Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay can i do this with regular clippers or what? i mean seriously he is hurting me lol, and someone told me that i shouldnt do it at all...but i love to hold him and play with him and stuff but when i bleed thats bad plus when people come over they are scared to hold him bc of his nails and plus if he scratches them after i convince them he is harmless they tend to be upset with me

so any advice? on how to do it or if i should or if i can use regular clippers?

I use Bird Clippers, they are the right size and are designed for claws with the same shape as a drgaons
(curved and round cross section)

just in case I would also get a bird "first aid kit" it will have some supplies you may need if any acidents happen.

the main thing is "styptic" it can be used to stop minor bleeding if you cut the nail to far.

look at the claws with good lighting about 1/2 the way down the claw you will see a vien that goes into the toe.

*DO NOT CUT THAT FAR*

what I do is start by one day just "nip" in a small bit of each claw. the dragon learns that you are not harming him and you get used to how to hold and postition him.

just do a few claws and then give him a break.

then a day or two later repeat and go a bit further up the claw.

this will give you time to learn how far is ok and to let the dragon be ok with the process.

also you may want to get some rough rocks or bricks that the dragon can climb to bask on.

the more he has to climb on rough rock like material he will "Naturaly" trim his nails for you.
-----
This space reserved for future use...

This sounds very similar to the advice my vet gave me. He did however, say the fingernail clippers will work.

if you're on a limited budget I have used human nail clippers before, as long as they aren't too worn out.

Also if you can't find bird clippers they are the exact same thing as cat claw clippers which are usually cheeper too.

Also, if you don't have any of that styptic or whatever powder, use corn starch, which is what I use. Mostly because styptic is toxic and dragons aren't very smart about not eating things, corn starch works jsut as good. If he bleeds, retrain him, and then pinch a good amount of corn starch and hold it against the bleeder firmly for about 30 seconds , if it is still bleeding repeat.

Most dragons are pretty easy to see the "wick" in the nail if they are older, babies just take off the tip. I'll make a graphic and post it here in about 3 minutes demonstrating where to clip the nail.

Clipping their nails on a regular basis will help them stay shorter too. Also good idea for something to wear them on in the cage, but they'll still be sharp, so clipping is still good idea. Get them use to it and perhaps give them something yummy after so they associate clipping with happy things.

Here is a really poorly done drawing I did in 2 seconds, but it'll show you where. The pink is the veins, don't cut that. Just the pointy sharp brown part. If they have "clear" nails the brown will be clear.

Instead use a simple cardboard emory board. I keep my beardie's nails real pretty that way and she got used to it and even holds her little cute paw out while I do it. It's totally painless and safe. Her nails are kept nicely timmed that way.

Once properly trimmed it only takes less than a few minutes once or twice a week..no more sharp nails.

JadeFox