THREE WOUNDED CLAWS INCIDENTS IN 45 DAYS-PLEASE ADVICE ON WHAT TO DO
My beloved Trooper just turned 6 years old on August 1st., and since July 9 he has had three incidents where two of his right hand claws (middle and ring fingers) have been wounded and digit pad/cuticula bleeding, with swelling and possible infection. I treated him with Baytril for 7 days on each wound, confined him to the inside cage (outside cage has real dirt floor, so did not want to get re-infected) and both fingers healed fine. Both of his right hand wounds happened 14 days apart not bot fingers at the same time though, so they were separate incidents.
On Saturday 19th. Trooper showed lack of interest in playing but eat well. Knowing how much he likes to wrestle with me on his out time, I inspected his whole body and found that the pinkie on his right foot was also wounded and bleeding with a blood scab on it.
I had inspected both his cages for potential areas where he could get cut, but haven't found any obvious places. He has lived in his inside cage for 6 years and his outside cage for 5 years (both cages connected by a tunnel he uses at will). The outside cage has a real tree, dirt, foliage, wood pieces, pine cones, vegetation and tree bark chips. He has been digging in and out nuts and junk for five years outside and on his fake grass on the inside cage and never has had a problem.
I have noticed however, that his claws are very long, quite wide (top to bottom) when they just exit the 'cuticle' and curved downwards in an extreme letter "C" shape (see pics below). Also noticed that for the times he was out during his first incident in early July, I noticed his hind leg claws were getting caught in some shelves on my lab while he was out playing with me, while before he could walk the shelves with no problem. He did not get wounded during those events.
My question to all those of you who are seniors and have NR for a long time, rehabbers and veterinarians is: do the nails/claws being that long and curved in such an extreme radius, be prone to problems when walking or climbing? Should I trim the claws back to see if he does not get caught again. As noted, these three events happened from July 9 to August 19 or less than 42 days, where he was able to live in the same exact environment for 6 years!!
Any advice on cutting his claws back a little would be appreciated.
Trooper's dad
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" When you save someone's life, you're responsible for theirs for the rest of yours" - Confucius
Trooper's Troop: Plain, Rufina, Scratchy, Runty, Blackie, Beanie, Biff, PreetyBoy, Limpy, Jaws, Scarface, Badtail and Housemama
Trooper's Story at: http://www.mixbook.com/photo-books/interests/trooper-friends-9554554?vk=759PD8gn7A