hope that helps.

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~Vicki and her morning coffee~
Latte, Arabica, Bean, and Demitasse

O..O
>o<
(db)S
^^

Rest in Peace my sweet Mocha

Wed Jul 07, 2004 12:37 am

I start when they are young and trim them myself with nail clippers. I have to use my glasses and get into very good light. I trim just the sharp points off. They are good for me when I do it..... well... maybe the boys are a little wimpy!

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Rat lover forever!
Dianne

http://www.vlademier.net/Welcome
To all the rats who have touched my heart... I will love you forever.

Mon Jul 19, 2004 11:54 am

I just keep a little statue thing in their cage that they can file their nails down on themselves. My boys never would stay still long enough for me to trim their nails. (Hard enough to keep them stilll enough to give them a bath lol)

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~*~texas~*~

Mon Jul 19, 2004 1:48 pm

I have the same problem, lol! I have to get my sis to hold them still so I can get to their toes and even then its hard! I found one useful way tho to trim their back nails, and that was to get an ankle sock and put their head in it then they just run into it. Then you can quickly cut their back nails whilst they're caught in the dead-end! tehe :p

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My girls: Gemma <:3 )~
Shadow <:3 )~

I still luv you: Sooty <:3B)~
Sweep <:3B)~
Ratty-Tatty <:3B)~

Tue Jul 20, 2004 2:52 am

Oowth, what kind of statue thing is it? Do you mind asking where you got it too?

AllSmiles, I like the sock idea!

Tue Jul 20, 2004 3:08 am

I have trouble trimming mine too. What I have in my cage is one of those brightly colored sandpaper type bird perches. I have it as the only way to get up to the top level in the cage so they are forced to climb on it and thus scrape their nails on it to trim them. Occasionally I will trim their nails if they get way to long, but otherwise I just leave them alone. I think nail trimming stresses me out as much as it does them.

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Lydelia and the Critters
... and now they are five Mr. Green

Kitties: Miss Kitty, Catbot
Ratties: Eugenuis, Ralph and Elliott
RIP Oliver -- We love you and we'll miss you!!! Cry

Tue Jul 27, 2004 4:06 pm

Sandpaper and rocks don't really touch the rats nails at all. It just makes for harder pads on their feet Mr. Green

You want either: something they will climb up and stick their nails into to do so eg large apple branch - or learn to clip them.
It will seem impossible the first time you try but just persevere!!
http://www.neratsociety.co.uk/images/clippingclaws/clawclipping.htm - there are piccies here to help you!

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Joolz Rainbow Smiley

Blossom, Opal, Jorja & Evie <:3 )~~~

Last edited by Rainbowrat on Sat Aug 27, 2005 5:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

Fri Aug 27, 2004 4:46 am

I bought one outdoor tile from a tile supplier, $3 Australian - a bargain. It's a big 30cm x 30cm size & I put it on the floor of their bottom cage between the food & toilet tray. It's slightly roughened with a fine kind of grit on the surface. gentle on the paws but it seems to be wearing the razors down nicely since I put it in.

Ratarama

Tue Jan 11, 2005 7:46 am

I hav a brick in my rat cage... They have to use it in order to get in their hammock, and if it's a hot day they'll even sleep on it. So that works pretty well.

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Kay
and the girls: Arty and Kuza

Tue Jan 18, 2005 3:24 am

I don't know if this has already been mentioned, but the other day I found the easiest way to clip my boys' nails. I've bought them a nail-trimming ladder, put a brick under their water bottle, and tried to clip them while sitting in my lap, but none of it worked....

So the other day I'm watching them be cute and snuggly, when I notice how long (and scary) their nails are while their toes are hanging down thru the wire (they have wire levels in their cage), when I get an idea.... So I grabbed my partner's nail clipper, stuck my hand in the cage and clipped all the nails I saw hanging thru the wire. Beetlejuice was so sleepy, he didn't move at all, while Mr. Twit was a bit more jumpy with his front feet, but I think that was coz he was a bit more awake. You probably won't be able to get all the nails on the first go, but if you keep a nail clipper next to the cage, you should be able to get them all after a while.

