Syrian hamster overgrown tooth

Beaker people · 05-13-2020, 06:24 PM

Hi there. We have a Syrian hamster, about 5 month old. A few weeks ago we noticed that his upper tooth on the left was very long and growing sideways in line with his upper lip. I took him the the vet and they ground the tooth down with him under a bit of gas. It cost £65, including £25 for the consultation. She said that he has only one bottom tooth, and it is stumpy so not wearing the top ones down properly and we may need to have it done regularly.

Looking at him yesterday we noticed it’s getting long again, only two weeks later. It seems like I will have to take him to have it ground down again at least every month but maybe more often. We had budgeted for vet care occasionally, but this seems like it is going to cost a lot every month and it’s a bit of a worry to be honest.

Are there any other options for how we could manage it? He really doesn’t chew on anything, he has sticks, whimzees, wooden furniture, seed sticks. Can we try to trim it ourselves? How would we go about that? Does £65 sound like a lot for this procedure? I looked at the vet budgeting thread and it seems quite expensive. If so, can anyone recommend a vet in South East London?

Thanks everyone.

cypher · 05-13-2020, 09:45 PM

If the top tooth is misaligned & the bottom tooth not growing properly then chewing wouldn't make a difference, there isn't really anything you can do yourself, some people do clip teeth themselves but there is a real risk of breaking the root then you may well need surgery to fix that.
It is expensive, vet costs vary quite a lot & I can't remember what I paid when I had a ham who needed regular tooth trimming tbh.
The teeth do grow very fast, every 3 weeks is average but it can be more or less, you just have to monitor them all the time, the teeth grow faster in summer than winter.

Pebbles82 · 05-14-2020, 05:52 PM

Sorry to hear this. Yes when they lose a bottom, long tooth, it can cause issues. A good vet may suggest some other alternatives because yes it does get expensive having to have their teeth regularly trimmed. I wouldn't do it yourself or it could cause more problems and pain for the hamster. I believe there might be an option to extract a tooth.

Suggest a good exotic vet because it needs the whole picture looking at as he is quite young and it won't be good for him either having anaesthetic regularly. I believe vets are only allowed to burr the tooth under anaesthetic now,rather than clip them due to the complications clipping causes.

Coco has a good exotic vet in London. Can't remember the name. Found it - C J Hall.

Coco61 · 05-15-2020, 10:39 AM

Yes, CJ Hall is a very good exotics vet but in East Sheen so a bit of a trip for you.
I would look at their website but don’t be put off by the emphasis on birds.
You could always try a phone call and see if you can get an idea about price for teeth clipping for a hamster. And what repeat visits would mean before you decide if it is worth the journey.
Nearest mainline Station is Mortlake from Waterloo if you cannot drive there.

sushi_78 · 05-15-2020, 11:25 AM

I've looked at CJ Hall before, but didn't think they saw hamsters as they weren't mentioned on the website. Do they see small rodents without a referral? It would be useful to know for the future the next time I need a vet.

Coco61 · 05-15-2020, 12:22 PM

I have taken all my hamsters there and so has my daughter and she lives in Morden. First class treatment and confident handling. Plus all operating facilities if needed.
We took her chinchilla there some years ago but that was on referral from a vet clinic in Wimbledon which is nearer her.
You can always ring up with a problem and see if they will see you. It might mean a phone call back in the evening from the vet. They won’t see dogs and cats because that would fill up their list and there are other vets available for those. I have seen parrots and tortoises in the waiting room too.

sushi_78 · 05-15-2020, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coco61

I have taken all my hamsters there and so has my daughter and she lives in Morden. First class treatment and confident handling. Plus all operating facilities if needed.
We took her chinchilla there some years ago but that was on referral from a vet clinic in Wimbledon which is nearer her.
You can always ring up with a problem and see if they will see you. It might mean a phone call back in the evening from the vet. They won’t see dogs and cats because that would fill up their list and there are other vets available for those. I have seen parrots and tortoises in the waiting room too.

Thank you. That is good to know in case I ever need them.

Beaker people · 05-18-2020, 12:46 PM

Thank you everyone, that’s all very useful to know. I’ll give CJ Hall a ring and see what they think. I think it’s probably too far for us to have them as our usual vet, but perhaps they can advise about how to manage it in the long term.

At the moment it seems like not all vets are doing this kind of thing because of the restrictions, another vet I called said that as long as he’s eating ok they wouldn’t see him, but the one we saw asked for photos and then said we should bring him in.

I’ll keep looking round here for an exotics vet too, it would be good to know somewhere closed to home.

Thanks again!