Hamsters need nails trimming only when their nails are overgrown or when you will notice nails are too much longer, and they start curving in their body.
Nails of the hamsters can break at some point, or they can fall off. Overgrown nails will turn a little yellow, and if you look close whitish spot when nail cracks or broken.
Do You Need to Trim Hamster Nails? Yes! You need to trim the nails of your hamster in case if nails are overgrown. If you have got a hamster, then probably you will know about his nails. If he climbs on you, you will felt his nails. Hamsters do get grow nails, and it is essential to trim them to avoid any injury. Old grown hamsters don’t need trimmed nails because they don’t have rugged surfaces to blunt their nails on.
Hamsters trim down their nails by usual things to do, making their Nest, climbing on the rocks and to catch their food, and so on.
Pet hamsters do not need these struggles because he is not in the forest or in the natural habitat. The one hamsters do on soft material paper bedding & woof shaving. So this means that hamsters sometimes get overgrown nails. That can be trimmed.
Many peoples ask why to care about the nails of hamsters. After all, no one trims their nails in the forest. This is 100% true that no one does this for wild hamsters. But hamsters of forests do not get overgrown nails.
They have a lot of hard surfaces to wear them down. This means that a pet hamster will need your help in several ways. Overgrown nails will curve into the body of the hamsters, and this will become painful for the hamsters.
In some cases, nails start growing into the paw of hamsters. This will lead to pain and infection, and the feet of the hamster will not be able to do their job. To long nails will make grooming great suffering for the hamsters.
When a hamster grooms, he grabs onto his fur and holds its place to clean it. Long nails will cause so much pain, and the hamster will not be able to walk. Overgrown nails can easily fall off, but this is not a pleasant and simple process.
Nails fall because of the motion of the paws of the hamster, when a hamster goes about his business weakens all nails near very quick. So that they bend up over the backward, for lack of the good term, overgrown nail of the hamster will not easily fall off, it will hang in his paw for the several days, until his new nails grow back. This situation will be very awkward and painful for the hamster because he will not be able to use his paws.
Do You Need to Trim Hamster Nails?
Trimming a hamster’s nail is not easy. Hamsters are notorious for not staying in a position. A hamster should be kept in one place so you can easily clip his/her Nails, and definitely, they would not cooperate with you. Keep some patience and don’t expect to finish your work in one day.
First of all, your hamster should be comfortable with being held. Look for a special position for you & him that’s okay for the both of you. Some hamsters will be okay being on their backs; some will not.
One particular position would be holding the hamster’s back against your stomach or chest and holding one of his paws with your finger. One more could be the just hamster being on all you and 4 holding one of his paws.
If you are worried to do this process we will recommend you to take help from your friend or from your family members, your friend will hold his paws, and you will cut his nails. Also, expect to fidget and squirming, or maybe a few sounds like he will be protesting. No hamster will like being held for this.
Be prepared for anything sound of cutting nails that can spook your hamster.
Look at Nails carefully before Trimming
When you cut hamsters nails, look for the quick. You will need very good lighting to do this or some sunlight. Make sure that the eyes of the hamster are not in the bright light or the sunlight. Keep in mind that hamsters are very sensitive. Nails of the hamsters are transparent, not completely, they will be a yellowish and white tint to them, and very might edge in the lighter in color.
Look at the paw, where a small area of nails starts from the finger. You will see a pinkish cloudy area. This area will be concise and short. The pink cloudy part has a lot of blood vessels, so don’t cut this area, and cutting this area is like cutting the area right under your nail.
This is the same area we have we have under our nails; just there is a difference that it is the paw of the hamster. When you cut the nails of the hamster, make sure that you give the pink part a wide breadth.
This process will be tough for you. If your hamster is not afraid of this process, then you can complete this process in one day. Don’t forget to give a treat to your hamster after cutting his nails; this will realize him that everything is fine, and you are not hurting him.
Getting help from a professional
Getting help from the veterinarian to trim your hamster’s nails is a very good decision. A vet will have a lot of experience with clippings pet nails, and he will cut his nails very quickly and easily. Also, while trimming nails, if the paws of the hamster start bleeding, he/she will have a solution to stop bleeding.
Preventing overgrown hamster nails
Preventing overgrown nails of the hamster is much easier than treating them. The nails of the hamster grow much like human nails. But hamster them down to do their day to day activities in the forest.
But in their warm and safe cages, anything like this does not happen. Pet hamsters don’t have hard nails because they hit their nails against paper and wood. The objects against the cage of the hamster can damage the nails of your hamster.
Don’t give a couple of toys to your hamster; that’s it. You will need to provide rugged and hard surfaces to climb onto and walk. Take some stones from the garden and arrange them around his cage. When he will overstep on these stones, his nails will wear down a little bit. You can also place stones around his food bowl.
Exercise to Trim hamster nails
Emery board is a good option than flat stones. This is a material that is used for filling nails and jewelry making. Make sure to get a small size of grit, so you do not hurt the paws of your hamster. Buy a big emery board wide enough to fit in the cage of the hamster.
Find an emery tape and tape it on that small board. Place one of the favorite treats of your hamster on both ends. Slowly start tilting the board, keeping it in an angle along with the treat on the top. Your hamster will dig his nails on the board to get a better grip and more stability.
This process will file down his nails and level the board again so your hamster can get his treat again. Check his paws regularly when you do this process. You can also keep that board perfectly horizontal and tie the treat in the end.
This will tease your hamster, but your hamster will get his treat at the end of this process. Walk him over the board and give him treat in the end. You can try this exercise every week two to three times to make sure that your hamster keeps his nails short.
We expect that you have found what you are looking for in this article. As we care about the hairs of the hamster and his body, we should also care about his nails. Nails of the pet hamsters can be damaged when they are overgrown, and they can fall off. So it very necessary to trim their nails. Cutting the nails of your hamster will not be easy, so we will recommend you to take your hamster to a professional veterinarian.
Team: Hamstersauthority.com
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