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What do you do to keep your biuuy's teeth in order?

W

Wuzzy

Warren Scout
My male Mini Rex is about 6 months or so old. He eats hay "sometimes" but pretty much very little anymore but loves fresh veggies. I am concerned about making sure he stays healthy and importantly his teeth as well.
I have purchsed him MANY chew toys and he isn't interested in chewing them in any way shape or form. He has a huge run and he is always testing everything but I need to know what to do to keep his cute little teeth the proper length without having them shaved by the vet.
Thought I'd ask to insure a haelthy mouth.
Thanks in advance!
 
Plenty of hay is the best answer and you can encourage him to eat it by not giving him too many pellets to fill up on. Grass is good for their teeth and I also feed mine ready grass which is a dried grass and they love that too.
 
Hi Wuzzy, our Rexes love their vegies I'm told, mine does anyway, he also isn't interested in any chew toys, so I get willow sticks, hold one in my hand & rub it gently around his face, and eventually he starts chewing it; I hold it firm, but rotate it slowly and move it along. He can go through 3 in one chewing session.
He also has a wicker washing basket for his hay and he chews that, as well as straw table mats (i get them from charity shops).
I also (paranoid about his teeth...me?!) plait 3 long strands of hemp string, and tie chunky knots in it. He tosses it around and then chews into the knots.
Have you tried giving him a cardboard box? Most buns will chew their way through that. I just try to be imaginative and make something new every few days :D
 
Hay Grass Hay Grass and more Hay :D

How much dry food and veggies are you feeding? Do you feed any other products like pet store treats?

If he is being well fed on these he will avoid the hay if he is not a big fan as these are all much more tastier! So reduce all of these slowly until he is only on say a tablespoon of dry and a small handful of veggies/herbs and he should begin to eat more hay and grasses.

Try picking fresh grasses and herbs such as lavender, rosemary and also dandelion etc and mix in with his hay as that may also encourage him to munch it.
 
Totally agree with the others, lots of hay / grass and minimal pellets is the best way to reduce gastric and teeth problems.
 
The problem with chew toys is that they will only work the front teeth, whereas many dental problems are caused by the molars which you can't see, and chew toys won't help them.

I'd suggest getting hold of lots of different varieties of hay until you find one that he likes (saying a bunny doesn't like hay is a bit like saying a person doesn't like bread, or apples, or meat - there are so many different tasting varieties that they are pretty much bound to like one of them)

You could try a local farm shop, or you can get taster bags from places like www.thehayexperts.co.uk www.bunnybasics.net and also www.sphsupplies.co.uk and www.dustfreehay.co.uk have different varieties you might like to try.

Good luck!
 
A big box of hay! All of my buns love sitting in a big box or pile of hay and munching away. They have hay racks/ boxes/ tubes full all over their enclosure, so they are never far away from hay to nibble.
 
I adopted a rabbit which was 2 years old, she practicaly didn't eat hay. Tested about 5 differnt varieties and labels. What finaly got her munching was hay with dried rosepetals mixed in it... She was French :oops:

Anyway, this kind off hay has helped lots of rabits to learn to eat hay, so it's really worth a try, as the others already pointed out, this is really the only way.
 
My lot have at least a few hours each day grazing on the grass, and several different types of hay for variety as they all like lots of different types.
The hays that mine ALWAYS eat are Burns Green Oat Hay http://www.shop.burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk , Pure Dried Grass (Wilsons Pet Stores), Dust Free Hay and the bog standard hay from the farm in a bale,oh and Alfalfa (but small amounts), and I'm always trying different varieties to see which are their favourites.
I often mix in some of the new Naturals range from P@H like Coneflower, as they route amongst the hay for the tastier bits, and eat the hay too :D

Like "leanne" says above : hay grass hay grass and more hay!
 
just like everyone else said! make sure she aint filling up on pellets so she can't stuff her face full of hay and grass.

carrots are good too and apples and there's plenty of other things.
 
Got back form the vet yesterday with my bun who has teeth problems and he told me grass, hay and more grass (any type). He said that carrots will mainly only help to keep the front teeth down, it is the hay and grass which keeps the back teeth down.
 
Long stranded hay is the best as it means the rabbit does a continuous grinding action to eat it all in one go. Carrots and apples are good for treats but only occassionally as they are high in sugar, and don't forget to remove the apple pips as they are toxic to rabbits.
 
Chew toys etc rarely do much for the front teeth anyway - rabbits with 'normal' incisors wear them down by grinding them together. If they're misaligned (due to bad genetics, an injury, root infection, etc) then they no longer align properly and the natural wearing process can slow down or stop completely depending on how misaligned they are.
I had three buns with misaligned incisors and found chews etc make no difference - all 3 went on to have their incisors removed which is much fairer IMO as it prevents them having to have them burred down at the vet every 4-6 weeks and they managed very well without them.
Loads of helpful tips already been given for molar teeth problems though :)
 
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