Teeth Trimming Help-Update

Dazzle87 · Feb 24, 2011

I did my first tooth trim today. I've decided to try to minimize the number of trips to the vet because Tilley's tooth (only one gets long enough to need trimming, the one that grows up and to the side) grows incredibly fast (I honestly think it needs to be trimmed once a week to be a normal length, 1 1/2, TOPS), she hates vet trips, my vets an hour away and I have a busy schedule (don't get me wrong, I'd do anything for my rats, but if it is not necesarry it would be much easier one me.)

Anyway, I followed the ratguide "tutorial" along with what my vet showed me. But she must have the magic touch, it was SO hard to get her to open her mouth and keep her tongue and such out of the way of the clippers! It took me a little bit, which was sure stressful on her. She screamed so badly that all the other rats ran to see what kind of ratty torture was being performed :'( She does the same at the vets though or I'd bring her to the vets every time just to prevent that. So, I was wondering if any of you have any tips? Is there anything you think works better for a bottom tooth that is easy to get in the mouth other than the scissor style nail clippers?

Also, I did manage to trim the very tip of her tooth, but am waiting to trim again to get it to a more comfortable length so as to not upset her again right away.

rhapsody · Feb 25, 2011

What a coincidence - I just trimmed my hamster's overgrown bottom tooth tonight (for the upteenth time ... sigh). I guess its both easier and harder than doing a rat - dwarf hamsters are easily immobilized by scruffing, but holy moly, their mouths are teeny.

I've actually have great success trimming with infant nail clippers (they're miniatures of normal nail clippers). Might be too small for a rat though. Have you looked into wire cutters? There's some delicate jewelry making ones that are super easy to control. I've used them to trim hamster godzilla claws, but they are a bit too big for tiny hamster mouths.

Do you have access to an extra pair of helping hands? It tends to be a lot easier to have one person holding the rattie still so that you can focus on trimming the tooth without accidentally clipping anything else.

jorats · Feb 25, 2011

I use the cat nail clippers and I have the rat tipped upside down, it slightly disorients them. For me, it's a two man job.
I've got pics here: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=9876&p=134492&hilit=trim+Nessie#p134492

One thing I should caution against is cutting while twisting. Don't cut when the rat is on the move. You can break off the root of the tooth and cause internal bleeding, it might be one of those fluke accidents but it can happen.

MomRat · Feb 25, 2011

When Gregory had his tongue tumor, the vet used paperclips to catch hold of his teeth, top and bottom, to get a good look! I thought it was genius - I would never have thought of that. Could be useful? I don't know, I've never tried to trim teeth. :roll:

Joanne · Feb 25, 2011

I had to trim my Taffy's teeth after she had some kind of neurological impairment that threw her bite off. I used the same type of clippers that Jorats did in her thread. Those seemed to be safer than using human nail clippers (less likely to get tongue or lip.) I found that you did need to clip them on a weekly basis because of the growth. It was weird though - after about a month of clipping, Taffy's bite went back to normal and I didn't have to clip them again.

Dazzle87 · Feb 25, 2011

Thanks you guys gave some awesome tips! I'd of never thought of the upside down or paper clip ideas!

I guess I should have specified that my boyfriend was helping me to restrain her, she's just very difficult to restrain. I think another part of my problem is being overly anxious about it, as there were a few times that afterwards I was like OMG why didn't I just clip it right then! :emb: Now that I've done it once I'm hoping to do it with more confidence.

I was initially hopefull that it would go back to normal after a few trimmings, but one of the teeth that broke never grew back all the way

So this is definitely a for life thing unfortunately.

PS: Your thread was really helpful Jorats.

Dazzle87 · Mar 1, 2011

Update-I brought her in with Dazzle since Dazzle was going in for surgery, and got her teeth trimmed. The good news? That tooth that was not growing back is now growing back!! Her top teeth are growing slightly at an angle to the side like this \\ but less of an angle, but its a bit more hopeful that she'll be able to keep them all trimmed now, or at least enough to spread out the trimmings. Oh and her bottom teeth had been white, they are now yellow, albeit still a tad lighter than usual. I may still have to do lifelong trimmings but at the very least her teeth are healthier!