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"got 'im!" she said as she snaffled him up

Fri Mar 11, 2005 10:22 pm

Yup, cornflour will work, though styptic powder or liquid will probably work better. Mostly you just need to keep pressure on it until the bleeding stops.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sun Mar 13, 2005 12:36 am

I heard soap works as well...well it does on dogs anyway...you just grab a cake of soap and stick the bleeding claw into it...but I'm not sure if that would work on rats...I suppose it would...can't say I've ever needed to trim their claws!!

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..Rosie....Opal...Pebbles...Ruby....Pixie..

19.10.05 Angel rat

Pixie ~ sleep tight my little 'cheeky bum' xox

Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:31 am

after reading the posts, I decided to try to trim Katys nails down. I used my daughters nail clippers, and with her "helping" me keep Katy in one place, we managed to trim them down just a bit. So far everythings much better. I have a special shirt that I wear when we got out in public so that she doesn't shred my sensitive skin too terribly bad.

~KatysPerson/Weslee
White Lake, Mi

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Mon Apr 04, 2005 4:00 am

i can do the nails part fine where i live with my mom the animal groomer anyway. but what about trimming the teeth. my younger rats chew the bars or bones that i give them and i don't have a problem with it. but pocket my 2 year old who used to chew the bars and bones doesn't want to anymore. also her bottom teeth have split where the teeth goes white. the only vet around here that takes care of rats is really expensive and Pocket's tooth problem isn't going to go away so i'd rather do it myself if i could. does anyone know how to trim them? what to use and how far to go? aslo if anyone could tell me why pocket's teth split like that woul;d be great.

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mommy to:

1 human son: Corvis
1 feline son: Sesshoumaru
1 lost feline daughter: Snowball

Wed Jun 22, 2005 10:40 pm

Yeah, Daylin donjt wanna hold still either.Her nails arnt always a problem, I just wanna clip them when I have ppl over at the house or when we go to the store with her.She gets nervus and even a little nippy with other ppl and somtimes she claws me good when she gets so mad.I got to try the rock under the water bottle thing.Hope it works for her.I'v tryed cutting and fileing the sleepy girl, but she hops away and then she thinks we are playing 'Get Daylin' when I try to get her in my hands again.

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.:*~Creep and Daylin~*:.

Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:05 pm

	EthersTragic wrote:
	I keep a stone in my girls' cage. They LOVE climbing all over it,playing "king of the mountain" and when they do, they file their own nails as well! Best of luck!

so can you clip them yourself or is that the best idea or what would be better?

Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:08 pm

can the rats have a vet cut there nails can you do it yourself? I NEED HELP!

Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:25 pm

rat king, read back through this topic for help. It's all here. Also see the RP Site Rules for posting guidelines.

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:28 pm

You can clip them yourself, yes. You can also ask the vet to do it. You can trim them yourself, file then down or try the other tricks people mention in this thread. Some people find that bricks or sandpaper perches work, others don't. Some trim the tips off the claws, others simply file down the sharp tip so it's blunt. It's personal choice really, and what you find works.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Sat Jul 23, 2005 10:13 pm

i think the file or the clippers might work best id probably prefer the file more than the clippers though

Mon Aug 22, 2005 11:18 pm

Ollie is so old. He's still going, but his back legs don't work the greatest anymore. He's pretty wobbly. He doesn't do much but lay around and eat. He's showing no signs of suffering of any sort, though. He just can't take care of himself well anymore. Which means that he doesn't help keep his back nails short.

For awhile now I've been trying to clip them myself but I really can't get anywhere. I can't just hold him to clip them because he freaks out to the point where I get badly bitten. I can't find any way to wrap him up in a towel so that his back feet are exposed and he either doesn't slip out or I'm not nearly suffocating him.

