![]() |
Back to Iguanas Forum Forums Home Members Area
Iguanas Forum
Multireps Gone green Jmusclegirl Birdfever69 Jmusclegirl Fat iguana Lobo26 Fat iguana Lobo26 |
| Member | Message | ||
|
Multireps View Profile |
Nail clipping...
|
||
| 09/25/08 08:24am |
|
||
|
Gone green View Profile |
Message To: Multireps In reference to Message Id: 1867933 Nail clipping...
Trimming For lizards and other clawed critters ©1996, 2002 Melissa Kaplan Iguanas, being arboreal lizards, are equipped with deceptively powerful toes and excruciatingly sharp points on their claw. The combination of the two enable them to climb any vertical surface on which they can get purchase, and to inflict some severe damage to human arms, hands and faces. Living with iguanas is much easier when their claws are regularly trimmed. It is best to start trimming them early - this will reduce the overall growth of the iguana claws as they get older (they won’t get as long) AND it habituates the iguana to having its toes handled and claws cut while they are still small enough to not flay your skin. The claw is in two parts - the thicker part extending out from the toe itself, and the thin, pointed, razor-sharp end which comes off the end of the main claw. It is this last bit that gets cut off. When they are tiny, you can use people nail clippers but they soon outgrow these. Human clippers, and the guillotine cutters so often used for dogs and large birds crushes and shreds the large claw, and so should not be used. There is a pair of clippers available in the pet trade, marketed for cats and birds (and now being packaged for iguanas), which look like a pair of stubby children’s safety scissors. Instead of long blades, they have short stubby ones, with round finger loops which are generally encased in red or gray plastic. Each of the blades has a small semi-circular piece cut out of it. This design allows you to carefully place the cutting edge (the semicircle) on the nail exactly where you want it before you actually clip. As you clip nails over several sessions, the iguanas will become comfortable with the sensations involved, and if you respect them by NOT cutting when they jerk after you place the blades, instead backing off a bit and repositioning it, they will come to trust that you will not hurt them. If the nails are very brittle, try increasing the frequency of baths. Then, when it is time to cut, remove the iguana from a bath and cut the nails while they are still damp |
||
| 09/25/08 10:38am |
|
||
|
Jmusclegirl View Profile |
Message To: Gone green In reference to Message Id: 1868002 Nail clipping...
|
||
| 09/29/08 09:50am |
|
||
|
Birdfever69 View Profile |
Message To: Jmusclegirl In reference to Message Id: 1870576 Nail clipping...
|
||
| 09/29/08 01:27pm |
|
||
|
Jmusclegirl View Profile |
Message To: Birdfever69 In reference to Message Id: 1870691 Nail clipping...
|
||
| 09/29/08 02:14pm |
|
||
|
Fat iguana View Profile |
Message To: Jmusclegirl In reference to Message Id: 1870722
|
||
| 09/29/08 05:14pm |
|
||
|
Lobo26 View Profile |
Message To: Fat iguana In reference to Message Id: 1870836 Nail clipping...
but it does help :) |
||
| 09/29/08 07:42pm |
|
||
|
Fat iguana View Profile |
Message To: Lobo26 In reference to Message Id: 1870965
|
||
| 09/30/08 04:44am |
|
||
|
Lobo26 View Profile |
Message To: Fat iguana In reference to Message Id: 1871244 Nail clipping...
then that would be me! |
||
| 09/30/08 09:31am |
|