Well, I know I'm not the only person getting "shredded" by simple handling of my iguana so I have to ask how you others deal with this herculean task? What I am doing now is (trying to) trim one toe per day just to get the little black razor-blade off the end. Even still, he tears me up - and this is with a very tame/hand-freindly dragon!
I don't like human nail clippers or the guillotine style dog clippers like some use because of the risk of splintering as well as cutting too much and hitting the quick. I instead use fine files to gently grind off the sharp points and round them to a safely dull tip. For adults with big claws, I reccomend starting with a metal file, and then finishing with a fine emory board like the ones ladies everywhere use on their nails. For little lizards, skip the metal file and just use the emory board. It works well for me!
i would use bird toenail trimmers. my igg use to tear me up too. i also tried putting him on a leash and using pavement as a natrual filer. i just depends on how tame and cooperative your igg is. there nails grow back really fast. i like the idea KaMiKaZe put. it seems like that would work. again it just depends on how tame your igg is theone (jp)
I use the small dog/cat toe nail trimmers. Guillotines are too hard to handle with a moving animal. Our igs hates it too so we usually wrap them in a towel to restrain the limbs we're not trimming. It's still a two person job. I've also heard of people using Dremels, the fine sander attachment, to very gently file the sharp edges. Of course the sound of that will freak some igs out so it may not be for you. We only take off the very tip of the nail that way they don't cut you as badly but can still get some grip for climbing. Filing would do the same thing.
