Trimming my rabbit's nails?

[Verità]

Alright, so my family and I adopted a rabbit a few weeks ago, the other day I noticed her nails were getting kind of long, but I have no idea how to trim them, and my nearby friends don't have any ideas either. In class this year I learned that the blood vessel in their nails can grow out when their nails grow, so I don't want to cut them too short and make her bleed...can I have some advice on stuff like how to do this, what kind of tool to use, etc.?

[Bean]

You can buy nail trimming scissors for small pets such as rabbits from most pet stores. When you look at the nails, you should be able to see the blood vessel (or quick, as it's often called) as a pinker part of the nail, it is harder in bunnies with darker fur and nails though. With the nail trimming scissors (you can use normal scissors, or human nail scissors, but it won't work as well) just trim off the nail, leaving a couple of millimetres up to the quick. If you do cut too far, and it bleeds, don't panic. It does happen sometimes.

Most rabbits are uncooperative... just warning you Wrapping them up (gently) in a towel to cover their eyes while you're doing it to keep them calm helps. And a small treat afterwards won't hurt

These websites are a big help with bunny care:
http://www.myhouserabbit.com/tip_clipping.php
http://www.rabbit.org/index.html

And finally, if you don't feel confident enough to do it yourself, your local rabbit-savvy vet will be happy to do it for you, and show you how.

[Verità]

Thank you very much for the advice

[Toast]

You can get this pet nail trimmer that sands them down so that you don't have to worry about cutting their blood vessel as much. I've never trimmed rabbit claws but I have with dogs. I think the sanding one is a little bit safer if you're worried about cutting their blood vessel(I had a dog once who was terrified to have her nails trimmed because the first time she did, they were cut too short) Not to scare you, but be careful. If you try it yourself I would recommend having some else hold the bunny and possibly feed it treats while you are trimming the nails.