Dragons are climbers so they don't spend a lot of time on the ground or walking across stone. They need their sharp nails for climbing branches, unfortunately for us. You can use nail clippers and just clip the very fine tip at the end. Same problem for you as the nail file- squirming etc ... but nail clippers are faster.

My dragons and iguana got used to just sitting in my lap as I clipped their nails. I'd let them get comfortable then I'd pick up one hand or foot and carefully clip the very tips (if you look closely you can see a dark line running through most of the nail- don't clip this part as that is a blood vessel and the nail will bleed, clip only the tip where the vein isn't located). As I said my animals were used to getting this done but I found that if I let them just sit on me (or on something else- a branch perhaps) it went better than if I tried to hold them while clipping. I did try filing but that never went well ... maybe because it's slow, or the vibrations and sounds of the files?

See http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/nails.htm for more information about trimming a lizards nails.

__________________
Tricia

OK don't shoot me but I'm in a hurry here and I didn't read this whole thread I just happened to open it and skim it....
This is what I did with Nadias nails (Iguana) I put (stapled) sand paper around her climbing logs up to her top shelf and it seemed to file them down some. Of course after a few times the paper shredded but it took the very tips of her nails off enough that I could work with her and not get myself shredded to bits in the process!!! Then I put sandstone around her basking spot so that she would HAVE to climb over it with at least one or two of her feet to get to her favorite spot and that has helped too.
Good luck!

__________________
Some think they can. Some wish they could. Some do.

I've always used slate with my beadie and my skinks, it's worked well for keeping their nails short, and it's very pretty. My iguana lets me cut his nails though, he sits nice and still on the kitchen table and lets me do it, although I doubt he'd put up with filing or a dremel tool.

Has anyone seen those soft paws nail caps that they make for cats and dogs to keep them from tearing up the house? Do you think that they might be able to be used for larger herps? Just an idea...don't stone me to death if this has been brought up and shot down already, we just have a surplus of them at work and I keep eyeing them and then thinking, "Hmmm....what would everyone on herpcenter think of this?"

__________________

"What is now proven was once only imagined." - William Blake

~*~Lacey~*~

My Photos

Yeah Octavius is quite the squirmer. He was a rescue so-to-speak. He was roughly about a foot long when we got him, and he was extremely skiddish from his his terrible care- I should really say from his abuse... Michelle and I found him hidden away in the back of a shady pet store (in a 10g tank with no UV lights and barely any water)-- they only carried dogs and cats at that store... He was in terrible condition too. He was so stressed he was mostly brown, and his skin was somewhat crunchy from the lack of moisture in the air, in addition to Metabolic Bone Disease which was clear by the swelling in his jaws and the terrible overbite he had. His snout was completely scratched to the bone- literrally you could see his skull, from his constant rubbing of it on the glass. They had no idea how old he was, and neither did I- it was impossible to guess solely on his size because of his prior care. When we took him home and he ate his first few meals, his jaws would crunch with an awful bone breaking sound- it was so bad and loud it would make me nautious. Now though you wouldn't even know he was the same WD. The skin has completely grown back on his snout, and he has some of the most vibrant teal and blue colors I've ever seen. His jaws are almost the same size and he has no problems eating anymore. I guess he still remembers those days before I took him home by his reactions to new people and new objects, which is yet another reason (aside from the deep cuts) that I don't want to use a nail file just yet. I know how to clip nails, having done it for many herps and just about every bird under the sun from parrots to finches to parakeets and parrotlets, but his nails are much different. The veins are not far back enough to clip even the tips off, which is why I'm hoping the stones will work. As they dull the sharp tips, I'm hoping that the veins will recede enough that if they are still unhandlably sharp that they can be dulled by backup means, i.e. nailfiles and/or being clipped. Only time will tell I suppose. lol

__________________
Chinese Water Dragon: Octavius
Leopard Gecko: Leopatra
Caledonian Crested Gecko: Petri
Coastal Rosy Boa: Rosy (for now lol)
Grey Cockatiel: Wayne

Caledonian Gargoyle Gecko: Unnamed
Malaysian Golden Gecko: Unnamed
Mediterranean Gecko: Unnamed
Frog-eyed Gecko: Unnamed
Green Basilisk: Unnamed

Yeah, yeah... They'll get names eventually...
_____________________________________
Commodus: 10/24

wow, youve really done an amazing job taking care of him! And I have the same problem with clipping...I dont want to clip too far back had hurt the little guys...well good luck!!