My guinea pig has a brown thing on the toe nails.?

Lets say these are the nails U U U U, U U U U


......................................… ↑ on this 1........↑ on this 1


Could it be poop, or a fungus? What should I do bought it, and how could I get rid of it? (I tried to snip off it a little but that seems to hurt her.) My guinea pig has a brown thing on the toe nails.?
I do not believe its fungal unless your piggie's cage is very wet all the time. Even then, the fungus would not be brown. It would cause the toes to become infected and swollen. Its probably dried poop, which can get as hard as concrete if left on the nails for a long period of time.





Place a small hand towel in the bottom of a sink to keep your piggie from slipping. Draw about an inch of warm water in the sink---just enough to cover her feet. Place your piggie in the sink (the piggie will not like this) and let those nails soak a good 7-10 minutes. Talk softly to your piggie and pet her while she's in the sink so she'll be calm. Take her out, wrap her in a dry towel, and using your fingernail or some other stiff, but not sharp object, try to pry the dried poop off the nails. Be careful not to pull too hard or you may pull the whole nail off. Just chip away at the gunk a little at a time until its gone.





Also be careful that the dried poop has not adhered to any part of the toe pad (skin) or you may accidentally remove skin too. Ouch.





Good luck~My guinea pig has a brown thing on the toe nails.?
Have you ever heard of pododermatitis, otherwise known as bumble foot? Sometimes when it starts out it can look like dried poop stuck to their foot, but it's actually connected to their foot. My guinea pig had it but it stayed under control and didn't really bother him.





Here are some web sites about this condition.





http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/bumblefoot.htm





http://www.comfycavies.com/Health/bumblefoot.htm





http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Guinea_pig_pododermatitis.JPG





If you think she might have this, you should take her to the vet because it can get worse and may become painful to her.
The odds are that it is poop. Once it is dried on, it will hurt if you just try to snip it off. Take a cotton ball or a bit of tissue and soak it with warm soapy water. Put it on the nail and hold it there for 10 or 15 minutes. If it is poop, it should loosen up and gentle scraping should get it off. You may need to repeat the process to get it all off
I think you can get nail brushes from the pet shop. it may be poo.


when you cut the nails dot go to far as this will hurt her.


If you are not cutting that far down she is probably does not like the feeling or is worried it will hurt.
might be poop... get a wet cotton pad and keep wiping it over the top.


if it doesnt come off perhaps ring the vets and ask what it could be





ps. love the diagram of the toes its cute.x
it's probably poo.


don't touch her nails with clippers at all. that seriously hurts animals.


and just to be safe, take her to a vet.


good luck =]



Take it to the vet. It may be fungus.



Yea i agree,


could be fungus you should get her to a vet quickly.
thts wierd, maybe u shud see a vet?