Is there any way to file or at leats dull or clip my rats nails?

they are shard hurt and make me itchyIs there any way to file or at leats dull or clip my rats nails?
you can do a number of things





1. Get an old coarse but not broken brick (no sharp edges) and place it under their water bottle (so that they have to step on it to take a drink)





2. There is a special kind of liner(similar to sand paper) you can put on the inside of the wheel that will act as a file when they run on it. (make sure not to leave it in all the time as it can rub their poor little feet raw.)





3. Give them a branch that is rough like a bird branch that they half to climb on to get up a level.(no Pine, Apple is good.)





4. If that still is not enough get a friend to help hold the rat and just take off the very tip of the nail with a pair of finger nail clippers. holding the rat in a cloth can sometimes help calm the rat.Is there any way to file or at leats dull or clip my rats nails?
I clip my rats' nails. I used to use human nail clippers, which they hated because I had to grab the foot to put the nail into the clippers.





Then I discovered that the tiny scissors on my Swiss army knife work much better, because instead of having to put the nail into clippers, I can open the scissors and approach the nail from the side. Since the scissors are more maneuverable, I don't have to grab and position the rats' feet, so the nail trim is much less upsetting to the rats now (they usually don't even struggle).





(Note: Use really tiny scissors with thin blades so you can see what you're doing - the scissors on a Swiss army knife are perfect for this. If you use regular scissors with thick blades, you can't tell how short you're going to cut the nail, and you'll probably end up hurting the rat.)
I've owned rats for the past 6 years and have asked this question myself. If you want to clip your rats nails, please take the time to get someone else to help you. get your friend to hold the rats upper arms up with one hand and sit the rats bottom in the other so his/her legs are sticking out. now you with any small animal nail clippers you can buy at most pet stores, hold each toe and only clip the very tip because going too far up will hit what's called the 'quick' in animals nails, if you hit that it will be very painful. Hope this helps =)


Best of luck with your rat.





~Lady Lisa~
To wear your rats nails down, try putting a brick in the cage-- and place where they walk most, like under their water bottle. This should wear them down farely, but if it doesn't, you can clip your rats nails. Click here to see how: http://dapper.com.au/articles.htm#clawcl鈥?/a>





Good luck! :)


P.S. If you don't want to do it yourself, I'm sure a vet will clip their nails. ;]
Get some sand paper or a small brick and put it in a certain area of where you rat goes often that should file them down,


also in the morning when their most tired and sleepy gently file them down with a emery board in gentle saw motions Slowly.
Find a clean piece of cinder block or rough rock and place it in their cage. Some put it under the rat's water bottle so whenever the rats go to take a drink they are filing their nails at the same time. Usually does the trick. :)
i clip my rats... it is tricky. but i catch them in the morning when they are tired and don't want to put up a big struggle. i use a little nail clippers, hold there little feet and just clip the tips off. just be careful!