Guinea pigs, or cavies, are low-maintenance pets. But they do need regular grooming to stay happy and healthy.
Taking care of guinea pig nails is one important part of regular care and grooming.
How to cut your guinea pig’s nails
Learning how to cut your guinea pig’s nails requires care, attention, and patience. If it’s your first-time giving your pet a manicure, some step-by-step instructions will be helpful.
Your pet’s nails must be trimmed not just for appearance, but for its overall health and mobility.
Your guinea pig will have difficulty walking if its nails get too long and start curling. The advice and information in this article will help you keep your guinea pig’s nails and feet in top shape.
Guinea Pig Feet
Getting more familiar with your guinea pig’s feet and nails is the first step to keeping them in good health. While knowing general anatomy is helpful, it is most important to get to know the four little feet you’ll be dealing with regularly.
Guinea pigs have four toes on their front feet, and three on their back feet, meaning that you’ll have a total of 14 toenails to maintain. These toenails grow continuously.
Each of your pet’s 14 nails has a blood vessel down the center. This is called the “quick,” and it is the part of the nail you want to avoid cutting. Because it is a blood vessel, it will bleed if cut. And it will cause your pet pain and discomfort.
Finding the Quick
- Through whitish or translucent nails, it looks like a pink area inside the nail.
- With dark-colored nails, it’s trickier. Here are some tips:
- Shine a flashlight under the nail to try to make the quick visible
- If you can’t see the quick, snip only a very small length of nail, about ¼”
- You may want to bring your pet to the vet for a professional nail trimming the first time and ask to be shown how to safely trim them yourself at home
General Nail Care
A guinea pig’s nails will continue to grow throughout life. They may grow mostly straight or to one side, but if they get too long, at some point they will start to curl. Left unchecked, this can damage your pet’s feet and general health.
Keeping nails trimmed and being aware of the state of your guinea pig’s feet and nails is a great way to spot potential issues before they cause a problem.
How to Tell if It’s Time for a Trim
If you’ve never cut the nails of your guinea pig before, you may want to go to the vet for the first time and ask lots of questions to get the lay of the land.
But if you are feeling confident enough to do the trimming at home, it’s good to know when you need to do it. Here are some signs your guinea pig is ready for a manicure:
- The nails are starting to curl over
- You can hear clicking or tapping when your pet’s out walking on the floor
- If it’s been a month or more since the last trim
Is Your Piggy Old Enough for Its First Trim?
When guinea pigs are young, their nails will be short and sharp. Two months old is a good time for the first clipping. If you start the routine when your pet is young, you will help to blunt those sharp nails, and you will get your pet used to the act of nail clipping.
Some aspects of the grooming regimen include clipping, will be stressful for your furry friend. The sooner you introduce your guinea pig to the routine, the more quickly they will relax and trust you.
How often to Trim
Frequent trimmings are recommended for nail health and pet comfort. Once a month is a minimum requirement. Maintaining healthy nail growth is easier with regular trimmings. Also, the more regular you do it, the more familiar you get with the anatomy of your particular guinea pig’s paws and nails – and where exactly the quick is.
Another benefit of frequent trims: If nails are ignored for extended periods of time, the bloodline inside moves closer to the tip. Conversely, if you trim regularly, the blood vessel recedes.
Other Ways to Get Nails Trimmed
You can always take this task to the vet if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself at home. In fact, for the first time, it’s beneficial to go to the vet and use the opportunity to ask as many questions as possible. This should get you feeling confident to start this important grooming habit at home.
Preparing for the Nail Trimming
As with any project, the right tools for the job are essential for the best results. Depending on the size of your guinea pig, you may be able to use human clippers. But there are other options that are generally considered to be preferable. Here are the supplies you’ll need:
Gather Your Supplies
- Nail clippers: a pair specifically for rodents, small animals or human babies
- Do NOT use dog clippers. These are too large for a guinea pig’s tiny paws.
