Squint Teeth?

matinee_92 · 09-09-2005, 11:49 AM

The other day I noticed that one of Tumble's top teeth is slightly longer than the other.

It certainly isnt causing him any problems at the moment, as he is eating and drinking fine, but could it later on?

SnuggleHam · 09-09-2005, 12:23 PM

That’s not good, I would have to assume that he chipped a tooth at some point and its not evened out. You may need to visit a vet so that he can make then equal to one another.

When one is broken they do not wear evenly and may become misaligned. If left untreated, the hamster may become unable to eat, and in serious cases teeth can grow up through lips or into the roof of the mouth.

Do you have a bared cage? Please check out this article about bar chewing

http://www.hamstercentral.com/a_barchewing.htm It also has more info on misaligned teeth.

matinee_92 · 09-09-2005, 12:39 PM

Yes we do have a barred cage, and Tumble LOVES to chew it!

In the evening when he starts we just put him in his ball, which takes away some of his bar-chewing energy. His sand bath also seems to have helped a bit, as its another distaction. He completely ignores his wheel though.

Its mainly when we're all asleep his bar-chewing is a problem, because we cant distract him.

Ive put toilet rolls through the bars of his cage on the top level, where he normally chews, but he just pulls them out. Hes quite an active little hamster!!

But the difference in length between his top teeth really isnt much at all, i just noticed it when he yawned. Will they become more uneven?

SnuggleHam · 09-09-2005, 12:46 PM

Yes your hamster teeth can get wors. Bar chewing is often caused by boredom, so make sure you have many toys for your hamster, as well as regularly taking time to play with it out of the cage. Swap the toys around often so that the hamster’s environment is not always the same, and make sure your hamster has enough space too. You can give give your hamster other things to chew, like fruit tree branches (make sure they haven’t been sprayed with pesticides) or wooden chews from the pet store. Some hamsters may not want to chew on wood, in which case you could try unflavored dog biscuits or cardboard tubes.

Stress can also cause bar chewing so make sure all of your hamster’s requirements are fulfilled – space, privacy, temperature, cleanliness of the cage, suitable bedding etc.

If bar chewing still occurs which is seems it will, it would be best for your hamster’s wellbeing if you switched it to a bar-less cage, such as a plastic duna-type cage, a converted aquarium or a home-made bin cage.

Emma · 09-09-2005, 01:43 PM

If he's fine at the moment I wouldn't advise doing anything to his teeth yet. I've often found that once you start clipping/burring teeth you end up having to do it regularly so I wouldn't advise taking him to have them clipped/burred unless there is a problem, which would show up with him eating less or perhaps being wet around his mouth. Keep an eye on how much he eats and drinks and keep track of his weight too.

The suggestions in Candace's post and the bar chewing article are good, and worth trying to try and decrease the bar chewing. It seems that the behaviour can become entrenched and sometimes even when you offer all the distractions in the world they will still chew away, in which cases a change of cage is worth consideration for the hamster's health and your sanity

matinee_92 · 09-09-2005, 02:12 PM

Ok then, thanks both of you for your help

I wont take Tumble to the vets yet but i will keep an eye on his teeth/weight/eating/drinking.

Oh, and I'll try some of the ideas to stop him chewing the bars

**babyboos** · 09-10-2005, 08:12 AM

Teeth often wear uneven but then right themselves. Maybe try putting an old spoon in through the bars where he chews the most and hopefully he will chew this instead. It has a wider, even surface to help wear his teeth down on. I have heard of all sorts of things to try and discourage biting such as rubbing the wires with lemon and othr bitter tasting substances but to be honest I haven't found any of them very successful - if they want to bite they will bite - a bit like the horrible stuff you get for humans to stop them biting their nails they just lick it off and spit it out and keep on biting

Chinchilla stones are biten by some hamsters, others ignore them. Nuts in their shells such as hazelnuts and walnuts will often distract them for a short time. As the others say, keep an eye on Tumble, and hopefully it is a short-term difference which will right itself.