>Wellington Veras wrote: should i take her to a vet ao can i try cutting
>[her nails] myself, and if so, how.
 
..and Pam Greene responded:
 
>You can do it yourself.  Find a gooey treat she likes, such as... clipping,
>maybe with a bit of treat thrown in for good measure.  Some people even
>manage to clip a few nails at a time while the ferret is asleep.
 
The treat method works extremely well, but i would also like to report that
with a little perserverence and patience and by being more stubborn than my
ferrets (you gotta pick your battles) on this issue, i've trained most of
them to sit still through nail clipping - all four paws - after which i
reward them with a treat.  Admittedly, it takes a while, but it's just so
COOL to be able to pick up Potpie and whisk through all four paws in a
matter of a minute.  i feel so accomplished.
 
if you're at all interested (it really is a battle of wills :), this is how:
take the ferret and the clippers, let the ferret's butt rest on your leg,
and hold them under their front legs.  let the ferret sniff the clippers.
wait until they're done.  try to clip a nail or two.  i usually put my palm
around their back and my thumb and fingers wrap around to their chest so i
can use my fingers to grab a paw.  if they squirm, stop.  sit there until
they sigh, then clip another.  This often takes about 15 minutes to do the
top two paws - usually after the first three or four minutes, the ferret
will give up and sit while you finish the job.  Coo and purr and praise them
if they give up, and give them copious treats when you're done.  After a few
months, it should be as easy as picking the ferret up and having the ferret
realize what's going to happen.
 
Only Potpie is really *placid* about having her hind leg nails clipped,
since it's very difficult to firmly hold a ferret AND its toes while trying
to clip its nails... but hind nails need clipping less anyway.  presto!  Of
course, again, this method is really only rewarding and worth it if you've
lost all the other battles - sock stealing, toe nipping, and willful
pooping.  :P :)
 
Melissa
 
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      Melissa Litwicki                              "Is it ... atomic?"
      [log in to unmask]                             "Yes! VERY atomic!"
[Posted in FML issue 1724]