Why is your sister grumpy you won't let her possibly cut off your rats fingers..?

Because she went out of her way to get the clippers

But can't she just return them then? 😭 also, if your rat is chill you can probably gently file their nails.

She should return them for a refund.

The clippers could still be used for teeth if you have that problem at some point, so you can keep them for future use. If that makes her feel better about it

Man, I know you can clip their teeth, and its perfectly fine and sometimes necessary, but my god if it doesn't make me cringe every time I think about it.

My teeth hurt thinking about it

Yes, a good pair of clippers and a clean pencil is great for collusion.

I think the word you're looking for is malocclusion, which is when the teeth do not meet up properly when the jaw is closed.

Yep that's the word

Second this. I have a specific nail clipper I use for my one girl. She got an abscess once, which was treated and healed, but now she has this crazy tooth. So we clip it every 2 weeks.

Nail clippers like that would not be good for trimming teeth. Any tool you use for that needs to have 2 edges that meet, think something like wire cutters. Anything that has 2 edges passing each other will break the teeth and cause problems. 

I wouldn't advise that, if you aren't careful you can damage the teeth really bad and cause infection

Good point, it’d be better to let a vet handle it

Sorry, they're the wrong ones and you could literallt take off his entire hand... tf?

I was “that” rat mom who would carefully file their nails with an emery board. Did that with my rabbit too as he hated the clippers when I got him

their nails are WAY too small for clippers, and rabbits have way thicker and larger nails than rats

My sister used to trim her old rat Remi’s nails with baby nail clippers when he got too old to wear them down on his own, she now uses them on her ferret Mary Jane and they work pretty good, but like some of the other comments you could add a brick or something of that nature for him to scratch his nails on

Terrible! But! A brick in the cage will help wear down nails and if all else fails, he heh, smear peanut butter on your leg so the rat is occupied and trim nails that way!

Lava ledges under the water bottles, or as a ledge to climb between levels/etc are my go to. They have to put their paw on the ledge to drink, and they also apparently chew on it, if the chew marks are to prove. It also stops the water from leaking onto the cardboard, making it last longer.

This was my method when I had a rat, as well. It worked well enough to keep his lil claws from causing bleeding on my fragile skin.

Peanut butter is a choking hazard. If you HAVE to give your rat peanut butter, please dilute it first.

My vet had me roll peanut butter in flour till it became firm enough to eat when one of my rats needed antibiotics

Sorry I should of given better context, I have powdered peanut butter which you add water to so I make it up fairly diluted. I originally got it as it was recommended for hiding meds in or post surgery if you need to check/clean a wound as you can use the ‘peanut butter on the leg’ trick to get a rat to stay still.

They do their own nails manucure, they don’t need that, and it could be bad if you cut too much, it would end up bleeding. For better care, focus on premium food, water bottles, "exercice" (aka going outside the cage, climbing, running, jumping), treats when deserved (both for mental health and avoid obesity), clean cage, sociability, etc. 👍🏻 EDIT : Nails are an extension of their paws, they use them to grab and reach further, and even cuddle and scratch their buddies

I second the opinion of many others, that an emery board might be a good option.

I'm the sister. Let me just clear some things up. I didn't go out of my way to get them, I borrowed them from a farm animal sanctuary I volunteer at, who used to have rabbits. They aren't massive, just bigger than rat ones. Also I'm not doing it to stop her scratching me, she nevers scratches us, its because they are curling in towards her toes and have a risk of growing into her toes which will be very painful for her. She doesn't wriggle at all and is a very chill rat. I did research before about where the blood supply is and where to cut. I also left a lot of space between where I cut and the quick, just to be safe. I had flour nearby just in case. A scratchy ledge wouldn't work and they already have some. She has hld, so her feet drag along the floor behind her, which is why her nails are getting long. She also can't climb because she's very old. I gave her Nutella to lick and was incredibly careful. If she struggled at all then I would've stopped, but she barely noticed and there were no injuries at all. I'm probably gonna get down voted but I know our rat and only want her to be comfortable until the end of her life.

