Hey all So today we are going to try to trim my girls nails for the first time. I have a lot of experience trimming nails on all sorts of animals so the actual how to and what to do I have covered. And my previous glider 17 years ago with a total sweetheart. She would just sit on my knee while I held each one of her hands and clipped away. No fussing or anything.

However....these two girls are WAY different. We haven't bonded yet but have made a ton of progress. But when I mess with them in their pouch or try to move them from the pouch to the bonding tent (even with them still in the pouch) its crab city. They try so hard to bite me through the pouch, and if it wasn't double insulated they'd easily get through it.

My question is does anyone have any tips for this? I've watched a ton of videos, read through the threads here on the forums but I think its going to be very tricky with these girls because of how much they bite and how HARD they bite. I just have a feeling when I try to fish out one of their little hands I'm going to get tagged. Its not the end of the world, I've had much worse bites than what these guys can give on their best day but I'd rather avoid it if possible and would like it to be as stress free as possible on them <3

If anyone lives near Mankato Minnesota, I'd be happy for some help! haha

We do nail trims on the day we change sleeping pouches. I keep them in the dirty pouch and take one foot out at a time. I am right handed so I am holding the foot with my left hand and I use my forearm to hold the top of the pouch shut and their little head down so they can't bite.

I trim all the nails and then do the same with another foot. If they make a fist just work your thumb into the palm of their fist and press they will open those little fingers right up.

Welp...I got it all done. The first one was a bit weird trying to get my method figured out but it wasn't as bad as I thought. I guess we've come further than I had thought in the bonding process Only Luna tried to bite through the pouch but she gave up pretty quickly.

I think they are pretty mad at me tho. They haven't really come out to play the past 2 days and have only eaten just a little bit...granted I did keep feeding them yogurt drops the whole time I was clipping nails so perhaps they filled up on that. I will be watching them closely today and if they still haven't eaten much, a vet visit might be an order.

But at least I got the nails all done which I'll take as a win lol.

Well done! My gliders had similar issues when cutting their nails. I have one who will just sit there as long as I have food, but the other two will twist and crab and cry every time and it just breaks my heart. I wear thin gloves on whatever hand has to fish out their feet from the pouch, secure the pouch closed using my palm/forearm like you do, and clip their nails using a cuticle nipper as quickly as possible. Afterwards I give them like four or five live mealworms as a special treat and within a few hours it’s forgotten!
Initially they hated me for a couple of days afterwards, but I just had to find the correct treat that would calm them down and make them happy. It’ll get easier! :-)

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Its good to know I'm not the only one with bumps in the road. They didn't even eat that night ha! But now they are back to their normal selves, they just sulked for a full day Such silly girls they are haha