No-teeth hamster advice (plus eye watering)

[Pirate]

Hi everyone. I'm completely new here, so I'm sorry if I've done something wrong or have somehow managed to post in the wrong place. I'm looking for some advice today regarding my new baby Syrian, Pie.

So, late Sunday night, I adopted a new Syrian hamster - the first in quite a few months after the unexpected passing of my last beloved Syrian. She is quite young, I'd estimate 9-10 weeks. I noticed some problems right away (struggling to pick up food, being able to see her teeth when her mouth was closed).

On Wednesday night, I handled her for the first time, and managed to briefly scruff her and check her mouth. She had two overgrown front teeth and nearly no bottom teeth. She was peeing and pooping so it wasn't an emergency situation, but I still got a vet appointment as early as they had available.

Unfortunately, the day before the appointment, Pie lost one of her top teeth trying to get into a peanut (blood everywhere, it happened whilst I was asleep and her behaviour was normal by the time I got there, but she must have been really hurt when it happened).

The appointment was this morning but I really feel like I've been left with more questions than answers. The vet gave her some anaesthetic and trimmed her last tooth, told me she should be eating fine now but might have to come back in future, and that was about it.

Though I know that hamsters have molars, I still don't understand how a hamster with one front tooth is going to "eat fine". I have a lot of questions that I'm wondering if anyone can help to answer. I'd be so grateful. So:

Will her teeth grow back? How does this happen in the first place?

Currently she was struggling to eat even cucumber (though managed with some very finely chopped strawberry) - is this temporary whilst she gets used to having no teeth (considering it was only this morning she had her tooth trimmed) or will she always struggle until they are regrown?

Should I chop her standard food down to tiny sizes so she can get it to her molars, or focus on giving soft and liquid foods? If the latter, what soft foods will make a balanced diet (I should note here that I'm a vegan, and though I'm happy to borrow eggs and dairy from my friend, I'd be very uncomfortable buying or cooking meat. Yet, if it is necessary, I will)? Or is there a commercial formula that will help?

How do I properly scruff her to check her teeth (I struggled a lot trying to do this the first time)? Will she get used to this or will she develop trust issues with humans (she is very sweet currently, I'd hate to see that nature change)?

My biggest concern is if she is in pain, and whether this will be temporary or not. I've noticed that her right eye is occasionally watering (this is the same side as her last front tooth). I noticed this particularly whilst she struggled to eat her cucumber. It waters quite badly, then a few minutes later is bright and normal. Is this from pain? I know our human eyes water from pain but I don't know if hamsters experience the same thing. If not, do I have the start of an eye infection coming along?

I would call myself very experienced in hamster care, my pets are my passion and Syrian hamsters are my favourites. I've kept them all my life and I'm constantly researching proper and modern care standards. I feel like I'll be capable of looking after Pie despite what might be a life-long dental problem, but since this is my first time ever dealing with any sickness (other than tumours) I'm feeling completely lost and a little stressed over caring for her correctly.

I'm sorry that there's so much text here, I just wanted to be as thorough as I could in giving information. I'll be so helpful for any advice that anyone can give! Thank you!

[Fluffagrams]

Hamster teeth can grow back but that depends on the damage to the root.

I currently have a Chinese that has next to no bottom teeth due to an incident that occurred earlier in the year and to start with, he was reluctant to eat some of his usual foods. Whilst he got used to it, I broke his food up into smaller pieces and over time increased the size of those pieces until he was pretty much eating the same things as my other hamsters.

Depending on how much of Pie's bottom teeth are left, she may get used to things and be able to eat a reasonably normal diet but the eyes watering is not something I've come across with hamsters that have dental issues and it could be that there's something else going on there that will need a second opinion.

Obviously with little left of the bottom teeth to bite against, the remaining top tooth is likely to grow quite quickly so it's something you'll need to keep an eye on. Being scruffed is not their favourite position to be in but once you've got the knack, it will get easier for both of you. The key is to make sure that you've got hold of the right amount of the loose skin at the back of the neck to stop them from wriggling around too much and to force the mouth open enough to be able to check the teeth. I've not had issues with any of my hamsters developing trust issues from it and as long as you're not scruffing them excessively or for a prolonged time, they get over it quickly - particularly if you reward them with a favourite treat.

[souffle]

Sorry to hear your little one is having such problems. Is she in a barred cage? The commonest cause of this type of injury is getting a scare while bar chewing and the teeth being pulled out in a panic as they are stuck round the bars. I'd start with a tank type cage.
It depends on whether the roots are damaged as to whether the teeth will regrow now. If only some regrow the opposing tooth will need constantly trimmed or else it will overgrow in to the space and pierce the palate or gum.
If they don't this is actually probably a better scenario as you can deal with this with diet changes. You need to make the mix smaller as you suspect. Use a coffee grinder or maybe a food processer or even a mortor and pestle. Always offer small ground dry mix. They do hoover it up! Get a complete pellet like science supreme complete and soak in boiled water and then cool then feed this too in a low dish. It needs changed daily. Also soft foods like baby food (only a teaspoon as she needs to eat the dry too) porridge rice, pasta, chicken, fine chopped veg and fruit are well liked.
The tear duct may well be damaged if the teeth have overgrown and caused an irritation. It may well resolve but if not she may need some drops the help it clear and reduce any inflammation.
I have seen lots of toothless hammies live long and happy lives so with care I'm sure she will too

[SKB_Hamsters]

Hello and Welcome to Hamster Central. I’m so sorry to hear that Pie is experiencing problems some of her teeth.

