My Hamster's Claws are too long! Any suggestions?

[Spunkys_Owner]

Hello, all!
My dwarf hammy, Spunky, has REALLY long nails. I mean, really. They are a little awkward when he walks! I would take him to the vet, but I don't know of any that do hamsters in my area. I put a rock in his cage when I noticed they started to curve, but that didn't do much. I already had a sand bath in his cage before, but again, not much work there. I now put a tunnel I made out of cardboard with sandpaper on the bottom in his cage because I heard sandpaper on the wheel can hurt his little footsies. He runs through it often, as far as I can tell. He is really wiggly, and it would be impossible to keep him still to clip his nails. I'm worried, because long nails can eventually hurt him. Anybody have any suggestions?
EDIT:
Thanks guys-
I'll move the sandpaper tunnel to his playpen and replace it with a normal one so he doesn't hurt his feet.
Spunky isn't tame, although he used to be very tame. When he was though, he hated being petted. I may try to (very) slowly clip the ends of his claws once I re-tame him; probably just one a day, but he will have to get very comfortable with being handled again.
His rock is right in front of his flying saucer, so I know he's running over it a lot.
I'm looking for a suitable vet now, but I'll tame him first.
Thanks!!!

[CMB]

Keep checking his feet. They may get sore from walking on the sand paper. You may want to limit the length of time the sand paper is left in the cage.

If they get long a vet trip is best for clipping. They may give the hamster a whiff of anaesthetic gas so they can clip the nails if needed.

[cypher]

I would search around & see if you can find a vet who will clip them for you, most vets should be able to do it even if they don't specialise in small rodent care, maybe you could ask at the pet store where you got him if they know where you could get them done?

Once they get that long they really do need clipping, nothing will wear them down without hurting his feet, as long as he doesn't run over the sand paper too much he may be ok but it's almost impossible to supervise something like that in the cage so not a good option really.

[Pebbles82]

As the others say - they need clipping - if a vet shows you the first time you may be able to do it yourself if it needs doing again - although with a little dwarf hamster I'm not sure I'd like to try! I did try with our Syrian but only managed to clip two nails while he was resting and didn't see what I was doing! There is a bit of a technique as well as clipping too far down can cut the quick, be painful and cause bleeding or infection, so it's usually only the very tips that are clipped off at an angle.

I believe dwarf hammies do have more of a tendency to getting long nails. The stone and sand bath should help. Personally I wouldn't use anything with sandpaper due to their pads being so delicate and they can get sore or get a condition called bumblefoot which is very painful (as you probably know).

The sand bath and stone should help keep them in trim once they've been clipped at the vets, but it may need doing again at some point. It shouldn't be too expensive. I was charged £15 for a vet visit and tooth clip with a whiff of gas this week. The stone (or a terracotta plant pot base is good too) is good if placed underneath the water bottle as they regularly go there. A flat terracotta plant pot base can also be good under the food bowl so they walk on it when they go to eat (plus it's somewhere to help cool them off in hot weather).

However, as you're in the US I know it can be difficult to find vets who know about hammies or even find one near you. You need to find an exotic vet, not just any vet. One who specialises in exotics.

If there is no-one for hundreds of miles, you could try snipping the very end bits off yourself - just at the point where it curls up - don't be tempted to try and make them shorter than that. But it would mean doing it when your hammy is a bit dozy! And not fast and active. How tame is Spunky? Is he handleable - and can you hold him for a stroke with him staying still for a few minutes?

[Wanna Hamster]

Maybe try scouting around outside for some large, flat rocks? I know this helped me, at least! Best of luck! <3