Honey's nose is bleeding.

[Kelsits]

I just noticed Honey-badger's nose has some dried blood on it.
She does bar chew and I tried to put olive oil on her favourite spot to prevent this, but she just went for it anyway.

I'm going to wipe her nose with wet tissue and check if it's a scratch or not.
If it's come from inside her nose, I'm taking her the vet.
I might have to cut her nails, just in case she's scratched herself, advice?

Am I doing the right thing?

[Wexland]

It sounds like it, I always thinks a vet trip is worth it for peace of mind unless you know what you are dealing with. Keep us posted.

[Kelsits]

Originally Posted by Wexland

It sounds like it, I always thinks a vet trip is worth it for peace of mind unless you know what you are dealing with. Keep us posted.

It looks like she's cut her nose, silly little sausage, I think she needs her nails clipping.
She's going to get her nails clipped tonight, any tips for this? Never done it before with a small rodent.

[kyrilliondaemon]

My only tips for claw clipping are to scruff really, really carefully and be careful. I get help for them normally, I only have one right hand and struggle to do things well enough with my left (either the scruffing or the clipping)

[Kelsits]

I'm probably going to get some one else to hold her still, is scruffing better?

[kyrilliondaemon]

I find that scruffing is the only way I can get most of my hams still for more than about 0.2 of a second lol
Some people put their ham in a sieve and clip the claws from there but I've never managed it with that method.

Are you sure her claws are too long? I'm a big fan of avoiding claw clipping if I can

[Kelsits]

I'm not sure because I was looking at some past pictures of hamsters of the month and there's one in there who has longer claws than honey, so maybe she's just bashed her nose.

I'll see if I can get her out tonight and get a picture.
She seems fine, I've put a millet spray in her cage and she's having a go at that, so she's not in any distress or pain.

I don't want to unnecessarily stress her out.

[Hekomi]

Scruffing Syrians is harder. I can scruff and clip my dwarfs myself, but I needed help for my Syrian. Try giving her some sand to play in, or roughish rocks to climb over. Prevention is better than having to clip.

[Kelsits]

She has a pumice stone in her cage to walk over.
She's chewing her bars a bit, I might have to make and move her to a bin cage sooner rather than later.

[Clairealex]

I have to clip my Chubs' nails regularly. They've always been thick and quite fast growing. I have a brick in his cage and loads of wooden bridges he scratches at so maintaining is easier than it used to be, but still every four of five weeks we need to get clipping. I tend to use the sieve method. I find it can get three or four done per session this way. Sometimes, if he's feeling extra cooperative, he'll sit still long enough to let me get a few done whilst lying on his back. Even a if you only get one nail a day, if you can do it at home it's usually better for the ham than a vet trip