# bad day @ the groomer's



## roxy (Oct 14, 2008)

so i brought roxy in for a nail trimming to the only groomer i've been able to find near here that will do it (besides the vet). it started off pretty routine, but then she said oops. everyone knows thats never a good word to hear. a few seconds later, i seen blood on the table. she cut roxy's nail too short on one paw and it started to bleed. she put some stop bleeding cream on it and tried to carry on, but roxy was so freaked out by this point, and then finally the groomer was like "this is too stressful on her and myself. dont bring her back here anymore ! i'm done with hedgehogs!". i felt bad for the groomer, but i'm obviously conserned about roxy's paw. what should i do about it ? i scrubbed her pen, and changed the sheets when we got her home, but is ther anything else i should do for her ? should i give her a foot bath later tonite ? any kind of ointment i should use ? should i take out her wheel for a couple days so she dont hurt it more ?


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

How short was it cut? Is it a front nail or a back nail?

If it has stopped bleeding, it should be fine. You can give her a foot bath if you want, to get a really good look at it. Regular strength(stress the "regular") neosporin or polysporin can be applied.

If it's not too bad, she can still have a wheel(but, what you can do, is give her the wheel for an hour or two tonight, then take it out before you head to bed, so she got some exercise, but not enough to stress the nail too much). If it's on a front paw, you may want to stuff a whole bunch of fleece strips into her bed, so when she's trying to dig and burrow, the strips will give with the pressure, rather than straining the nail.


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## roxy (Oct 14, 2008)

it was her front nail. i couldnt really see how short it was cut cause she was pretty upset and freakin out when i was tryin to check it. the groomer said she should be fine too, i would much rather be safe than sorry <3


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

I think cutting a bit too short happens to everyone. You'll probably do it accidentally too when you start trimming her nails on your own. 

And, yeah, as long as it's stopped bleeding and you make sure to keep it clean as it heals, I think your groomer's right... she'll be fine.


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## GoodSmeagola (Apr 6, 2009)

Thats a troubling story about a groomer
OOPS I MADE A MISTAKE, so this is too stressful for me, so do not bring her back?
Did she refund your money then?


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## roxy (Oct 14, 2008)

it was a real strange kind of situation for sure, i mean, she is a groomer, and this is the kind of thing she's supposed to deal with. i wasn't upset or anything. conserned yes, but i wasn't all "what did you do ?!??!" kind of thing. she never did charge me for the "trimming" she did which i thought was good of her. i think overall she felt bad for hurting roxy, which is understandable, but its ok. as long as nothing falls off her, things will be fine. 

but back to roxy, i got some polysporin, but i'm kind of hesitant to bugging her any more today. i know i should clean up her paw and treat it, but shes been through so much already. and i know she was freaked bad, cause she was making clicking noises, which i've never heard her do before  i've tried cutting her nails once, and i got one toe good, but shes so squirmy, its really hard to do lol. i was told to try distracting her w/ a treat, but the only treat she likes is mealworms, and she dont take long to suck one of them back =] and i've tried putting her in a foot bath, but she dont like baths so it didnt work out too well lol but my groomer has refused to take her any more, so i'm just gonna have to figure something out :?


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## Zalea (Sep 12, 2008)

Poor Roxy! I hate trimming nails because I'm afraid I'll hurt Quentin...unfortunately it has to be done. The front nails are the worst. I clipped the quick last time I did the fronts--fortunately doing it today did a lot better but I DREAD doing it so I understand why you don't like to do so. Clipping the quick happens to everyone occasionally though.

I've found that a two person approach works best here. I hold him steady and lightly grab a leg while my boyfriend does the clipping. You might try getting someone to help you hold her.


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I have to say, I can't blame the groomer. Hedgies are a bit intimidating for someone who's not used to them, just because of their quills and all. Knowing what a hedgehog can be like when they're getting their nails clipped, I understand why she'd be freaked out after clipping Roxy's nail. So as long as she didn't charge for it, I wouldn't get upset that she doesn't want to do it again, it's an unusual pet to have to clip the nails of, not to mention difficult.


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## roxy (Oct 14, 2008)

i totally agree, i dont hold anything against her. i'm pretty nervouse about clipping her nails too, thats why i was bringing her there =] i actually felt really bad for the groomer too cause it really stressed her out in the process. =[

she did cut the nail back pretty far. i put her in a quick little foot bath just now and managed to put some ointment on it. its cut back almost to the skin. and its obivously hurts cause shes kind of limping on it when she does move. shes gonna be pretty sore for a few days i'm sure. i'm gonna keep the wheel out for tonite and keep puting ointment on it for a few days or so, aside from keeping her pen extra clean. anything else i might beable to do for her in the mean time ??


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## smhufflepuff (Aug 28, 2008)

Oh dear... almost back to the skin? That's further back than I thought it was. I'd be thinking about checking in with the vet by phone or in person. Of course, the vet might just tell you to keep it clean and watch it like a hawk (which you're doing on your own), but s/he could also give you pointers about the very first signs of infection to look for and how to know if you should rush hedgie in for antibiotics. 

Good call on keeping the wheel out.


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## Yer_Daddy (May 6, 2009)

Ok! This is my first post.......

I put a coarse brick into my hedgies' cages. They walk up on it all the time. When they do this, they automatically get a pedicure. NO NEED TO TRIM THEIR NAILS!


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## Immortalia (Jan 24, 2009)

Yer_Daddy said:


> Ok! This is my first post.......
> 
> I put a coarse brick into my hedgies' cages. They walk up on it all the time. When they do this, they automatically get a pedicure. NO NEED TO TRIM THEIR NAILS!


Actually, that does not work. Please refer to this post http://www.hedgehogcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2236 And it will tell you why something like that doesn't work.

From there, you get:



Nancy said:


> In my reply I stated that hedgehogs nails DO NOT come in contact with the ground as they walk. Sandpaper or rough surfaces accomplish nothing when it comes to wearing down their nails. Why do it and risk hurting their feet when it isn't going to accomplish anything. Look at your hedgehogs foot as he stands. Unless his nails are extremely long and curling under, they are not in contact with the ground.
> 
> In the wild, hedgehogs are constantly digging in the ground for bugs which wears their nails down. Our hedgehogs don't have that opportunity so they need to be trimmed. There is no easy solution.


If the hedgie's nails are long enough to touch the ground, then they are already too long.


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## Yer_Daddy (May 6, 2009)

Actually.....this does work!

My Hedgies' nail are pretty short. I know hedgies have a thick soft "paw" area under their nails. But their feet flex when they walk and their nails get filed by the brick. Maybe it just doesn't work on all hedgies. So far my family of 5 are trimmed pretty good!


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## roxy (Oct 14, 2008)

its been a few days now, and roxy doesn't seem to be doing too bad, shes up walking around fine, no signs of infections or anything. i've kept some polyspon on her toe and kept the wheel out. i'm gonna put her wheel back tonite tho, she hasn't been too happy with out it. she has literly turned her pen upside down lol !

so i was thinking about ways to keep her nails trimmed between clippings, and i came up w/ a thought. if hedgies dig in the wild, could an artifcial type "sand box" be ok ?


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