Trimmed nails

Little De Death

New Member
So a few weeks ago I trimmed my chameleons nails I read online it was okay I only cut the tips now she can’t hold on to beaches as well will they get sharp again?
 
Never trim your chameleons nails... Hopefully they will sharpen up.

Why did you trim them? It just doesn't make sense to me when they need the nails for gripping branches to climb...
 
Talk about stress overload, that couldn't have been easy or quick unless she actually did shutdown from the stress. Forgive the expression but I'm sure she fought you tooth and nail over it. How long did it take you?
 
So i heard that female chams grow their nails longer when about to lay a clutch ( courtesy of @kinyonga ). Im merely wondering, if they grow their nails longer and then they get shorter again while not gravid, why wont this chameleons nails grow too??

Again, not saying they will, just wondering how you guys know they won't??
 
So i heard that female chams grow their nails longer when about to lay a clutch ( courtesy of @kinyonga ). Im merely wondering, if they grow their nails longer and then they get shorter again while not gravid, why wont this chameleons nails grow too??

Again, not saying they will, just wondering how you guys know they won't??
Never heard of that, genuinely curious to hear the reasoning... @kinyonga

As for healing, root damage and their relatively slow metabolism limits how fast they can heal, true for pretty much any reptile to one degree or another.
 
Surprised to see you recommend bamboo to wear down the nails. I'm struggling to think of another type off wood smoother or less abrasive than that.

Genuinely curious, why bamboo? Are you roughing it up with coarse sandpaper or something first before installing?

Its really really hard, so it busts off the needles. You are right it doesnt wear down down the nail, but if you poke something very thin and sharp at at a piece of glass long enough...

Basically you want something harder than pine/bark, i bet even hardwood dowels would work.
 
The guy at the pet shop when u went to go get crickets said sum bout trimming them if they get to sharp
90% of the "Pet Store Employees" have no idea what they're talking about, they have everything from the wrong food to a horrible setup. When I got Coda, They couldn't even tell me the gender!
 
Never heard of that, genuinely curious to hear the reasoning... @kinyonga

As for healing, root damage and their relatively slow metabolism limits how fast they can heal, true for pretty much any reptile to one degree or another.

I've never heard of a chameleon getting an infection through a nail being cut or broken if it doesn't involve the nail bed in all he years I've been keeping chameleons.

As for them regrowing after being clipped...I can only say that it only makes sense to me.

Don't know if they are shorter again after digging to lay either...never bothered checking!

Guess I have something else to add to my list of searches now! I can't help myself. :(
 
I think we can all agree that routine maintenance should not include nail trimming. They are not dogs.

If you have a proper setup, the nails will wear down naturally.

With properly worn down nails:
they will not get stuck and pulled out on screens
they will not split/crack from being too long and thin
you will get red divots when they walk on you, not 5 spot blood patterns like a bad tattoo


With my tegu i got around tail trimming by replacing his entire basking area with old slate roofing tile. It works great, it reflects heat, transmits heat, and wears down nails wonderfully.
 
Do their nails ever grow back mine was scratching at his cage for weeks he loves to break out and now his front nails are so small he had a hard time climbing until he gets his back legs on
 
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