- A clotting agent: styptic pencils or powder, corn starch or flour
- Gauze or paper towels
- Plastic gloves
- Lettuce, carrots or whatever your cavy’s favorite food or treat is
Before getting started: look at your pet’s nails. Try to identify where the quick is on each nail, to have a little more familiarity with where you’ll be placing the clippers and how much of the nail you’ll be snipping.
Another tip: put on a long-sleeved shirt before you get started and be sure to wear gloves. A frightened guinea pig with long nails can be…painful.
How to Hold Your Guinea Pig
Holding your guinea pig still is the hardest part of the whole process. The first step in this process is making sure that your pet feels comfortable being handled. Until you can securely grip your guinea pig and clip their nails at the same time, it’s a good idea to have another person to assist you.
Keep in mind: If your guinea pig is showing signs of extreme anxiety, you don’t have to trim all 14 nails in one sitting. It’s perfectly fine to work on one or two feet per day provided the claws are not excessively long.
Position Yourself for Success
- Sit on the ground, with your guinea pig on your lap
- Place one gloved hand lightly around the guinea pig’s chest
- Secure your piggy snugly against you, with its back against your stomach, legs pointed outward
- Make sure its rear end is supported, either on your lap or with your other hand
If you have a really wiggly pet:
- Carefully wrap your guinea pig’s body and three of its legs in a light towel. You will leave one leg out of the towel for clipping the nails.
- Be careful you do not wrap your guinea pig too tightly. It must still be able to breathe, of course.
- Take breaks between feet to reduce stress, crying and the chance of overheating.
With patience, perseverance, and practice, nail clipping will become part of your regular routine and your guinea pig will learn to relax more and squirm or cry less.
To find out more about guinea pigs crying, read more on this topic here.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Trimming Your Guinea Pigs Nails
The goal of a nail trim is simple: cut the sharp tip off the nail without cutting into the quick which would cause the nail to bleed.
If you don’t feel comfortable trimming your guinea pig’s nails, have a groomer, veterinary team member, or another experienced owner demonstrate a nail trim before you attempt it on your own.
Where to Start
- Hold one leg gently
- Pick up the nail trimmers with your dominant hand
- Start clipping the nails on its feet one nail at a time.
- Identify where the quick ends on each nail
- Trim only the tip of the nail. Start by clipping as little as possible.
- Avoid clipping too far.
- Provide your pet with soothing and positive reinforcement after the first nail and throughout the trimming
- After trimming both hind feet, start on the front feet
- When all nails are clipped, check for any signs of bleeding and use a clotting agent, if needed.
- When finished, be sure to offer a treat again. Associating the manicure with positive reinforcement may help raise your pet’s comfort level for next time.
Useful Tips:
- The tip of the claw is the safest place to trim.
- Cut in front of the quick and not too close to it.
- Don’t overdo it. Clip off about ¼” at most.
If You Clip Too Far
If you accidentally trim the nail too short and cut into the bloodline by mistake, don’t take it too hard. Being prepared is the best way to remedy a very common mishap. If you have something to help stop the bleeding, your pet will be fine! It will cause discomfort and pain, so make sure you soothe your guinea pig as you stop the bleeding. First, dab the area with a clean paper towel or gauze.
- If using a styptic pencil, touch the tip of the bleeding nail with the pencil
- If using a clotting powder, dab the powder on the wound. This may sting a little.
In both cases, the bleeding should stop quickly. Make sure you continue to soothe your pet and reward him with a treat for being so brave.
Guinea Pig Foot and Nail Health
When you trim your guinea pig’s nails, it’s a great time to really look over the feet to see if they are healthy. Small signs caught early can prevent painful issues from arising. Here are some common foot and nail ailments that are known to affect guinea pigs.
Common Nail Issues
Broken, torn or missing nails
As you’re trimming, you may find a broken or bleeding nail. Or maybe you caught your pet’s nail on your sweater accidentally tore off a nail. Is it cause for worry? It depends. If a nail is chipped or jagged, you can even it out with your clipper. You can try to file a jagged nail, but it’s unusual for a guinea pig to sit through that
If a nail is bleeding, clean it up with some antibacterial soap to prevent an infection from starting, and use a styptic pencil or powder to help stop the bleeding. You can expect the nail will grow back in a month or two.
