Here is the guinea pig nail clipping routine we use to trim our guinea pigs' claws once a month. It's a surprisingly cute process! Plus my full nail cutting instructions for a more complete tutorial: HOW TO CUT GUINEA PIG NAILS
The basic idea is that you want to clip off the clear tip of the nail just before the pink part called the quick. The clear part is dead like a fingernail but the pink part inside is alive. I try to clip 1 or 2 millimeters before the quick but you can always cut less if you're unsure and clip them more often instead. You just want to prevent the nails from curling around. If you cut the quick it will bleed a little but you can use styptic powder or even flour or cornstarch to stop the bleeding and the pig will be fine. I'm super cautious so this hasn't happened to us so far. You can test if a spot you're going to clip is too close by applying a little pressure with the clipper and seeing if the pig reacts like it is painful. You can also see if the quick is getting squished by the cut because this will squeeze the blood out and it will turn more white.
We use human toenail clippers from the dollar store. There are also little nail scissors for guinea pigs at pet stores. Whichever you prefer is fine.
Things get a lot more tricky if you have a pig with black nails. One of ours does. I shine a flashlight through the nail to see the quick for her. As you get better you can go by the shape of the nail but I still double check with a flashlight.
The hardest part can be getting the pig to cooperate. We do this with 2 people which I think makes it a lot easier. We sit facing each other and one person holds the pig kind of vertically with the feet sticking out and the other person clips the nails. Saskia from LA Guinea Pig Rescue has some videos on her technique to do this solo you could check out if you'll be doing it alone.
One last thing to note - nails vary a lot depending on the age of the pig. Young pigs have narrow nails that are very sharp and barely have anything to clip. Old pigs have much thicker nails that normally get a bit gnarled and will still be a bit curled even after you trim them. So the end result will depend on the age of the pig to some extent.
Hope that helps!
GUINEA PIG MERCH!
WHAT’S PIGS?
We publish daily highlights of the adorable antics of our guinea pig herd. Subscribe to see what they do tomorrow!
In June 2019 we adopted five pigs from Los Angeles Guinea Pig Rescue. They are cute herbivorous pets with funny social interactions. We film all their behaviors, from cute guinea pig noises to eating sounds, playing with their food to sleeping with their eyes open, and occasional fighting. So far they have been most popular for their loud wheeking and rumblestrutting and their ridiculous guinea pig fights!
MEET THE PIG FAMILY
Spaghett is the boar of the herd. The rest of the pigs are females, but he’s a neutered male so they won’t be breeding. Sorry, no pregnant or baby guinea pigs! Spaghett has orange-brown ginger fur with a white crest on his head and cute red eyes. He goes on funny romps with entertaining popcorning and zoomies. He does hilarious rumblestrutting while purring. He enjoys petting, especially ear rubs.
Acorn is the youngest. She has white, black, and gold fur with a cute mousy face. She’s inquisitive, always wants food, and talks to herself while exploring hay piles. Little Acorn’s special talent is jumping on houses for rooftop adventures.
Butternut appears either confused or deep in thought. She has white and gold fur. Her hobbies include sleeping and yawning while flopped over with her feet sprawled out. She continues wheeking, squeaking, and squealing at us after we have already given her food.
Pumpkin has black fur except for white back toes. She looks like a cow, a non-guinea pig, and a rabbit. She has noisy standoffs with Acorn when Acorn gets feisty.
Zucchin is the oldest and grumpiest. She has white and gray fur with cute red eyes. At first Zucchin fought with Spaghett. There were teeth chattering battles. Now they get along, but Zucchin is still a grouch. But she looks like a cute rat!
THEIR HOME
The pigs live in a custom cage we made by merging 3 Midwest Guinea Habitat cages.Their bedding is soft paper bedding from Small Pet Select.
The pigs prefer free stuff to actual guinea pig toys. A DIY guinea pig house made from a cardboard box is a favorite hidey. They are not interested in most chew toys.
THEIR DIET
Their favorite hay is Oxbow timothy hay from Chewy. But they get most excited about fresh grass. They also gobble up Sherwood Pet Health guinea pig pellets.
They eat nearly any vegetable. The only thing rejected so far was zucchini. Their favorites are dandelion leaves, fennel, cilantro, parsley, banana leaves, kale, collard greens, kohlrabi, carrot tops and roots, beets, bell peppers, corn with the husk, cucumbers, and pumpkin. They go wild for homemade wheatgrass sprouts.
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