How to get my rats nails short?

my rats nails are pretty long. they dont curl under their paws, but when i have them out i get scratched to bits. i dont want to cut them because i dont know how to do it, and they dont keep still long enough, so i wouldnt be able to do it. they have a few stones in their cage, but they dont seem to work. can you use a nail file on a rats nailsHow to get my rats nails short?
If you don't feel confident clipping your rat's claws, I would advise you book an appointment with a vet and get them to show you how to do it properly.





Some rats are fine with slobbing around and letting you do anything you want to their feet, others feel it's much more important to go investigating or causing trouble to bother with stuff like this (mostly manic females lol).





A good tip is to place a brick or stone at the bottom of their ladders, ramps that way they have to walk over the brick to get up/down levels and the brick will wear their nails down naturally. Although mine do have a bad habit of jumping over their stone now lol. You can also put a stone or block of brick under their water bottle so that they sort of stand on it while drinking (but that only usually works on the front paws).





How to get my rats nails short?
Hi there





I had this problem with my four girls! My solution was to buy a little wooden shelf that attaches to the side of the cage - it's called a Sleep n' Ledge.





I attached it just below the cage door, and put their food bowl close to it, so that when they want to come out of the cage, or when they are eating, they will often stand on the wooden ledge. this has been really successful in keeping their claws short, particularly on their rear feet.





The only problem with the wood is that is holds odours quite badly, so you'll need to remove it and scrub it a couple of times each month.





I hope that helps





x
You can put an upside down tile in the cage for them to scratch and play on, it should wear down the nails over time and keep them blunt.





Hope This Helps





BTW, you should be able to get a tile for like $0.23 in walmart or something.
Hello there, the best thing to do is take your rat(s) to the vet, and the vet will clip his/her nails. If you attempt too, you may cut it too short, or fracture it's finger bones. Good luck.
You can use an emery board on the nails but if they won't be still then that would be ever harder than cutting them. Get someone to hold them while you trim the tips of the nails. Use the human nail clippers.
Depending on your rats level of patience either trim them carefully with a baby nail clipper try putting a brick or something similar in their cage. there is also a wl that has sandpaper inserts if they like running in wheels.
do you have concrete floor anywhere in your house?


if you do then enclose them and leave them on just for a day and see if it works.
take them to the vet and get them clips because if you did end up cliping them yourself them you might clip them to short and make the toes bleed.


good luck


hannah xx
Sandpaper wheel. i brought some sugargliders recently and they came with a running wheel that was lined with sandpaper so when they run their claws get filed down.
We have a house brick under their water bottle, this seems to do the trick because they always have to run over it.



simple.


if you keep it outside just put it on a tougher surface


same if you keep it inside.
just use a regular nail clipper i use it on my three and it works really nice