Hamster Tooth Growing Out?

Bella_01 · 04-23-2018, 11:11 AM

Hello,
A few weeks ago I took Bella to the vets as I realised her bottom tooth was growing out of her mouth. The vet clipped it and it was ok after that. But the other day I saw it had started to grow again, outwards, it's hard to explain. It is not bad at the moment but I was just wondering if anyone else has/had this sort of problem with their hammies? I don't think her tooth is in line with her top one so she can't grind them against each other. She is still eating fine and chews her toys often.
When I adopted her from her old home, she was in a tiny cage with nothing to chew on so she chewed the bars and also her plastic house. Could this of somehow damaged her tooth?

Sorry this is a different question, but it has been very hot the past few days and Bella was scratching and rolling around. Could the heat make hamsters scratch more? It's cooled down now and she seems fine again. (By the way she is a black long haired Syrian hamster.)

Thanks

dreamtree1234 · 04-23-2018, 11:44 AM

I do believe that incessant bar chewing could possible result in the misalignment of Bella's teeth. If you are concerned that she is unable to grind the top and bottom teeth together for proper chewing, I would definitely suggest you contacting your vet for an appointment to see what can be done to fix the problem. As far as her teeth growing out again, that is typical due to hamsters being rodents and their teeth need wearing down by more suitable means. I would suggest giving her whimzee chew toys and have her crack open hammy safe nuts in order to help with this. Most hamsters love them, and they are not only great for the teeth but are lots of fun and healthy treats, too.

As far as the heat is concerned, if it is too hot, hamsters can become itchy and scratch more. There are also other culprits for hammies to scratch more. They could have mite issues due to the stress or can be allergic to something in the cage (ex. the type of substrate or food used). There are plenty of how to keep your hamsters cool threads in the forum that you can find quite helpful.

I will be wishing Bella well. Please keep us informed of her progress. Take care.

Bella_01 · 04-23-2018, 12:16 PM

Thank you dreamtree, she does have whimzee chews which she uses often and I give her a monkey nut every so often to break open. I will contact a vet if her tooth gets longer.

I put a white tile in the freezer and put it in her cage when it was very hot, I think it was a case of she had been in her nest all day and it had probably got hot.
I'll keep you updated on her progress.

cypher · 04-23-2018, 01:42 PM

Try to keep a close eye on how the tooth grows, if it continues to grow back misaligned then it will need regular clipping or burring by the vet, unfortunately when the teeth aren't aligned properly they won't grind down even with chews, they grow pretty fast, more so in summer than winter so they can need to go to the vet as often as every three weeks.

Bella_01 · 05-08-2018, 12:03 PM

Hi,
Just an update, I took Bella to the vets on Friday to get her tooth cut, and she was fine however the vet was trying to persuade me to get it taken out or something similar under general anaesthetic. I said no that time as I wanted to try and keep her tooth down for as long as possible as there are a lot of risks to do with anaesthetic as she's getting a bit old and hamsters are very small animals. They did say that if the tooth is cut a lot, it could fracture it, which means it would be painful for Bella. If I need to go back there again, I think they will try to persuade me to put Bella under anaesthetic which I don't really want to do. Other than her tooth she is fine.
I'm just asking what other people thought about it?
Thanks

cypher · 05-08-2018, 01:39 PM

I understand your concern, there is a risk with anaesthesia & also the risk of the tooth breaking when being taken out which can lead to more problems, sometimes it may be the only solution but if the tooth is growing back ok then better not to have it done I would have thought, if it doesn't grow back normally constant clipping every few weeks runs a risk too as your vet said, the other option is burring which also involves anaesthetic so it is a case of weighing up the risks & discussing which is the best option with your vet depending on how the tooth grows.