Lower teeth moving!?

[Sammieshammies]

Hi all,

My Syrian hamster, Carmen, has started acting very strange when she eats food. After she has eaten she tilts her head back and stretches her mouth out (when this first happen I thought she was having a stroke! ) She now proceeds to do this every time she eats.

The syrians are also attention seekers so if I'm in the room and they want to come out they will bite on the bars. Carmen was doing this and it was the perfect time to see all of her pearly...yellows! Her lower teeth look a little long and when she was biting the bars (predominantly with her lower teeth) her lower teeth would almost split apart and the bar would go inbetween them! I have never ever seen this happen as the majority of my hamsters have chewed bars with the top teeth.

If you could imagine your fingers making a 'peace' sign thats what her lower teeth were doing!

I have tried everything but she is just not a chewer! I have tried multiple wooden and textured chews, whimsee chews and putting peanut butter on a wooden chew, but she just isn't wearing them down. I'm not sure if her wierd eating behaviour lately is connected to her teeth?

Are lower teeth suppose to move and have you experienced any of these signs? I don't want to cut her teeth if it'll accidentally hurt her! I may have to take her to the vets...

I'm also unsure of how old she is as I adopted her from her previous human who did not look after her well at all! No chews or even a wheel in her cage!

Thank you guys,

[souffle]

The teeth shouldn't be moving like that. It sounds as if she is opening her mouth as the bottom teeth are likely hitting her palate and jabbing at it. Eventually they will pierce it. The teeth may drop out if she catches them on the bars but it sounds as if she needs to see the vets and have these trimmed quite low to see if the pressure taken off them may allow them to relocate and start growing straight again. They may give a whiff of gas so they can keep her still and do a full mouth examination. I would grind up some of her food for now so she can still hoover it up and also soak some of the pellets to soften it so she gets enough nutrition. Let us know how she gets on after she is seen.

[Sammieshammies]

Thank you for the advice! I took Carmen to the vets and he said her top teeth are barely there and her lower teeth have grown considerably and has caused cuts inside her mouth! He trimmed them down and gave her antibiotics and an inflammatory injection. It’s been almost 2 weeks and she hasn’t had any ‘episodes’ since however, she did lose quite a bit of weight as a result. She’s not eating her solid foods very well so I’m having to blend up dry food and add a bit of water. Also supplying her with fresh veggies and fruit too! Although I am concerned that she’s not going to wear down her teeth if she’s not chewing.. would you recommend seeing the vet to cut her teeth every month or so?

[cypher]

The teeth do grow very fast (faster in summer than winter) & if her top teeth don't grow back & she's still unable to eat hard foods they will need trimming fairly frequently, I used to have a ham with tooth problems & his needed doing about every three weeks.
Soaking her mix & giving ham safe baby food & or porridge should help.
You might find this thread helpful.
Feeding Hamsters with Missing Teeth or Who Are Elderly

ETA I forgot to say still give her some dry food so she has it there if she can eat it, her mouth may still be sore but if her molars are ok she may be able to manage some hard foods still.

[Pebbles82]

The thread Cypher linked is good. I would also recommend some supplements to her her keep her weight. Hemp seeds are high calorie and contain all the vitamins and nutrients so putting a few out as an extra on a little dish (eg the lid off a baby food jar) every other day could help, and half a pecan nut once a week - they are very high in calories but have healthy fats. If she can't eat that then crush it.

Meanwhile put a chew stick out as well - our hamster didn't chew much either but he would chew sticks that had food attached! So the ones with food stuck on may be of interest.

As her bottom teeth start growing again she will probably eat hard food more. Our hamster, when older, also had to have his bottom teeth trimmed and he found it difficult eating afterwards as it was such a change, but was soon eagerly eating hard food again.

I am wondering if your hamsters maybe need to be in bin cages or if the cages are big enough as bar chewing is very bad for their teeth. They can do it for a number of reasons - sometimes it's to tell you something to get your attention (eg if the wheel is stuck and not working or if a water bottle isn't working) or it can be a stress thing if the cage isn't big enough and they are desperate to get out. It can also become a habit. If they only do it when they see you it suggests it isn't a habit but something isn't right, if they are all doing it.

Have they got large enough cages, with enough substrate in and somewhere dark to hide or nest? (eg a big enough house or a shelf to nest under)?