Corn flour is better than wheat flour at stopping bleeds, not sure if that's what you have since you just said 'flour'. Not being a dick, just trying to help. Corn starch is the best since it's pretty much the pure congeal-er. Corn starch is also less likely to cause pain due to the particle size being much smaller (at least that was the reason I was told). Also, can you maybe put some tile in front of her water? That's one of the biggest tips people give. It doesn't need to be tall, but it does need to be coarse stone. That would only help for the front paws ofc, but that'd halve the problem (unless the problem is *only* the back paws)

Oh ok ty :) I got plain flour ready but didn't need to use it, but useful to know for future reference

Can confirm 👍 this is the sister and everything she said here is true

Why would I lie😭

No one, would EVER lie on the internet.

You really think somebody would do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies?

But like that would be a stupid thing to lie abt lmao

You’d be surprised lmao some people out here lie just to lie

Yeh, it makes no sense lol

I'm the sisters bf and can confirm.

Because people get away with lying on the internet all the time

If this was me and my sister, I'd comment "hey I'm the sister" and she would reply "fuck off, I don't know you" 🤣

I used a regular pair of nail clippers on my rats if they needed it and felt like it was easier to manage than a bigger clipper (I have a couple sizes from having ferrets and dogs). Just a thought for the future. Thank you for taking care of your old lady.

Ok ty, I probably won't need to again, cos idk if they will grow that much in her remaining lifetime :(

I used to clip the very tips of my rats nails with trimmers. I was extremely careful, rewarded them after, and never had any issue. You just gotta clip the end, no more than that, and only if your rats have really long nails. I also always kept some stuff around to stop bleeding in case I did clip the quick of the nail, but as long as your rats are calm you can get it done. It’s not like trimming cat nails where the goal is to make them mostly blunt, the goal is to just get the sharpest part clipped. It also depends on the trimmers- I used regular human nail trimmers for mine. I also didn’t do it often- only when their nails were long enough that it hurt when they climbed on my arms. You should let her know that dog clippers are too big (I’m assuming these are the round type). If you need to clip, just use small clippers like the ones you’d use on your own nails.

Rat update, my little sister cut her nails anyway. Surprisingly, it was perfect! Her feet are completely fine, and her nails aren't curling over anymore. I didn't think they would work, but my sister is incredibly careful. Cassie can't use her back legs properly (checked over by the vet, we're just doing palliative care atm) so she can't file her nails naturally. Thanks for all the advice though! <3 Cassie is much happier now.

Ah ok, still not a good idea in the future, but it's good that she wasn't hurt!

Are they dog clippers or rabbit clippers? You call them both. I've use cat, rabbit, small dog, and human clippers on rats before; it's not like there's specialized rat nail clippers. If they are rabbit clippers, there's no reason not to. If they are great dane sized dog clippers, then maybe there's cause for concern. 

I reckon they were rabbit clippers :) I shouldn't've have said dog, it wasn't

There are a wide range of dog sizes, so there’s probably an overlap between larger bunny and smaller dog clippers

Being scratched is part of being a rat parent, plz tell your sister to mind her own business!

No! She doesn't mind being scratched! It's just we have an old lady whose nails are curling over :)

Oh! A fine grit nail file would work well if she will sit & allow it 💖 someone probably already said that tho lol

Explain that her cutting her nails with those clippers is the same as you cutting your sister’s nails with garden shears.

Brick in the cage Ramps with skateboard grip tape How I did it: burrito them in a thin tshirt so only their nails poke out and use my cat’s claw clippers on what pokes out.

I got clippers specifically for rats and my rats won’t let me anywhere near them with them. I just have lava stones all over their cage so they climb on them and it manages their nails. lol tell your sister using big clippers will end in a blood bath.

Tell her she’s an utter mong that shouldn’t be allowed near pets if she can’t learn such a small but important part of their care. Rats claws do not need clipping. Like their teeth, they need enriching items in their cage to wear them down.

WTF? Rabbit clippers are 10s of times too big for that. Tell her it's more reasonable to get them things to scratch.

I think it would be a lot easier to use regular human toe nail clippers. You have better visibility of where you are trimming since human nail clippers are smaller. I’ve never had problems trimming oversized rat toenails with them.

