Rescued Hamster and teeth problems!

[bbbarker]

Hi everyone,
I have recently taken in a Hamster that was found by a women up the road from me one morning on her door step.
He has been advertised on Facebook and unfortunately no owner has come forward and due to the finder not being in a position to look after the Hamster I offered to take him in.
So tonight I did a health check and sexed him, he is a male, is on the smaller side but other than that there's no lumps or bumps and everything looks ok apart from his teeth!
When I've looked I've realised the poor thing literally has one tooth and that is his bottom left tooth and the rest are gone! There's no blood from what I can tell although the tooth he is left with is very long!
I have had hamsters in the past but have never seen teeth this bad! I'm so sad and distraught from looking at them!
My question is when I take him to the vets tomorrow what exactly will they do?
I've read up clipping the tooth isn't good as it can shatter so I'm puzzled as to what options the little guy has got!

[SKB_Hamsters]

It's so nice to read that you could give this hamster a loving home. It sounds like he been through a lot. In regard to his tooth I would ask whether the vet could trim it using a dental burr but he would need to be put under gas anaesthetic though but it would depend whether the vet is comfortable to do this however this could allow the vet also to look at what damage has been done to his other teeth. This is what I had to do recently with my late Syrian Sherbet who sadly damaged her top teeth which resulted in her only really having her bottom teeth which my vet would trim every 2 weeks using a burr under a bit of gas anaesthetic as my vet didn't want to use clippers as they were affraid it may shatter or damage her bottom teeth. I also made this thread about feeding hamster with teeth problems so I thought it maybe useful to you - Feeding Hamsters with Missing Teeth or Who Are Elderly

I hoping that everything will go well at the vets.

[cypher]

Poor little guy, if he doesn't have any teeth to grind against the long one then it most likely will need clipping, shattering is a possibility with clipping but it is also quite rare, I had a ham that needed regular clipping for some time & we didn't have any problems, it's quick & pretty stress free with a good vet.
Burring is another option as SKB says but it would mean regular anaesthetic so you have to weigh up the pros & cons really as there are risks with anaesthetic too.
If his other teeth don't grow back & it has to be done on a regular basis (that can mean every two to three weeks) then I would think clipping would be the best option but it is something you would need to discuss with your vet.

[bbbarker]

Sorry for the late reply, I've been none stop busy with work.
Brownie (has now been named) was taken to the vets and funnily enough when the vet looked at his teeth the tooth that was left the night before had gone!
She thinks it must have fell out at some point during the night.
It was hard to get a good look but it does look like both bottom and top teeth are growing back.
So I'm just to keep an eye on them and for the mean time give him soft foods like porridge oats, baby food, banana, scrambled egg and his pellets mashed up.
She does think he is an old hamster and isn't sure why his teeth have fallen out because his gums look healthy.
Other than this he is healthy and just needs to put a bit of weight on.
I'm so happy this little guy is getting a second chance at life because he will certainly get a good one with me!

[Rads]

bbbarker the other name for complete hero/heroine (delete as appropriate)
You are an amazing person to giving this little guy a second chance and a loving home, how could someone just leave him on somebodies doorstep, the thought makes me shudder, and that is me being very polite, I shall keep my other thoughts to myself..

[bbbarker]

Was just saying to my parter I can't believe anyone would dump such a loving animal, he is so friendly and innocent.
He is doing really well, has put a bit of weight on and is very sociable.
I have just checked his mouth and noticed his bottom two teeth are growing back and one top tooth is growing back which is fantastic!

[bbbarker]

Hi everyone!
I've got a quick question.
I checked brownies teeth the night before last and both bottom teeth were almost grown to a good length and same with one of his top teeth, the other one wasn't there.
I've checked tonight and he now has all four teeth and are a good length apart from his top two being slightly different in length.
Now my question is, is it normal for them to grow that quick?!
Also now he has all four teeth, they shouldn't need clipping surely?

[Rads]

Originally Posted by bbbarker

Hi everyone!
I've got a quick question.
I checked brownies teeth the night before last and both bottom teeth were almost grown to a good length and same with one of his top teeth, the other one wasn't there.
I've checked tonight and he now has all four teeth and are a good length apart from his top two being slightly different in length.
Now my question is, is it normal for them to grow that quick?!
Also now he has all four teeth, they shouldn't need clipping surely?

The simple answer is Yes Hamsters teeth grow constantly if you have them plain raw monkey nuts are great6 for Hammies as they get to gnaw the shells and then eat or pouch and stash the kernals inside.
Also Bonio's are good as they can have a good knaw on them which keeps their teeth in good condition.

[cypher]

Hopefully now he has all four teeth they won't need clipping but it depends if they've grown back aligned properly or not, if not they may still not grind down as they should but only time will tell so do keep checking.
They grow incredibly fast & quicker in summer than winter! When mine was having his teeth clipped it had to be done every couple of weeks.

[racinghamster]

Hi bbbarker. If Brownies teeth have grown back (so quick too?!! ) and he can eat normal hamster food, that`s great. But if he isn`t able to eat his normal food, chances are even though all four teeth are visible, he may still feel himself that something isn`t feeling right.

I`ve just been into my own vet this morning with my elderly Russian dwarf male as he stopped eating his normal mix, so I tried in vain to look at his teeth and just couldn`t see them properly. Don`t think I have the knack the vet has at scruffing!

Anyway, it turns out that Chubs has all of his teeth, the top two are very short however, but the two lower teeth are not overgrown either, which left me and the vet rather at odds! The vet took a strong torch to look inside his mouth and we could both see inside. Right enough, no damage.

However, I still have to prepare his daily food which consists of Supreme Science Selective biscuits (softened in water) and then I use a pestle & mortar to mash up most of the hamster mix without the millet as the millet has small crispy shells and I don`t want him consuming those.

I would suggest getting a pestle & mortar (charity shops are good if you see any) or buy a small cheap one. Place nuts, biscuits, Weetabix and anything else he enjoys into it and tap at the ingredients until it resembles a powder. Place the powdered food into a ceramic dish and spoon out small amounts required and add a few drops of water to the dry powdered food. Using a small spoon, combine the mix and get it to a marzipan-like consistency.

You can also use the P&M to chop up larger pieces he can`t manage well. This will allow his teeth to chew the food, but slowly introduce his hamster mix in too. Giving him the two options. Watch for any weight loss too, but if he`s eating well, his condition should be stable. x