If you can’t get the bleeding to stop, or if there appears to be signs of infection around the site, call your vet and find out if you should get the nail and paw looked at. As always, a regular trimming is the best solution to keep long nails from getting snagged and torn off.
Curling nails
Some guinea pig claws grow nice and straight, and others tend to curl sideways. The curling happens most often when nails aren’t clipped regularly. And these nails are much harder to cut.
If the nails are left uncut for too long, they can curl under the foot pad and cause physical discomfort when walking. They are also a breeding ground for bacteria, as feces can get caught underneath them.
Common Foot Issues
Spurs
Some guinea pigs develop spurs, flaps of tough skin that protrude from their front feet. These corn-like growths can form between the toes on the bottom of the feet. Genetics, activity level, and breeding are the most common cause. Symptoms include limping, licking or biting the foot, crying when walking.
While they can be carefully removed with a nail clipper after a good foot soaking, clipping too closely can cause bleeding. The first time you encounter spurs, it is a good idea to have the vet show you how to trim them.
Ulcerative pododermatitis (bumblefoot)
Pododermatitis, commonly referred to as bumblefoot, is a condition in which the footpad of your guinea pig becomes inflamed or develops sores or scabs. The sores may look like callouses or small tumors. The clinical signs vary from a mild to a severe condition involving bones and tendons.
In severe cases, a serious secondary bacterial infection can set in.
It is most commonly encountered in guinea pigs that are obese, under-exercised, housed on abrasive surfaces, living with soiled and wet bedding, or left with unclipped nails for extended periods of time.
If your guinea pig has any of the following symptoms, you should consult your veterinarian:
- Loss of hair on the affected foot
- Reluctance to move
- Inability to walk normally
- Loss of appetite due to pain
- Joint or tendon swelling
Your vet will treat with a combination of bandages, wound flushing, antibacterial ointment, antibiotics and/or pain relievers, as necessary.
How to Cut Guinea Pig Nails That Are Curled?
It is not a fun experience for you or your guinea pigs when it’s time to clip their nails. The fact is that they will curl and this can be prevented if you clip them more often. You should be able to clip the curled nails before they hurt your guinea pig’s skin.
We tend to perform this job as a partnership with Niklas assisting. One of us holds our cavies in place, while the other clips carefully. Holding the guinea pig with a soft towel helps them feel more secure.
Their back is against my stomach and the legs point out. Clippers are sold for guinea pigs and other pets that differ from humans nail cutters. They can handle cutting curled nails if you handle the process with care.
How Often Should You Trim Guinea Pig Nails?
Some guinea pigs will be seen with longer nails than others. This is true even if they were all clipped at the same time.
If you notice one of your cavies with longer nails, be sure to clip them before they curl into their skin.This could be more painful for them than the act of clipping.
Clipping should be performed at least once per month. The routine will become part of your maintenance schedule and they will get adjusted to it with time as well. Be confident and you will get better at this.
They will also squirm around less. The trim should not be too deep to affect their blood vessels. Cut the curl only and you will need to cut more often.
Cut deeper and you risk bleeding in the hope that you will not have to cut their nails so often. We suggest the former rather than the latter and cut more often than once a month with less of a trim each time.
Where Can I Get My Guinea Pig Nails Clipped?
If you are more skirmish than guinea pigs when it comes to cutting or clipping nails for them, you can seek the help of a veterinarian. Usually their assistant will help perform this job with experience and confidence.
We suggest that you watch closely and get some tips to avoid having to pay for this service over and over again. There are grooming centers as well for pets. They usually care for dogs and cats, but will be happy to assist you as well to trim the nails of your cavies in your care.
The act of trimming their nails seems daunting at first, but you will get the hang of it! Look online for local groomers near you and compare the prices by calling them first. Otherwise, continue to get this service done at your local vet’s clinic.
How Long Should Guinea Pig Nails Be?
