Things You'll Need
- A folding nail trimmer or dog nail clipper
- A nail file, if necessary
- An assistant
Instructions
Determine if your rat's teeth need to be trimmed. Drooling is one of the first signs that something is wrong. Also, if the teeth are not parallel but are growing off at different angles, they probably will need to be trimmed. Look at photos of normal rat teeth and overgrown rat teeth. Notice that the bottom teeth are supposed to be longer than the top ones, but should be parallel.
Hold the rat by the "scruff" of the neck. Holding it in this manner not only immobilizes it, but also makes the rat naturally open its mouth a bit so that you can get at the teeth. One person should immobilize the rat while the other person does the trimming.
Snip the teeth so that their final length is no shorter than 1/2 inch (1 cm).
Check for sharp edges. If you find sharp places, use the file to smooth them out.