trimming finger nails

Question
My RES, Elizabeth, is very domesticated. She is constantly climbing on us and wanting to be held.  The problem is her nails are extremely sharp and it looks like I've been in a cat fight.  The vet said we could file them.  I attempted, but she wanted no part of this.  Any suggestions? I was wondering if I could find a vet who would sedate her and file them for me if this is even possible.
Thanks

Answer
Well...

1. Long front claws are a sign of a male RES. Females have front claws the same length as the rear.

2. Turtles that want to be held usually do not really want to be held, but are trying to get to a better place. It may be a sign that there are glitches in the cares or housing. Healthy turtles, sadly, do not usually want to be held by humans.

3. Filing turtle nails is tricky and rarely necessary, and sedating a turtle is very risky- there are not many safe sedatives that work on them.

My recommendation would be to review the basic cares at good sites like http://www.redearslider.com or http://www.austinsturtlepage.com and see if anything needs tweaking in the habitat.

If things are OK and the nails are still a problem, try using a flat, sandy textured rock for a basking site.

It is really stressful, but if you need to clip them, use the clippers you would for a kitten- some people prefer the snips style, I like the chopper style... for my other pets. Do one foot, maybe only one claw, at a time. Just take off a tiny bit- they also have the blood vein in the claws.