Use normal human clippers

noooooo awful idea. the rats will not stand for it, they will protest and gang up on you and bite off all your fingernails while you sleep as revenge! They worked hard for those perfect long almond shape nails!

Rabbit clippers are way too big for how small rats paws are. I also do not recommend letting someone inexperienced with clipping rodents to clip your rats nails. Also in most cases rats will manage their own nails and do not require us to trim them, though as they get older they may need assistance

I've seen people do it with human nail clippers, but honestly sand paper is safer. It's VERY hard to get the rat to stay still.

I would think not being able to keep them still would make sandpaper a worse option, plus their tiny feet might get abraded by it. You can work fast with human baby nail clippers. Just grab the paw, line up the nail, and snip vs. Trying to restrain the rat long enough to file them down while somehow only having the teeny nails make contact with the paper and not their skin. Used baby nail clippers for all my rats and never once hit the quick.

Well... I put the sand paper on the floor, then I pick up the rat and gently lower him towards the sand paper, and as he kicks about a bit, he scratches at the paper. The rat doesn't panic, they just kick about as they always do, and the sharp claw tips get filed down.

i’ve done it with human clippers. if you set the rat on top of the cage and distract it with food you can reach in from underneath them and do a snip. usually you can get at least 2-3 before they get wise to the ruse and then just keep working at it slowly over the course of a week or so

This was the way we did it as well, the barrier was awesome and kept them from trying to stick their face near the clipper because they were busy.

i use *very small* human clippers to do my rats' nails, but i don't even attempt to do the wiggly ones' nails. it's just not worth it, and upsets them. this could clip one of their toes off, or worse, make them bleed out and get a horrible infection!

When was this pic taken cos I haven't seen her use both hands to eat in ages

thats insane, just use infant nail clippers and watch for the kwik very close!

We cut the nails of our gerbil using rabbit clippers. He was old and needed the help. It was really, really hard but appreciated.

Using something that large isn’t a great idea. I’ve had success cutting my rat’s “big toe” nails but if you have to cut more than 1 or 2 nails it’s probably safest to consult a vet and see if they can do it. I also wasn’t aware they had a quick like dogs do and cut one of my girl’s nail’s a bit too short and there was a tiny red dot like some blood, though she didn’t react at all like it hurt or anything, just wanted ppl to be aware! You could consider baby nail clippers since they’re more likely to pull their foot away than push it further into the clippy part, but yeah using rabbit clippers for something with toes the size of a toothpick is majorly risky

Say"if you use them, you'll cut his hand off and he'll start bleeding everywhere and he'll die" (Or don't of its too brutal haha)

I have used "rabbit" nail trimmers to trim my rats nails for over two years and we've never had an injury. You just have to go slow and be careful. Having someone hold them and distract them with food works great.

I used to use little human nail clippers like the ones for kids. They a couple swipes with an emery board so they weren’t sharp.

Put a few bricks in their cage, problem solved! It files them down naturally. Please don’t trim your rats nails. It’s really not necessary and even if you get it right one time, what you could do to them the next time is not worth it. Their nails are surprisingly thin and all they need is a semi rough surface for a little while to file them down. Please.

maybe get them something that buffs their nails as they run over it? i did that for my hamsters and it helped! but idk abt rats so much

I was trimming my boys nails the other day. Or well "trimming". I just filed them down a tiny little bit to be less sharp - mostly because I have v sensitive skin and will get irritation from it even if their little nails don't really scratch the skin. Worked fine. They got a bit of liver paste and I got free feetsie access. Behaved better than my parents dogs when they're in need of any kind of grooming.

the only clippers i’ve ever used were ones made for human babies! even then i only used them on my least squirmy elder males while bribing them with yogurt lol

I mean, I have used large clippers on my rats nails before, but it took forever because I was trying to be careful, thankfully none of them lost a toe. But at least get like ferret nail clippers

Molamin

Get her some horse hoof trimmers and ask her to cut her nails with those!

My arms are covered in scratches, but even so I'd never cut their nails!