What do you do if you accidently cut your rabbits nail too short

[Deleted User]

I am going to cut them today for the very first time and am so scared. If I do cut it too short what do I do, I wouldn’t have to take him to the vet or anything, right?

[bunnyfriend]

Before you cut them you should buy styptic powder from a pet supply store. If you do hit a quick (the vein in the nails) put some on it to stop the bleeding. Before you make a cut look at the nail, you’ll see a pink tube-like thing in it, that’s the quick, you should try to cut a little above it.

[Stickerbunny]

If your rabbit has LIGHT colored nails you can see the quick. It’s a pinkish tube in their nail, like bunnyfriend said, clipping any of that off will cause blood. If your rabbit has dark nails or you cannot see the quick, just trim a bit off the tip of the nail since you have to kind of guess where it is, you don’t want to go too short. It’s better to trim a nail twice than clip way too much. If you just snip a bit too much off, dip the rabbits nail in styptic powder and it will stop the bleed, then just watch your bun to make sure it doesn’t bleed any after that. Most people do end up clipping too much at some time in their pets life, so don’t freak if it happens. It stings, but your bun will forgive you. Be careful to hold him secure so he doesn’t injure himself trying to struggle away though, bunny burrito is good for that.

[Deleted User]

How would I clip his toenails then?

[Sam and Lady's Human]

Pull out one little arm, tuck back in, pull out other arm, tuck in, pull out leg…

[Elrohwen]

Just get a thing of styptic powder. I’ve cut mine until they bled a couple of times and just shoved their feet into the styptic powder and it stopped bleeding quickly. White colored nails (which I assume your bun does, looking at his pictures) are fairly easy because you can see the red quick and try not to clip it. I find it’s better to take off a little bit, then try again in 3-5 weeks and take a little more off, etc. Eventually they will get shorter as you take a little off the end. When they’re really long, the quick gets long as well and trying to clip off a bunch at once will cause bleeding.

[longhairmike]

wow,, i didnt know some rabbits had dark nails,,

[BinkyBunny]

Posted By longhairmike on 10/28/2011 11:44 PM
wow,, i didnt know some rabbits had dark nails,,

Yep, some do. In the case of dark nails, I use a flashlight to shine behind the nail to highlight the quick

You can’t tell in the pictures below that Rucy had dark nails–but she did, some almost black.  Impossible to cut without the flashlight. 

 

If your bunny has long hair around his/her feet, then you can use water to dampen the fur around the nails and push the fur out of line of sight. 

[lashkay]

In a pinch, you can dip a bleeding paw into flour, that will stop the bleeding also.

[LittlePuffyTail]

Bindi has very long nail quicks and I’ve nicked them before. I keep a container of corn starch in my grooming box and a quick foot dunk in there and the bleeding stops. Works just as well as that expensive pet store stuff.

[MoxieSox]

Cornstarch works to stop the bleeding as well – you may need to apply more pressure, but it stings less than styptic powder. As mentioned, light coloured nails are easy to clip. Just look for the pink quick inside and cut about 1/4 inch away from it.

If you’re really nervous and your bunny will tolerate it, you can just do this very slowly. Cut the obvious excess, then start clipping tiny slivers at a time (slowly) until your bun jerks or pulls away – this tends to mean you just cut really close to the quick. Next nail. I recommend this when clipping any animal that isn’t used to the procedure, as it minimizes negative experiences associated with grooming and makes future clips that much easier.

[Author]

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