Her teeth might grow back as hamster teeth are constantly growing however if she has damaged the roots of the teeth themselves they might grow back at a slower rate or not at all. I don’t know what might have caused her to lose the teeth - possibly bar chewing depending upon the cage she housed in.

I experience a similar issue with my past hamster, Sherbet where she broke both her top teeth and required her bottom teeth trimmed short - I feed her a mix of wet food and dry food which she manage to eat perfectly fine and maintained her healthy weight. I created this thread about feeding hamster who are missing teeth which you may find useful - Feeding Hamsters with Missing Teeth or Who Are Elderly
Supreme science selective food is a complete balance pellet mix which you can make wet food from. This is what I started with and then gradually introduced her to crushed food and she managed to eat that fine.

It can be quite difficult to scruff a hamster and it always best to get shown how to properly do it by a vet as if it is done wrong it can hurt them. I found the best way to check Sherbet’s teeth was offer her a treat slightly out of her reach and therefore she would open her mouth and I could have a quick look. And she was rewarded afterwards.

My vets informed me that my girls eye was weepy due to when she broke her teeth she might have irritated her nose as well when it broke I was told as their nose and eyes are connected her eye is expected to be a little weepy - if the eye is open and not stuck shut I wouldn’t worry to much but try to keep a close eye on it in case it worsens.

[AngelPair]

Thank you guys so much for replying!

I love the supreme/selective foods! They're what I feed both my rats and rabbits. I didn't even know there was a hamster version, but I'll get a hold of some asap and do the mix of wet and crushed dry as suggested.

The vet wasn't very good at explaining the specific problems in Pie's mouth, even when I prompted for more information. I guess I'll have to wait until I can properly scruff her to get a long enough look in her mouth to tell for myself the extent of the problem. Hopefully the root isn't damaged and there will be some regrowth, but if not, it's very relieving to hear some stories of other hamsters who have lost teeth and still lived happy lives!

Currently she is in a barred cage, but there's been no bar chewing so far (it's 100cm and full of toys and (low) levels, so I'm hoping she's too entertained to become a bar chewer at all). It seems like she was already this way by the time I got her (other than the tooth she lost on a peanut shell) and the pet shop uses glass tanks - possibly then something that happened as far back as the breeder? It makes me pretty sad that Pets at Home have a store full of trained staff and in-store vets, yet couldn't even be bothered to give their animals basic health checks

The vet did say that the one full tooth she has right now will need regularly trimmed, is this something I can learn to do myself or is this something that I should always have the vets do?

As for her eye, it's still occasionally wet today, but it doesn't seem irritated or stuck shut so I'll just continue to keep a close eye on it for now.

Thank you for all the advice! I feel a lot more confident now

[souffle]

You can learn to clip the teeth but it's not that easy. If she has very weak roots / teeth then they could end up cracking or you could hurt her. A tiny whiff of gas then having them burred off is better but that could work out pricey. Some people choose to have the troublesome teeth removed and be done with it as the anaestheic is always a risk every time. It can be done though with nail clippers. I'd get the vet to teach you first. Hope either they all come back even or none at all! Sounds like the eye is settling.
Keep us advised on how she does. We would love to see some Pie pics

[AngelPair]

Things are going well food wise thanks to everyone's advice, and Pie is still active and interested in eating (in fact, she's been interested in eating throughout this entire ordeal, which I guess is a good sign).

However, the eye is not looking so good. It seemed to be getting better for a while, but yesterday was back to where it started with the watering. She just woke up for the first time today, and it's looking a lot worse. Maybe a little bit sticky? Definitely squinted at least, and she's blinking it a lot too, which she wasn't doing earlier.

She's also been having occasional little sneezy sessions where sits and makes these snorty noises out her nose. Perhaps as suggested she has irritated her nose when breaking her tooth?

What should be done about it? Could I try to help her (perhaps with some clean, bottled spring water and a cotton bud to wash it a bit), or should I be going straight to the vet for some sort of eye drop?

(No photo right now because she's gone back to bed and I don't want to wake her, but if I get one of her eye I'll post it).

Thank you all again

[souffle]

I've had this with a little adopted one we have. Her eye still isn't right and the vet thinks ours is chronic now. I'd advise you to have her checked out by the vets as the tear duct could have been affected. It may be worth trying some antibiotic drops or gels or sometimes the vet might use a steroid drop the try and bring any inflammation down. There is a chance she has an infection in the roots and this would need antibiotics too.

[AngelPair]

Alright, vets it is! I'll call them first thing in the morning and see how soon they can fit me in. Thank you for replying again

[AngelPair]

Pie just woke up and I got another look at the eye. It's looking a little uncomfortable, I'm really quite worried about it.

The vets won't be open until 8.30 tomorrow so I can't even call until then. I doubt they'll count it as an emergency but hopefully they manage to fit me in quickly like they did last time.

In the meantime, is there anything I can do to help her? Like dabbing it with a wet cotton pad or rinsing it with a dropper or anything. It breaks my heart that she's suffering so much when she's still just a baby.

I tried to upload a picture to show an idea of what's going on (not sure if it'll work). It looks worse in real life than in the photo, the picture didn't really capture the stickiness and blinking. She's otherwise alert and is still eating and drinking.