The length of guinea pig’s is relative to their size. A smaller cavy will have smaller nails compared to a larger one. It’s better to look at this way.
¼ inch is all you need to cut for average nails on guinea pigs. If their nails get too long, they can curl into their skin and risk hurting themselves.
Also, these nails become weapons on themselves or to other guinea pigs in the enclosure. Accidents may occur or aggression could result from time to time.
If the nails are too long, they can do some damage by way of abrasion or cuts. You may accidentally get scratched as well. Cutting the nail ¼ inch or less is all you need to prevent the blood vessels from being accidentally cut as well.
Cage Basics: Designing a Healthful Habitat
A lot of health issues can be prevented by making sure your guinea pig has a clean and healthy environment that is maintained regularly.
Cage size
Large enough for everything a guinea pig needs:
- Food dish
- Water dish
- Nest
- Bathroom area
- Toys
Guinea Pigs need more room than other rodents because they cannot use running wheels. Instead, they need space to exercise.
1 guinea pig – 7.5 square feet
Cage location
Consider the following:
- Activity level
- Noise
- Temperature
- Availability of socialization
- Accessibility by kids and other pets
You can read more about the optimal cage location in this post.
Natural sunlight
If your guinea pig lives indoors, get your pet out into the sunshine regularly for Vitamin D.
Bedding
Do not use cedar or pine shavings as bedding, which contain a harmful chemical called phenol. Instead, use bedding made of paper or straw, like this one from the brand Kaytee.
Water
Clean, fresh water daily. A sipper bottle is better than a water dish. It doesn’t spill as easily or become soiled with other material in the cage.
Food
Ceramic dishes are harder to tip over, and they are chew resistant. Choose a wide and shallow bowl and make sure it’s placed far from the bathroom area.
Keep a fresh mix of a healthy diet in the cage:
- Hay
- Pellets
- Vegetables
- Fruits
Learn more about your guinea pig diet here.
Things to chew on
Because of their ever-growing teeth, guinea pigs need plenty of things to chew on. Make sure they have good quality hay as part of their diet. Other good things to gnaw on include toys, cardboard, and wood.
Check with the vet for types of woods that are safe for your guinea pig.
Sanitation
Keep the cage and bedding clean and fresh at all time. Maintain a fresh supply of food and water daily.
Socialization and Privacy
Guinea pigs need both. They require love and attention, but at the same time, they also need spots where they can burrow, hide, and have some alone time.
Other General Grooming
Guinea pig grooming is essential for a healthy pet and a happy household. In addition to nail trimming, your little furball requires regular coat brushing, ear cleaning and other essentials, like hair trimming, the occasional bath and a regular checking the state of their teeth. Here’s a great checklist to keep your guinea pig in good health, from head to rump.
Important tip: If you notice any symptoms of infection or infestation, or it seems like your guinea pig is in pain, consult with your veterinarian before attempting any care or treatment at home.
The Checklist
- Brushing
- Bathing
- The Grease Gland
- Cleaning Ears
- Hair Trimming
Eyes and nose
Examine your guinea pig’s eyes and nose regularly for unusual discharge. These can be signs of an underlying health issue.
Ears
Perform weekly checks of your pet’s ear health. Look for any indication of ear mites, infection or wax buildup, such as:
- Scratching or rubbing of ears
- Head shaking
- Foul smell
- Dark crusty substance
- Waxy buildup
Cleaning Your Guinea Pig’s Ears
When you see a waxy buildup in your pet’s ears, it’s time for a cleaning. The cleanings you do at home should be gentle, regular, quick, and superficial. Any serious cleaning should be performed by a professional.
You’ll need Mineral oil or coconut oil and cotton swabs.
- Dip the cotton swab in oil, and clean the outer area of each ear.
- Remove any visible dirt and wax.
- Don’t dig in deep or attempt to remove large amounts of wax.
Teeth
You should regularly monitor the health of your pet’s teeth to ensure any problems get acted on quickly. When dealing with guinea pig teeth, “regular” checks means every week. Why?
