Do the colour of rabbits teeth determine age?

I've heard this before and thought it was more of an old wives tale! But maybe someone can inform me?
Odie & Zelda are about 4-4 1/2 years old and have yellowy teeth. I have no idea how old Flo is, I always guessed at around 2 years, I've had a look today and hers are very white! All of them have recently had health checks and teeth deemed 'perfect', all fed on same diet etc.
So would white teeth mean Flo is younger?

Rather unhelpfully I'll chip in with "I don't think so". Boo is my youngest & has really quite brown teeth which is attributed to her high grass & forage diet

joey&boo said:

Rather unhelpfully I'll chip in with "I don't think so". Boo is my youngest & has really quite brown teeth which is attributed to her high grass & forage diet

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Hmm ok - but if that is the case Flo would have yellowy teeth seeing as she basically only eats grass!

Aye, I'm not sure why Boo's look worse when all 3 eat the same (she is maybe not quite as brilliant as the other 2 at eating hay) - maybe some teeth resist staining more. FHB at her rabbit owners lectures said grass will stain their teeth brown & when she did Boo's check up she looked at her teeth & said "she eats a lot of grass then?".

I think bunnies are notoriously difficult to determine age - maybe cos of those perpetually growing teeth. I've read their nails get less sharp & spiky at about 2 yrs.

No doubt someone wise & knowing will be along

I don't think the teeth do show the age so much as the diet.
Ludo is still young and his teeth are a bit hay coloured. Harry (previous bunny) was older and had whiter teeth- he was not a hay eater.

joey&boo said:

Aye, I'm not sure why Boo's look worse when all 3 eat the same (she is maybe not quite as brilliant as the other 2 at eating hay) - maybe some teeth resist staining more. FHB at her rabbit owners lectures said grass will stain their teeth brown & when she did Boo's check up she looked at her teeth & said "she eats a lot of grass then?".

I think bunnies are notoriously difficult to determine age - maybe cos of those perpetually growing teeth. I've read their nails get less sharp & spiky at about 2 yrs.

No doubt someone wise & knowing will be along

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That's interesting about the claws - Flo's are fairly spiky still! Yes it is really difficult, I would really love to know how old Flo so I could pair her up with a rabbit of similar age. When taking out insurance, Petplan asked how old I said I didn't know, probably young, they asked for in years! How was I supposed to know?!

Hesperus said:

I don't think the teeth do show the age so much as the diet.
Ludo is still young and his teeth are a bit hay coloured. Harry (previous bunny) was older and had whiter teeth- he was not a hay eater.

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Ok thank you!

No, teeth are not a reliable way to tell a rabbits age. You can have an older rabbit with beautiful teeth and a younger rabbit with atrocious teeth.

Some people say that there is a relationship between the condition of a rabbits hocks and their age, rabbits develop a callous on the heel of their foot as they get older, the constant pressure on the heel makes this develop, obviously you can tell if a rabbit is very young as they will have a fully furred foot and look young as well, a slightly older rabbit will have developed a callous but the skin will be soft and pink, an older rabbit will have a dark pink and tough callous on the heel of the foot. x

Generally rabbits have very white teeth all their lives. If the teeth are brown or yellow it's probably because they have an unhealthy diet. I find claws can be a better indicator. As buns age, the claws get thicker/tougher. In elderly buns they lose muscle tone over their backs, probably due to a lack of exercise because of stiff joints.

Fluffybunny54 said:

Generally rabbits have verbecause of teeth all their lives. If the teeth are brown or yellow it's probably because they have an unhealthy diet. I find claws can be a better indicator. As buns age, the claws get thicker/tougher. In elderly buns they lose muscle tone over their backs, probably due to a lack of exercise because of stiff joints.

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Grass causes brown teeth & that isn't an unhealthy diet

Fluffybunny54 said:

Generally rabbits have very white teeth all their lives. If the teeth are brown or yellow it's probably because they have an unhealthy diet. I find claws can be a better indicator. As buns age, the claws get thicker/tougher. In elderly buns they lose muscle tone over their backs, probably due to a lack of exercise because of stiff joints.

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Quite the opposite in fact. If you see a rabbit with sparkly white teeth you know the diet has been very limited.

When trying to tell the age of a rabbit I look at the claws and at how prominent the spine is and whether the muzzle has gone grey. The latter indicates the rabbit is over eight. The spine starts to feel prominent from six or seven in an otherwise healthy rabbit. Damaged claws usually indicate an older rabbit whereas perfect or very sharp claws indicate a young one. In lops the lack of an ear infection points to a young rabbit too, under five anyway.

The conditions in which rabbits live makes more difference to their appearance and body condition than their age does. I have seen rabbits look ancient at five, while our five year olds are still youthful. We now have at least a dozen nine year olds and while some of them look their age others still look far younger.

no many rabbits that have grass diet through being out a lot this causes the yellow colour of teeth nothing to worry about at all

Ok I think I get the point - the fact she has white teeth doesn't matter.

She has thin perfect claws, very spritely, no greying etc etc so I'm going to guess she is what I thought, 2 years.

Thanks everyone