[Alfiehedgie]

hi everyone, my hedgehog alfie absolutely HATES baths and getting his nails clipped. he can be quite aggressive when he wants to be and has bitten me a fair few times! it is basically impossible to clip his nails ive tried clipping them in every position in the bath out of the bath upside down everything! when i try and clip them he attacks (bites and doesnt let go) the towel hes on, the clippers , my fingers and even attacks himself and wont come out of his ball. its so frustrating as i used to be able to do them but hes after getting so bad i can barely manage to cut one nail!! does anyone have advice on what i could do to trim his nails his back ones are getting long and i cant afford to bring him to the vet just to clip his nails!

 

[Yukidama's mama]

Does he have a favourite treat that you can distract him with? This worked with my guy when he didn't like me going near his feet! I sometimes still use this method in a footbath too as sometimes he doesn't like his feet being touch with a toothbrush to clean his poopy feet ><

Also do you have someone else there that can hold him whilst you do the clipping? This also sometimes works for me. I find it easier to do things with him soon after he wakes up too, so he's a bit sleepy still and not very active. Other ways that have worked is covering him up with a blanket (especially his head if they're more sensitive to the light) and hold one foot out at a time. Even if you space it out and do one foot a night, might be easier. I've heard about putting them on a metal grid/rack and when their feet fall through you can do it but I find someone holding them instead and letting a foot fall through between your fingers is best and keeps them still for just long enough!

There's also many helpful posts on here with more tips you can look up using the search key function., good luck!