Guinea pigs’ teeth grow throughout life. And they grow quickly, and they can grow long. Check their mouth weekly to find out if any teeth are overgrown, impacted, loose or broken. Overgrown or broken teeth will need to be trimmed or filed down by a professional. Impacted teeth will require dental work.
What healthy teeth look like:
- Top and bottom incisors should match up in length (up to 1.5 cm)
- No deterioration
- There should be no sores or injuries in the mouth (a sign of overgrown teeth)
- Your guinea pig has no signs of an issue with chewing or eating food normally
- No bumps felt along the jawline (a sign of overgrown roots)
Coat and Skin
Healthy fur is most of what makes your guinea pig such a snuggly pet. Keeping it clean and groomed is important!
How Often Should Your Guinea Pig Be Brushed?
Daily brushing with a soft baby brush or a greyhound comb will help lessen shedding and help keep guinea pig hair off your clothes. Daily brushing is especially important for long-haired guinea pigs, less necessary for the short-haired varieties.
How Often?
How long your guinea pig’s hair grows will determine how often you should brush:
- The longer the hair, the more easily matted and tangled it gets.
- Generally, weekly is enough for a short-haired pet
- Long-hair will require grooming as-needed, daily.
- When your guinea pig is shedding, it may need more frequent brushing.
You’ll need:
- A small, soft-bristled brush
- Narrow-toothed comb
- Scissors: You may need to trim occasionally, depending on how long or overgrown your pet’s coat is.
Bathing
Guinea pigs bathe themselves. Like cats, they perform regular cleaning by licking and smoothing their fur. But should your pet find itself in a situation that requires more than that, such as feces stuck deeply into the fur, here is a step-by-step guide on how to bathe a guinea pig.
For those times when a bath is needed, it’s important to know the right way to bring on the suds without causing your fuzzy buddy anxiety.
When a Bath Is Needed:
Some simple steps and easy-to-follow tips for getting your guinea pig clean.
- Clean the cage. You don’t want to put a clean pet back into anything but a spotless cage!
- Give your guinea pig’s coat a good brushing.
- Calm your pet for bath time, with your voice and soothing strokes.
- Do a gentle prewash with a warm, wet washcloth or a baby wipe. This may be the last step, depending on how soiled your little furball is.
- Prepare the bath: A deep dish enough for your pet to stand up in and just 2” of warm water
- Let your guinea pig get used to the water. Put its hind legs in first
- Wash your pet’s face, with a warm wet washcloth.
- Give a gentle rinse of water on the guinea pig’s back. Avoid getting water directly in your pet’s face or eyes.
- Shampoo and rinse. Just a dab of shampoo lathered between your fingers. Rub very gently.
- Remove your guinea pig from the water and place on one of the hand towels.
- Towel dry your pet’s fur.
- Brush the fur again.
- If needed: carefully use the hair dryer on a cool setting.
- Engage in post-bath play to help inspire a positive idea of bath time.
- Keep your pet warm and snuggly after the bath.
Cleaning the Grease Gland
At the end of its tailbone, your guinea pig has a very small gland that secretes an oil for scenting and marking. The secretions can be oily, greasy or waxy. If the secretions build up and back up, the area around the grease gland can become irritated or infected. Regular maintenance of the gland is an easier job than attending to it once it’s all backed up.
To clean the gland:
- Break down the wax with something safe and gentle: coconut oil or olive oil work great.
- Let the oil sit a bit, then wipe it off with a warm, wet washcloth.
- You may have to repeat the process. Or you may have to go for an all-out bath of the rear end.
If the area around the gland is raw, bleeding or feels unusually warm to the touch, the gland may be infected. You’ll need to go to the vet for a professional assessment
Flystrike
Check the fur and skin around the guinea pig’s rear often. Fur that is stuck together with feces or urine should be cleaned with a damp cloth or gentle baby wipe. Ignoring it can get stinky and attract flies. I
If you notice any wounds or maggots on your guinea pig’s rear, it is cause for immediate concern. These are signs of flystrike. Flystrike is a potentially fatal condition that can progress quickly. It requires immediate attention.
