Nail Trimming - Help!

Hi Guys. :wave:
I was just wondering if anybody knew someone in the North London area that might be able to do a home visit. Both my rabbits nail's are now
overdue a trim, however there is no way I can do this myself. They are lovely rabbits, love nose rubs & strokes, very friendly, but as with most rabbit's hate being picked up. As it's just me & the rabbits I fail to see how I can manage to do this on my own. I have tried & failed massively. I usually get them trimmed while they are in boarding or at the vet's when having their vacc's.

However they will not be going into boarding any time soon + they are not due their next round of vacc's for about another 3 months. There's no way I can leave their nails this long. Also one of my rabbits hates travelling, which is why I was wondering if anybody offered a home service visit for nail trimming? I am obviously more then happy to pay for this service but after doing some looking on line I just can't seem to find anybody. Do you think it might be worth phoning up a couple of the local vet's to see if they have anybody on their books that can do home visits? Any suggestions / offers welcome. Many Thanks Ambs, Lazzle & Herbs xx

It can't do any harm to call them :thumb:

I don't like to do my two's nails myelf either. If you ended up having to, if you can just pick them up long enough to get them on the worktop without causing too much stress, you might be able to just lift one foot at a time and do them that way?

Hello there and welcome to the forum :wave:

I'm not in your area (Scotland instead :lol so can't advise on services near you. I would certainly agree that it's worth phoning, but a call out generally costs a small fortune, and many vets refuse to do it unless it's an emergency. However, the worst they can do is say no! It might be a good idea to put your location in the thread title so people closer to you notice it.

With regards to stressed bunnies, have you tried chamomile tea or Rescue Remedy (marketed for humans but safe for buns, it's available in most chemists/supermarkets). There are some bunnies who will always be very stressy no matter what you try, but it's worth trying to de-stress them as unfortunately vet trips are necessary. I'm sure you already know this, but if they're bonded, always take them both in (preferrably in the same carrier) as taking one without the other will add to the stress.

A note - what have you tried with clipping them at home? What exactly is it that makes it difficult to clip their nails? I have nearly always clipped nails solo, the one bun I didn't was a fiesty minx with black nails who kicked and peed on me when I did it alone - but I did manage it a few times (with great difficulty and many urine stains :mrgreen: :lol. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that perhaps people here could help you with technique and save you the hassle and cost of finding someone to call out. I do understand that some buns are just too difficult for someone to clip alone though, especially if they are bigger or wriggly.

Where exactly are you? I'm in Watford.

Hey There.
I am in Finsbury Park. Which is probably a little too far from you unfortunately? A xx

Ah, yes a bit far from me really but maybe someone else nearer to you who would lend a hand or knows someone who would come to you.

We do our own, I hold and my husband cuts.

Hi Coineanach & thanks for your reply! I might just try the chamomile idea. I think with my bun's it's a case of me being nervous & them being particularly wriggly / not used to being handled. Added to this I very, very rarely have to pick them up - they are so well behaved & free range house buns, so there is none of the having to get them from cage to run issues. They are so food obsessed as well that if i want them to go any where / do anything all i need is some fenugreek's on hand!!

I think i just need to be a bit firmer perhaps & enlist the help of a friend, part of the problem as well is I am not entirely sure how far down i should be cutting them. Do you know if there are any links on the forum some where - a walk through guide or something that might be able to help me. I have some dog nail clippers at home as I read some where that these wre actually better than the one;s made for smaller pet's (please correct me if this is wrong). I am willing to give it another go, as ideally i would like to learn to do it myself.

I also have a carrier big enough for both of them, as I have read up that they need to go together every where now. That's the silly thing, it's Lazzle my lady rabbit that needs them done asap - and she is absolutely fine with travelling, but i do not want to risk upsetting the bond by taking her alone, and since getting my boy, I have started to try & sync all their vet appointments & vaccinations to make life easier.

I kind of thought at the moment, with money being tight for most people that somebody (a veterinary nurse / student / grooming shop) might start offering home service visits for this sort of thing as a way of earning some additional income? Although understandably going over to stranger's houses isn't necessarily the best idea from a safety point of view

Thanks again for all your advise & thoughts on the matter, it's much appreciated. And if you can offer further advice / links on nail trimming that would be great. I think i read some where that some people wrap them on a towel to stop the wriggling - had you heard of this before? Will try & update my location now to the post as well.

Ambs, Lazzle & Herms xx

Sorry - i also forgot to say that the male (Herman) is a dwarf lop & the female (Lazzle) a mini lop. They are both about average for their breed so size shouldn't be an issue. Herman is the better of the two, a pain to pick up but once you have him, he seems to just stay perfectly still (I'm assuming scared out of his wits - so just remains completely still).

if the nails are white, or a light colour, you will actually be able to see a little vein if you look close enough. what i do with my bunnies, is pick them up and sit them on my lap, they normally just associate it with laptime on the couch so they arent too bothered. i do one paw at a time and do just little bits, i use a small dog nail trimmer, more of a "one cut" kind of thing, instead of the "scissor" like ones.

The trick is NOT to go near the vein, but close enough so that they can be comfy when they put their paws down.


With bambi its hard because some of her nails are black and some are light. so what i do in that case is try my best to measure where the vein would be in the black nails based of where i can see it in the light nails.


hope this helps and wasnt too confusing!

Bumping this in case anyone has got a photo of where to cut on a bun!

Good luck.

xxx

dizzyg said:

Bumping this in case anyone has got a photo of where to cut on a bun!

Good luck.

xxx

Click to expand...

I'm getting there, it's just turning into an essay :lol:

YouTube!

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=/&gl=GB#/watch?v=VaNoBzWVIM4

I missed this thread. I've been putting together a nail trimming guide but currently only have the necessary photos, no writing.

These are my Dopeys.

You can see their nails and you can see the pink 'quick' which is the blood vessel. These nails need about a mm and a half off.

I tend to cut about a mm past the quick. For people new to trimming nails I suggest taking off a tiny amount at a time. you will know when you get there because there is nerve before the blood vessel so they react differently when you try and trim into that- ouchie.


I had to let their nails grow long to take these photos :roll: Normally they don't get to this length.