# tegu nail trimming



## TeguLouie (Oct 1, 2012)

so my Gu Louie is a Varnyard '11 Extreme. growing well and eating pretty well. he has started slowing down and not eating as much. he went down for about 6 months last year but hasn't yet this year. I'm not complaining that he is up that means more time to grow and to get closer but one thing that makes it hard to hold him is his nails. those suckers are long and sharp. i know in the wild there is no one to trim them but i figure they must take them down some how. must be digging through the earth or on wood. he has a log but i have never seen him scratch at it (like a cat i guess). so my question is has anyone ever trimmed their Gu's nails or taken them somewhere to get it done? where did you go? thanks for the help.


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## tommyboy (Oct 1, 2012)

I do all my Gu's nails every couple of months. It's not something I would recommend to somebody that has never done it though. And most tegus probably wouldn't sit still for it. My guys have actually grown to enjoy it and often fall asleep while it's happening. I have heard that reptile shops will do it. Not sure if you have one local to you?


Do you have any current pics of Louie? I have an 11 extreme also and would love to check yours out


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## Rhetoric (Oct 1, 2012)

I gave up. Gurus strong and it's really hard to do alone. I just got him a bunch of cinder blocks and rocks and it seems to help a lot.


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## tresh (Oct 2, 2012)

I tend to try to wrap my girl in a towel, and try to get one foot out at a time. I try to immobilize her tail and her back legs, and then just try to get each foot one at a time. Hard work though! 

Or I just say screw it and take her to the local pet store. Let them get tail-whipped by a pissed off lizard, lol


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## chitodadon (Oct 2, 2012)

Lol yea let someone else taking the whippping

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2


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## Logie_Bear (Oct 2, 2012)

My girls claws are big and sharp enough now that she shreds my arm just by walking on it . But, the nails are still too small for me to feel comfortable clipping them. I am afraid of cutting the quick. So, I bought a block of sandpaper at home Depot and make her walk over it after her bath..It helps a ton .


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## got10 (Oct 2, 2012)

Just moving around in the wild itself trims down the nails. I just snip the tips to take down the sharp pointy area


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## Skeetzy (Oct 2, 2012)

Not looking forward to this. Wish they were like beardies. Mine sits still the entire time I clip its nails.


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## HeatherN (Oct 2, 2012)

i clipped my tegus nails ever since he was a month and a half, but its kind of surgical at that point. i just catch him when he stops moving, but hes very tolerant of all my poking and prodding


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## Neeko (Oct 3, 2012)

Towel over them and securely and gently grab a foot and clip clip. Been doing it for a year or so. Local pet stores If you can find one may do it for a fee.


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## Emily L Valin (Nov 20, 2016)

Is it safe to just file down the sharp points instead of clipping them? My 4 month old chaco shredded my hand the other day when I gave him a bath. He wasn't being aggressive, he just tried pulling himself out. I would be too nervous to actually cut them.


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## Cody096 (Nov 22, 2016)

Emily L Valin said:


> Is it safe to just file down the sharp points instead of clipping them? My 4 month old chaco shredded my hand the other day when I gave him a bath. He wasn't being aggressive, he just tried pulling himself out. I would be too nervous to actually cut them.



Heh, just wait til he gets bigger, my adults leave some pretty good scratches but after owning a macaw for so long it feels so much less harsh than what I imagine it would. You can file the points back a bit if it doesn't seem to stress him, though it would probably be easiest to take the very tip of the nail of with a sharp pair of pet clippers. Don't use human nail clippers.


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