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Trimming toenails should be done routinely, and may be performed by the owner, shearer, or veterinarian. Properly trimmed toenails are important for the health of the animal and esthetics. Likely, a major reason that this procedure is challenging is that the animals are not taught to accept having their legs handled before attempts are made to pick up their feet. In other words, we must not ask an animal to pick up his feet before we teach him to pick up his feet.

Camelids frequently exhibit adverse behavior during toenail trimming. The reason for this is unknown but it may be because they use their legs as their primary means of defense (running from dangerous situations), and they are instinctively protecting their major defense mechanism. It is also important to note that male camelids frequently bite the legs of other males during fighting, and females to encourage them to cush for breeding. In addition to these factors, there is an inherent problem in how humans handle their feet and legs, inciting fear in these animals.

Figure 2.18 Alpaca with neck wrap in place.

The actual trimming of toenails does not require much time, or any specialized tools and it does not have to hurt. It does not require any particular skill or strength to snip off the extra growth of a toenail, particularly when animals have been standing on damp or wet grass. “Nibbling” rather than cutting big chunks is recommended to avoid quicking the animal, which is painful. If small “nibbles” are removed at a time, any mistake will be a small one. The quick grows along with the toenails so you cannot assume that you can take big hunks off even if the animal has exceptionally long toenails.

Holding the leg and foot long enough to trim toenails is commonly the most challenging part of the toenail trimming procedure. Llamas and alpacas learn quickly how effective it is to simply lay down and hide their feet very tightly under their body or to fight so hard that it becomes impossible to get near the legs or feet.

Veterinarians do not have the luxury of multiple sessions with the animal to teach him to accept toenail trimming and most owners with a herd of animals will not take the time to completely desensitize all of their animals. Fortunately, there are things you can do that will help make the process easier for you when you trim and avoid making the process traumatic for the animal thereby making the next round of trimming harder.

Sedation is highly recommended for difficult animals. Camelids hate restraint, and a fight over toenails will not be quickly forgotten and may affect how the animal feels about other handling tasks. Escape and evasion techniques learned in the process of having its toenails trimmed can be employed to thwart haltering and other handling chores at a later date. The author has spoken with many veterinarians who were able to successfully wean an animal off sedation. What does not work is hoping that repeated horrible experiences will somehow result in cooperation.

Success with toenails is best achieved by using the principles of balance and a no‐restraint approach to catching (see the midline catch, handler helper, and containment above). Animals do not feel safe if they are not in balance, falling down is the WORST outcome. Most toenail fights are a result of humans making the animal feel vulnerable and out of balance. More detail on these techniques follows. The author's personal favorite for trimming toenails is to work inside a trailer, but any small sturdy space will work better than tying. The most crucial element of the setup is to create a way of limiting movement without tying the animal tightly or using physical restraint. Trailers are small, sturdy and have a top, which limits the animals' inclination to jump. A neck wrap can be helpful, but success is mostly about BALANCE! A camelid's legs are their escape equipment and as such are crucial to their survival. Working in a way that makes a camelid feel as if they might fall is going to cause panic and the animal will do everything he can to escape. To help the animal feel safe and help him maintain control of his own balance always work so that the animal is standing next to a panel and NEVER between two humans. If you have a helper, his job is to act as a “balance spotter” – that means to help the animal keep his own balance and NOT to be dependent on the human. The handler at the head will make small corrections using the head/neck to help the animal keep his own balance. The toenail trimmer will keep the foot under the body in a natural position and will pay attention to signals that the animal needs a break and allow it to have its foot back. A camelid in balance is standing so that its head is lined up with its neck, its neck is in line with its body, and the body is held naturally over the feet, similarly to the way a judge wants to see an animal stand in the show ring. If your helper is not actively helping the animal keep its balance, chances are he will be inadvertently causing the animal to be off balance. A light support using the bracelet described previously is a great technique and can be combined with the handler helper at the top of the neck, combined with a flat hand under the jaw as a support, to offer more distance and the animal will not feel as threatened. Another way to help ensure you are not disrupting an animal's balance is to use a holster strapped to your lower leg (Figure 2.19).

Figure 2.19 A holster on the lower leg, can be useful when trimming feet to allow retrieval of the trimers while maintaining the animal's balance.

