Teeth trimming *Now with a photo

[adreabri]

Question on teeth trimming.

I have a boy thats not doing it himself and my vet is charging me $38 bucks EVERYTIME! Looks like it could be a monthly visit. Is there a way to do this yourself? I know I've heard of someone on here doing it themselves but wanted imput for everyone. My wallet doesn't appreciate this monthly expense especially when I'm at the vets for a grand total of about 5 minutes...

 

[Dazzle87]

Does he actually have malocclusion or are his teeth just long?

 

[jorats]

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=9876&p=134492&hilit=trim+Nessie#p134492

I used to do my rats' teeth myself.

 

[adreabri]

Does he actually have malocclusion or are his teeth just long?

Not sure... May be a stupid question but what is Malocclusion. Took him to the vets for his teeth that were overgrown and one had already broken so they trimmed his teeth down but now his teeth are overgrown again.

 

[Dazzle87]

Maloccluded teeth are teeth that do not align properly. Can you post a picture? If they are just long they will not need to be trimmed.

 

[adreabri]

No they are not miss aligned they are just overgrown. this has happened once before and the vet trimmed them right up. what should I do?

 

[Dazzle87]

If they are just long you shouldn't do anything to them, some rats just have long teeth. A picture would be really helpful though.

 

[rhapsody]

Does your boy have enough chew toys? Rats and other rodents should be able to keep their teeth manageable by gnawing on wood, hard food, and whatnot.

Its not usual to have this problem unless your rat doesn't have things to gnaw on, the teeth don't meet up properly, or there is something wrong with his mouth ...

 

[adreabri]

Alright$ ill take a picture of him when I get home. His teeth were overgerown to the point where they were cutting into the top of houth and his bottom lip. They have several bird wood toys and a kabob with applewood sticks and other chew toys they have free range to their harlan teklad blocks. Why wouldn't he be trimming his teeth down?

 

[Dazzle87]

If they were cutting his mouth then they were definitely misaligned.

 

[RoscoTheRat]

If chew toys aren't helping him or his food, then you do need to cut them and they are not aligned.

One of my rabbits have this issue, it's fairly easy to trim her teeth though (rats maybe more difficult, I haven't come in contact with a rat with that issue yet). Her teeth just don't grind together like they should so they grow funny. I use nail clippers to do her teeth. It doesnt hurt her and I trim them only as long as they should be naturally and I make sure there aren't any pieces that are to sharp or uneven.

For safety reasons for the animals, I don't suggest just anyone to do teeth trimming (specially to rats/smaller animals). You need to know what you are doing. I have been doing it for years (my rabbit ALWAYS had this issue since I got her 5 years ago) so I'm pretty confident with it.

 

[Kibble]

$38 sounds like a lot! My vet charges £12 for a simple tooth trim (she didn't have any problems, she was just poorly and only eating soft food, so her teeth were too long), and they use a little whizzy thing a bit like a dentist's drill to grind them down. The whizzy thing seems a lot safer than clipping and risking splintering the teeth, like one of those surgical saws that only cut through plastercasts. I don't know how helpful this is... but that is a lot of money!

 

[toeberto]

The cost might depend on how the vet is trimming them? It is/was $72 every 4 weeks for our Sushi to get her's trimmed, but she had severe malocclusion and had to be anesthetized each time. They have offered to do it w/o anesthesia (which would make it about $22) but she's so tiny and wiggly (and her teeth are/were so terrible) that it is easier on her to spend the extra money.

Of course, Sushi is an unusual case and in a couple of weeks her remaining 2 incisors will come out and it will no longer be an issue!

Sarah
http://bentorats.blogspot.com/

 

[KayRatz]

My rat was only $20 to be put under and have it done, why are you paying $72?

 

[Dazzle87]

Vet costs vary due to many factors, a few of which are rent costs, size of practice, cost of living for the area, etc. Kayratz 20 is incredibly low, as isoflourane is expensive.

I also wanted to say, rats will normally grind their teeth to keep them at a proper length.

 

[adreabri]

I haven't made his appointment yet just been keeping an eye on his teeth and if he's eating or not

 

[adreabri]

Alright I have a photo now..
I still haven't taken him to the vets been monitoring his weight very closely and it hasn't dropped any. Keeping a close eye on his teeth currently... opinions? I'm really confused on whats going on... Thought he had PT. He stopped eating and was lethargic and would rest on his front paws then I noticed how overgrown his teeth were... Once they were trimmed he did a 180 but I don't know

and for good measure this adorable photo

 

[Dazzle87]

Ah yes he does need a trim. If that is a recent pic then ASAP.

What is going on with his bottom incisors? I can't see them well but what I do see they don't look healthy.

Oh and the second pic is adorable.

 

[fenshae]

My boy Sweeney had a head tilt and balance issues, so he was always falling. He broke a tooth doing that once and had malocclusion problems for the rest of his life. It looked a lot like your boy. Sometimes the teeth correct themselves after you keep them trimmed long enough.

We always trimmed Sweeney's teeth ourselves. One person to hold, the other to trim. We used cat nail clippers, the guillotine style. It was easy enough. When you trim it helps to do it at a slight angle, so the front part of the teeth is slightly longer than the back part of the tooth. Putting it in a wedge shape helps them gnaw and grind down themselves.

 

[jorats]

He needs those trimmed asap. They could start curling under into his mouth and that can cause all kinds of other trouble. Did you see my thread I linked? If you have a helper, it's not that hard to trim them yourself.