His nails are really starting to get bad and I really don't know what else to try to do to get his nails clipped. I just know that if I don't get something done soon, they're going to start causing him pain.

Does anybody have any suggestions? I'm at a loss.

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Winter and the ratties: Argos, Prometheus, Apollo, Orion, Napoleon, Montecore, Cornelius, Magnus, Dozer, Jesus, Ferdinand, Harlequin, Cambria, Ambellina, Raven, Hedwig, Momo, and Suzie.

Tue Aug 23, 2005 12:08 am

You could try to keep a rock in his cage with him to kind of wear them down but if he's older I'm not sure this would help...sorry, I wish I could offer more advice!

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*Oliver & Dodger*

Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:09 am

So can you just pick up any rock from outside? Or is that unsanitary, because we have wild mice in our yard?

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Nyssa and Goldenrod
Rest in peace Tony and Butternut
Sam --cat
Oscar --cat
Lucky --dog
too many fish

Tue Sep 06, 2005 2:14 am

I recommend buying a paver stone or something of the sort from Home Depot, or a gardening store. If the bottom is flat, then you can basically ensure that it won't go tumbling off of a shelf or get pushed on top of one of the ratties. Also, I think they're more likely to perch on a flat surface than one that's hard on their feet.

My girls have a small paver brick and enjoy sitting (and peeing) on it. Their nails, while not short, are manageable.

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Thu Sep 29, 2005 11:15 pm

I just wanted to say thanks to all who recommended the stone. I "borrowed" one from work, a big flat garden stone, and it has worked. It has only been about a week and I dont' look like a scratching post anymore!!! woot2

I love being able to let rattie feet run and climb all over me without crying and them feeling bad. I do have a question though. I have the rock under their water bottle so when the water goes under the rock and sits their it begins to smell and is making my cage bottom smell to the point of no return when i clean it. Any suggestions? And can you wash the smell out of the rock with anything? Thanks so much!!

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Mama's Boys Milo & Ben Ace & Jack

Wed Nov 09, 2005 3:14 am

Maybe soak it in bleach? That works for me. Or get a new water bottle.

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Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Sun Nov 27, 2005 3:45 pm

I use baby finger nail clippers on my ratties ,if the vet isnt available(i tend to get nervous ima hurt the lil guys)

Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:09 am

	Ellie's_girl wrote:
	Maybe soak it in bleach? That works for me. Or get a new water bottle.

Be careful when you soak it in bleach because the ammonia from their urine will mix with the bleach and releases chlorine bleach. This causes brain damage, just be careful. Even if you don't notice it, the animals likely will. Probably best to just get a different bottle or put baking soda underneath the rock.

Sondra

Sun Dec 11, 2005 3:07 am

You guys should try getting one of the metal files if your rats keep trying to eat the others. They don't taste like anything but metal so rats won't chew on them... Just a thought...

-Marci

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Loving Arms Rattery (LOVE)

Home of the sweetest rats on earth!!!

http://www.freewebs.com/loving_arms_rattery/

Sun Jan 15, 2006 8:11 am

My rats don't have a stone to climb on, but they do have a wooden arch/tunnel type thing that they love to climb on. Will this do the trick, or should I make room for a stone?

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*~* April Violets *~*

Proud new mommy to Lucky and Rufus!

Sun Jan 15, 2006 11:23 am

It's really up to you - a lot of people use stones (particularly under the water bottle so they have to stand on it to drink) but just as many don't bother - I don't, I've never found it really effective. So it's really up to you. If you've found their nails tend to get overlong, then you might want to try it, but there's no real guarantee that it will work to keep them short/blunt. If they've already got a variety of things to climb on, and no real space, then it may be worth holding off and seeing if you feel it's necessary. In the past, I've used the perches that are rough stone (the ones designed for birds) and that has some effect on their nails... but you need to ensure that it's something they have to stand on, otherwise they may just avoid it. Nowadays, I'll just resort to clipping or filing them with a nailfile if they're getting overlong (and they usually aren't).

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~