With a holster on your leg, you can use one hand on the top line to shift the animal's balance as you lift the leg with the other hand. In this way, you can help the animal feel safe and in balance as you work with its feet. The animal's weight should remain on the leg until you ask the animal to lift the foot. Another balancing technique for toenail trimming is to lift the foot off the ground from a point higher on the body closer to the center of mass (above the knee in the front and above the hock in the back). This affords the handler less leverage, making the animal feel safer and more balanced.

Another technique in training a camelid to allow a handler to work with its feet is allowing it to put its foot back down immediately after the animal lifts his foot. Though this sounds counterintuitive, this process should be repeated 5–10 times (up and down, up and down, up and down …). This teaches the animal to expect that if he wants his foot back, he will get it back. If, during the procedure, the animal wants to have his leg back, GIVE IT TO HIM! The biggest mistake to make is to hold on to a leg for even a split second as the animal struggles. The animal should be permitted to have its foot back, you can simply pick it up again (Figures 2.20–2.27).

Once the foot is off the ground, the animal is stable and in balance, you can transfer your hands from higher up on the body, down the leg in order to hold the foot. If you are in balance and the animal is in balance, the method by which one uses to get their hand into trimming position is personal preference. The author's approach is as follows: To trim the left front foot, she stands facing the rear with her left hand on the top line and her right hand above the knee. With her left hand she adjusts the animal's weight to the right foot and asks the animal to lift the left foot with her right hand. Once the animal is in balance and is not leaning on her, she takes her left hand off the top line and uses it to support the cannon bone. Her right hand is now free, and she uses it to get her nippers out of the holster on her lower right leg and trims the toenails with her right hand. Trimming the left rear is essentially the same except her right hand is originally placed on the front of the rear leg above the hock. Since she is right‐handed when trimming the right front and right rear, she follows the same process (switching right and left in the above directions) until she gets the foot in her hand, then swaps hands so that she is operating the trimmers with her stronger right hand. Trimming with the foot as close to the ground as possible; lifting the foot only a few inches still gives you room to work but feels much safer for the animal. Keep the leg under the body for balance; do not hold the foot out to the side (note the trade‐off here is less visualization for increased balance of the animal). A common pitfall is that many people will squeeze the nippers with one hand and simultaneously squeeze the foot with the supporting hand; it is important to avoid doing this because the animal will react to having his foot squeezed and struggle to get his foot away from the handler.

Figure 2.20 Preparing to pick up the left front foot. The handler is using her left hand on the midline to keep the weight on the foot until asking for the animal to shift his weight and allow the foot to be lifted. The handler contacts the leg above the knee with the right hand which is less threatening.

Figure 2.21 The handler has now moved the left hand from the midline to the canon bone to support the foot for trimming.

Figure 2.22 On the opposite side, the hands are switched so that the handler can use the dominant hand for the trimmers. A second handler is balancing this alpaca and the animal is next to a wall which makes trimming feel safer for the animal.

Figure 2.23 The handler is managing the animal's balance using the right hand on the topline keeping the weight on the leg until the right hand is in place just in front and above the hock.

Severely overgrown toenails, particularly those that curl out to the side, can be trimmed while the animal is standing on his feet. Many animals are not as concerned with the trimming as they are with having their legs handled. You can slide the nippers under the toenail and “nibble” the long bits away. Most animals are unconcerned about this procedure if their legs are not touched (Figure 2.28).

The balancing technique described earlier, and a hand placed on the animal's top line can be used to bring the weight onto the foot being trimmed. If the animal is bearing weight on the foot, it cannot lift it. Trimming toenails this way is a compromise but is preferred to making the animal averse to the trimming process with a fight. The author has used a rotary (Dremmel) tool on toenails, both with the foot on the ground, and with the foot elevated. It can be an effective way to trim without the risk of quicking the toenail. Box 2.1 lists some tips that will facilitate toenail trimming.

Figure 2.24 The handler uses the left hand on the back to ask the llama to shift his weight to the right at the same time asking this llama to lift his left foot.

Figure 2.25 The handler now moves the left hand off the back and uses it to support the foot freeing up the right hand for trimming.

Figure 2.26 Trimming the toenail is best done by trimming small pieces of the nail. Care should be taken to avoid quicking the nail. Longer nails will have to be trimmed incrementally. Ideally, the nails will be even with the pad of the foot.