Do you Trim your Dragon's Nails? They Scratch Pretty Good.

[thatLizardGuy]

Do you Trim your Dragon's Nails?

Mine are getting Older (A Year and a Half).

And when you pick them up they "Flip Out" until you put them on the Ground, Bed, Back in the Habitat, or on Your Chest, etc.

They Scratch and Spin their Tails around.

Now it is at the Point that I only hold them wearing one certain shirt in particular because it has a bunch of holes in it from them already.

Sometimes I even Bleed from the Scratches!!!!!!!!

Is this Normal behavior?

I have never Dropped them or anything.

Why do they Flip Out like that when you pick them up?

Is it OK to Trim Nails?

If so how do you do it?

I would be very worried that I would injure them.

 

[zandi202]

Jace and Zy will do the who tail propeller and wiggling if I'm not holding them correctly. You have to support them from the bottom. What I usually do is scoop my hand under their chest and go to the base of their tail to support their entire body.

I clip Jace's nails, but not Zy's. She squirms too much. It's hard to do the nail so you can switch their substrate to slate and it will do it for you. Or you could take them to the vet and have them do it as well.

 

[drakedragon]

Do you Trim your Dragon's Nails?

Mine are getting Older (A Year and a Half).

And when you pick them up they "Flip Out" until you put them on the Ground, Bed, Back in the Habitat, or on Your Chest, etc.

They Scratch and Spin their Tails around.

Now it is at the Point that I only hold them wearing one certain shirt in particular because it has a bunch of holes in it from them already.

Sometimes I even Bleed from the Scratches!!!!!!!!

Is this Normal behavior?

I have never Dropped them or anything.

Why do they Flip Out like that when you pick them up?

Is it OK to Trim Nails?

If so how do you do it?

I would be very worried that I would injure them.

mine sometimes swings her tail around when i pick her up, not sure but i think its possibly because she doesnt feel supported. yes you can trim their nails, i just did my bearded dragons nails the other day. its best to use baby nail clippers, and you just want to take a small bit off the end.

i think there are videos on youtube showing you what to do

 

[jacody]

you're prob. just not supporting all 4 limbs and body.. use 2 hands if you're more comfortable.. the nails are easy to clip.. just clip the needle tip so you don't accidentally cut the quick.. once you mess up and cut too far down he/she will prob. not allow it again.. do it under bright light or in the sun coming through a window.. easiest if you just cut the needle end.. :wink:

 

[cstevens90]

I haven't had to clip mines nail just yet because he is still a pretty young. I plan to tho as soon as he needs it. I use to be a pet groomer so I have trimmed all sorts of animals nails never a bearded dragons tho so it should be alil different. I will prob use cat clippers on his nails those since I have a very small pair.

 

[thatLizardGuy]

What about the electronic cutters used on Cats and Dogs (Pedi-Paws)?

Those are guaranteed not to harm them.

I would feel much safer using those.

Please look at the following 2 Links.

The second one is the "As Seen on TV Commercial."

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3400182

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoudKzDh9WI

 

[Gail]

I think a pedi paws could possible be dangerous for a tiny dragon toe. It wouldn't take much to grind down too much. They are safe for dogs because the open won't allow much of the nail/toe to get close to the grinding wheel but its not so with a dragon.
It not hard to clip a nail with a pair of baby clippers. I sit the dragon on the sofa arm, pick up each foot and just clip off about this much -
If the nails are really long, you can take more. If you shine a flash light on the nail, you can see the pink blood vein, just don't cut into it. Even if you did cut the quick and it bleeds, you can use some corn starch to stop the bleeding.