Posted by: Cynthia<P>I had to trim the nails of a new glider that was obtained after I got home from the hospital. Heads up guys! One of the nails on her back foot had grown completely around and into the fur! I could not get the nail between the blades of the clippers! I had to clip it with the edge of the clippers then pull it out of her fur.<BR>To clip a glider's nails safely place the glider into a pouch in the middle of the day. Pull one leg out of the pouch and place the nail to be clipped between the blades of the clippers and pull the nail along the bottom blade of the clippers until it hangs or gets snagged on it. That is where you clip the nail. You just want to take off the very tip. Do this with each nail on that foot, one nail at a time. Open the pouch and let your glider pull that leg back into the pouch and give it a treat to eat. While your glider is munching on that treat pull out the other leg and repeat the procedure. This way you will not clip them too close and let blood. If for some reason you do clip into a vein you can treat it with a steptic pencil or pack it with baking soda. I have taught several vets to trim a glider's nails using this technique.<BR>

My one sugar glider, Chiquita, hates having her nails trimmed.She would be fine for a bit then she would wake up a bit and bite at me, and squirm making it very difficult and I feared hurting her by clipping too far up the claw while she was spazing out. What I have found works best for her is to take her out in the middle of the day when she has been sleeping hold her gently in a towel. I clip one foot and then put her back to bed for a while then bring her back out again until I get all four paws clipped. If your SG won't hold still you should try this out.

i put a peice of petrified wood im my cages or a river rock, and their nails seem to be fine. they climb on them alot and i think it helps them to file down naturally. just thought i would share. hope this helps someone. []http://www.sugarglider.net/ubb/images/icons/smile.gif[/] []http://www.sugarglider.net/ubb/images/icons/blush.gif[/]<P>------------------<BR>TJ<BR>baily<BR>hopper<BR>gracie<BR>angel

Thanks for the info guys, I am afraid to do it myself, her hands and feets are smaller than any birds I have ever had, someone else suggested to me the river rocks but she called them something else and she uses them for her bearded dragons, she also suggested using a kind of sandpaper type stuff that is made for the bottom of birds cages ( help with some of these names Irishcream) she said to use this only one night a month, put it in the bottom of the cage and put the food dish in the middle of the paper so they have to get on it to eat. I repeat, only use it once a month, and its not really sandpaper it is made for bird cages. I havent tried it yet but I am going to, the river rocks too. Lilbit hates them to be cut and I prefer a natural solution anyway. Kimi<P>------------------<BR>Yesterday is history, tommorrow is a mystery,today is a gift... that is why it is called the present