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oh no!!!! Louna's tooth!

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teeth rat
2K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  Dustette 
#1 ·
Louna lost her bottom right tooth! well it actually looks like it broke off! I was watching her teeth since I got her because I thought they were a lil' too long!
And now one's broken off!
So I'm gonna have to trim the other one tonight :( the other one is really really short, if i make the long one as short she won't eat on her own, I'll have to feed her purees and stuff. Should I leave it long enough for her to eat by herself?
She can still eat right now with the long one, I'm just scared it will overgrow too much if I leave it and she won't be able to eat.
 
#2 ·
Could you possible trim it a little, but not as short as the other??
 
#4 ·
Rat's teeth grow extremely fast. I think they grow about 5 inches per year, I read that somewhere a while ago. So it should be back to normal in maybe a month, probably less than that even. Once her teeth are back to a normal size, you should probably get her some stuff to chew on. Do you feed her just seed mix, or are you getting food blocks as well? The large all-in-one pellets are great at keeping their teeth length under control. Any kind of mouse/rat toys that she can chew on safely would help a great deal in the future also. I've never had to trim any rats teeth, so I'd imagine that the type of food, and plenty of toys to chew on, do help out a great deal. I know she was kept very poorly before you got her, so it's from no fault of your own! She shouldn't have this problem in the future, now that she is in a loving home. :)
 
#6 ·
So I brought her to the pet shop, the owner was there and a guy i've seen cut rabbit teeth before. They told me that if the broken tooth didn't bleed, it was long enough and I could cut the other to the same size. But they didn't manage to do it, she was too stressed out! I'm sure she remembered the smell of the pet shop because she peed a few times and she does that when she's scared (and then of course the usual stress poo) so I'm going to trim it tonight (i have all the tools) when she's falling asleep. When she's in deep sleep i can put my fingers in her mouth and she doesn't wake up so hopefully i can pass the tool in her mouth and cut without waking her up before i cut!
I've done it before with baby squirrels, but they're really sweet and relaxed.

Her teeth didn't grow longer in the month she was with me, so I think she has enough to grind her teeth on here :) I feed her suebee's diet and dog food that is the same consistency as lab blocs, so I'm sure those help. She also has apple-tree branches she chews on. I'm sure after they grow back, they'll stay at a comfortable size for her! They weren't extremly long but in my opinion about 1mm too long. So I'm going to cut one or 2 mm tonight, so that the other tooth can catch up! I'll probably have to trim them twice to get them nice and even.
 
#8 ·
I once had an entire tooth break from the bottom and it grew back under a week..I just made sure she ate well and made soft foods when needed and trimmed the rest to maintain their length until the other one grew back
 
#10 ·
Please do not try to sneak in and clip her teeth.

It is a VERY easy thing to do. Grab her by the scruff of the neck (Pinch her neck fur between the side of your thumb, and the bottom part of your index finger) If you "scruff" her tightly enough and flip her over..... her mouth will be open and you can accurately clip her teeth.

If you do not have complete control of the animal....it is an accident waiting to happen. You do not want to cut the tip of her tongue off or cut the inside of her mouth accidentally.

Please do not attempt to cut the teeth unless she is still and you have complete control of her. If she is a particularly large rat - you can hold her tail between your elbow and your side to have better control over her after you "Scruff" and flip her.

If you do not understand "Scruffing" - you may be able to Google or search for photos by typing in "Rodent restraint" or something similar.

Malocclusion - or overgrown teeth is TYPICALLY hereditary. If she is a breeder..... I would remover her from breeding and keep an eye on any of her existing offspring.

Normal, healthy rats will not develop overgrown teeth. They file them down successfully by grinding them.....all by themselves. Even without things to chew on.

Unfortunately, rats only get one set of teeth to last them their lifetime - so it is important to take proper care of them if they are malformed.

If her teeth are Maloccluded (And they likely are) you will have to clip her teeth for the rest of her life. The alignment is off and she is unable to grind them down properly. They would need to be clipped anywhere between every 3 week - 2 months....or more (Depending on the rate of growth)

It may be best, if you are uncomfortable, to take her to your Vet - they will be able to show you this very simple procedure and you will pick up on it very quickly.....you will HAVE to, really.

It is also a good idea to begin thinking of alternative food sources in the event that she is UNABLE to eat hard food due to an infection or abscess.

I always just add water (Or pedialyte) to two or three rat pellets to soften them up, I add some rolled oats to the wet mixture and then let sit to become a "paste". Even sick rats will readily eat softened food and oats if they are too weak to crunch on pellets.

You can also offer Jello (made with Pedialyte instead of water) as a substitute for water. Call me crazy......but rats LOVE the blue jello (The berry berry flavor) You could also just offer clear GELATIN (made with pedialyte)

Problem with wetting the pellets is that it spoils quickly. It needs to be replaced daily and made fresh daily.

If you have a maloccluded rat - these are a few basic things that you should have on hand - things always seem to go wrong at the worst possible time......long weekends or the wee hours of the morning.

Good luck with her - she will be fine with some regular teeth clipping, love and attentiveness.
 
#11 ·
Thank you for all the advice!
I've done a lot of teeth clippin on squirrels, and some on my guinea pig. I had never done it on a rat, and we tried the scruff thing at the pet shop I used to work at but I think the pet shop smell was too much for her and she was screaming and moving around and her tongue was everywhere.

I'll try the tail between elbow and body thing, that sounds like it would help for her not to move.
I managed to cut off a piece of it last night, but I didn't want to do it 3 or 4 times in a row because she really didn't like it. You're right about sneaking it in her mouth, I realized it was a stupid idea last night, but I did wait for her to be sleepy to do it because she's not as stressed out and didn't move as much.

She is not a breeder, so not to worry about the hereditary malocclusion.
I'm not sure I will have to trim them regularly because with the very poor care she had at the pet shop she managed to keep them only about a milimeter too long, and for a month at my place they didn't grow longer. She was fine eating, bruxing etc... I'm just trimming the one she has left so she can grind it down properly considering she's missing the other.
 
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