Your Rabbit Won’t Let Me Cut Their Nails?

The reason your rabbit won’t let you cut their nails is that they don’t understand what you’re trying to do, and although they shouldn’t feel anything as long as the quick isn’t clipped, there should be no concerns about hurting your rabbit. There are a lot of rabbit owners whose rabbits won’t let them touch their nails. In most cases, you may need to take your rabbit to the vet and eat the cost. Nevertheless, here are some tips to make the process easier for you and your rabbit.

If you’re attempting to cut your rabbit’s nails on your own, it’s useful to have a towel handy along with using a high surface that’s unfamiliar to the rabbit. Using a high surface, such as a table or countertop, will keep your rabbit from getting away from you. The towel is to be put under them and give their feet traction. If you’re dealing with a particularly fidgety rabbit, you can use the towel to burrito the rabbit while you clip their paws.

Cutting Your Rabbits Nails Should Be Done With Help

Cutting your rabbit’s nails with a helper is by far the easiest option. If you have anyone who can help you, then it will make the whole situation easier. One person should have the job of keeping the rabbit calm and still, while the other person uses clippers to trim the rabbit’s nails.

The person holding the rabbit should position the rabbit with their paws facing outward so that the other person can access all the nails easier. Alternatively, you can put the rabbit in a half cradle in your arms, as the other person keeps the rabbit as calm and as still as possible.

You should have the rabbit’s nails facing outward, you should then be able to easily cut them one by one. It’s normal, especially when working with a new rabbit, to pause until the rabbit is calmed down again or is repositioned so you can get at the claws more easily.

Cutting The Rabbits Nails By Yourself

There’s no point in sugarcoating it. Cutting a rabbit’s nails by yourself won’t be easy. Keeping a rabbit calm while you’re handling their feet and finding their nails can be a challenge. This whole process can take a lot longer than it seems it should.

Although if you have a calm rabbit, you will probably be able to get through this process without too much trouble, however, many rabbits can be quite feisty and you may have to constantly go back to step one to calm your rabbit down again. Despite this, with patience, you can succeed. The first time you cut your rabbit’s nails on your own, the whole process can take more than half an hour.

Before starting, place your rabbit on a table. Make sure you have a towel on the table for traction so your rabbit can be more comfortable. You can pet your rabbit and give them a massage to help them relax.

Wrap one arm around your rabbit and gently pull one of its front paws out from underneath them. You’ll want to hold your rabbit on the edge of the table against your body so they’ll feel secure. Make sure to always keep yourself between your rabbit and the side of the table, as you don’t want them to struggle and fall off. Put your hand on top of your rabbit’s head to help calm them for the next step.

When attempting to cut the nails on the first front foot, try to get all five nails. The ‘thumb nail’ on the inside of the rabbit’s foot is usually always the hardest to find. This step could take a while as your rabbit will probably try to pull their leg back. If your rabbit refuses to cooperate with you at all, you can try putting them in a half burrito in a towel, with their front legs sticking out in front of them. You can then repeat steps 2 and 3 with the other front paw.

You can move onto the back feet by holding your rabbit up on their hind legs to cut the nails on their back feet. Hold your rabbit underneath their chest, keeping them pressed up against your body so they can always feel secure. Slowly cut the nails on your rabbit’s back feet.

Other Ways To Help Keep Your Rabbit’s Nails Short

There are natural ways where you can help your rabbit keep their nails shorter, so you don’t have to cut them as often. This can be done by giving your rabbit a variety of surfaces to walk on, rather than the rabbit constantly being on soft surfaces like soft carpets or grass. Another example would be to allow your rabbit to roam on hardwood flooring.

Providing your rabbit with digging surfaces to help them wear down their own nails is recommended. Some things that you can consider using, such as cardboard boxes or cat scratcher mats, can allow your rabbit to have enough fun digging into. This’ll also give your rabbit a chance to use their natural burrowing instincts without damaging your house or furniture if they’re an indoor rabbit.

Although providing your rabbit with these other materials won’t completely replace the need to cut their nails, it should make the trimming sessions less frequent.

If your rabbit lives outdoors, then materials like concrete or paving stones are great for maintaining rabbit nails, it can also help to dig proof your rabbit’s enclosure.

As rabbits love to dig, why not give them a digging box with some sand and earth which can satisfy that urge to dig while grinding down those nails. They’re actually a lot of things you can put within a digging box that’ll satisfy their digging instinct, while also providing mental stimulation, and of course, help to keep those claws in check.

Try some of these:

• Cardboard strips
• Sand
• Dirt
• Pinecones
• Bark

Exercise is the best natural way for rabbits to grind down their nails in the wild. So, make sure your rabbit has a spacious run, with all-day access to it.

Conclusion

The thought of cutting your rabbit’s nails may be intimidating. However, it doesn’t have to be. The important thing is to keep calm and to keep your rabbit calm. Remember to not avoid cutting the quick, and clip firmly and confidently.

Although it’s rare for rabbits to enjoy getting their nails cut, if you work slowly and gently, it doesn’t have to be a stressful experience in the future.

If it does turn out to be too stressful for either you or the rabbit, then a vet can always cut your rabbit’s nails instead.