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About Nicole Bury
Expertise
I can answer every question anyone has! I am always willing to hit the books for other owners!

Experience
I have had 7 guinea pigs in my life with more to come. I have volunteered at the local shelter just to work with the small animals on a weekly basis and I have been to countless vets to soak up there advice, as well as looking in my 50 something books on guinea pigs. I know almost everything I can wrap my head around about guinea pigs!

Organizations
I belong to S.A.R.S. BC. It stands for Small Animal Rescue Shelter.

Publications
The vancouver sun.

Education/Credentials
I have taken community courses for pet care, including small animals, but I have not been to school formal education (I am not a vet). Currently I am in the process of becoming a published author and I have my degree in creative writing. Someday I will have my masters. I teach local classes for advanced creative writing and literature for teens.

Awards and Honors
I have had my writing published in the paper for the seventh time about animal pet care facts. Nothing big, just me and a few other writers.

You are here: Experts > Animals/Pets > Exotic Pets > Guinea Pigs > growth that is growing from underneath his nails

Guinea Pigs - growth that is growing from underneath his nails

Expert: Nicole Bury - 11/15/2009

Question
I am not sure what is the cause for my guinea pigs strange growths underneath his nails are. The growths appear to harden skin with the structure of nails with have the characteristics of being soft, bendable, and yellow They only appear to be growing on his back foot and are different lengths. I need to know what the diagnosis and cause could be and if it could be possible that my guinea pig has started to grow a second pair of nails. He does not seem to be bothered or in pain from the growths so should they be removed?

Answer
Hello Summer!
This is actually a rather amusing question for me as I was just going onto this site to look for more pending questions while my fiancee and I are taking care of our four guinea pigs spurs.
A spur, to make the last sentence understandable, is exactly what your guinea pig has. A spur is formed because there nail and foot health was bad as a pup. These small hard skin growths can be removed while trimming there nails with a simple nail clipper. They do not go away, and if left untrimmed they can cause a serious and life threatening illness called bumble foot (enlarging of the foot and paw pad).
So all in all your pig is not and will not be in any pain if you remove them weekly. You must do this for the rest of his/her life.

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