QUESTION 1: How do I go about to trim my cavy's nails?
ANSWER: Here is a very good answer from Dale and the Mad Scramblers at sigledl@NU.COM, taken from the guinea pig mailinglist with permission from the author!
"Subject: Nail Trimming Black Nails!
Okey, this is how Penny explained it to me, and I almost never nick the quick!
Have someone hold the pig with the pig's spine against their chest, one hand around the pig's chest, the other holding its bottom. The person with the nail clippers (I use the kind you pick up at the check out counter, that you keep in your pocket) grabs a foot and sort of squeezes the toes apart a bit. Place the clipper on a nail and squeeze down until you are actually applying a bit of pressure. If the pig doesn't try to jerk away, finish the cut. If s/he squirms, stop and move the clipper down towards the end and repeat. I have only nicked one toe in about two dozen doing this, maybe less (except for Manda Mae all of my pigs have dark nails!)
An added indicator that you can look for, and it helps you get a sense of your pigs "squirm factor" is to look at the nail closely. I have noticed that all nails tend to develop a bit of a concave area once it gets past the quick. So what I do is follow the above procedure on the tip. *Knowing* that there is no quick there. That gives me an idea of who's going to squeal and squirm just because their foot is trapped. Oddly, Mishka, "Mr. Mellow" is one of the worst squirmers I have! And, of course, his is the one nail I nicked the quick on. I keep a little bottle of "Stop Quik" handy for this. I've heard people use corn starch or flour to stop the blood flow too.
Hope this helps someone
Dale and the Mad Scramblers"
I do the same with my pigs, except that I hold them differently since I have no-one to help me. Eva.