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Teeth query

Patches24

Young Bun
Hi Everyone

How are a bunnies teeth meant to look? I have just taken a look at Blossom's and the front top 2 hang slightly over her bottom 2. She also seems to have worn one top tooth a little more than the other. She eats like mad and eats loads of hay etc. Am I just being an overly protective and worried Mum?! I saw some photos on a website about how bad bunnies teeth can end up and almost ended up in tears at how neglecting people can be.... I'd hate for them to be in any discomfort!

Any help will be greatly appreciated! Prevention is better than cure ;)

Bunny Love

Sarah, Patches and Blossom xx
 
The top incisors should be a few millimeters infront of the bottom ones and come down a couple of millemeters lower, they won't be touching or anything when you check.
You can normally tell when teeth are overgrowing as you get a 'two-tone' tooth where the tooth is growing so quickly without being worn down.
A hay-rich diet will sadly not do much for problem incisors, if they're not lined up for whatever reason (genetics, injury to the jaw, etc) they'll keep growing regardless and are best off being removed, whereas with molar problems lots of hay will help encourage the rabbit to move his teeth in a way that will hopefully wear down any spurs.
If you're worried, get your vet to have a check.
It may sound like lots of people have buns with problem teeth (have 3 myself!) but just think of it this way..there are 1281 registered users on the board, and you may read about 10-20 threads on bunny teeth problems, but that's still over 1200 people who've not posted to say "my bunny's teeth are perfect!"!
 
That is severe malocclusion in that photo, it is clear the teeth don't meet and haven't worn down naturally for a while, I am sure it would have been evident earlier but as it is a vet teaching photo I can only assume the owners didn't care enough to check the rabbit!

It is worth casting a glance at your bunnies teeth at least one a month and getting your vet to check the back ones annually when they get their jabs done. If the vet spots any early signs they can give you a warning or possibly take some x-rays if necessary.

Caz
 
Squidgy arrived at my door like that - I think his previous owners thought it would be too expensive to sort out :( .
He's had his incisors removed thoug, so if this does need to happen at any stage - don't worry. He copes perfectly well without them, jsut needs a little help from us. I've been mummy to 5 bunnies now, and there's only been Squidgy with teeth problems so far.
If Blossom's still eating, she can't be in any pain, but it may be worth popping her to the vet to put your mind at rest.
 
Wow! I'm amazed at how some people let their bunnies teeth get (just looked at the photo on the link you gave). Does anyone know of a book which shows all the sorts of common health problems in rabbits as I think it would be really useful! At least we'd know what to look for!! I have a couple of books which describe various things but you never know what you're looking for!

Thanks for everyone's advice :)

Sarah xx
 
toffeepudding said:
Is it just me or are the bottom teeth way longer than the top. Is it a pick of one of urs???

No I just found it on Google to show what I meant by two-tone.
Rex never had lots of excess growth as his wasn't genetic or diet-caused, it was a trauma to his face that broke one of his teeth and obviously must've knocked it out of alignment a bit as it grew back slightly slanted and eventually knocked the one next to it out of place. They then didn't grind down properly. The vet tried shaping it to wear down naturally but it didn't work so I had them removed as I think it's fairer in the long run than a vet trip every week or two.
Squishy's were very long when I got him, they were almost cutting into the opposite gums (so bottom teeth had reached his top gum and vice versa)
We had them trimmed down to he could eat (somehow he was still managing pellets with them at this length though :shock: ) then let them grow back a little and had them removed at the same time as his neuter (did this with Rex too, to save an op)
Mary's were similar to that example pic in the fact that they grew outwards, but his I think are down to genetics as he was on a rich hay diet with me (unless he wasn't before I got him - don't really know his age or background, only assumed he was young as he was still housed with his sisters and none of them were pregnant - the litter was given to the petshop I used to work in by a breeder who was stopping) , and he gets molar problems too.
 
Ditto everyone else! The front teeth should be lovely and white and clean. Yes they overlap slightly. If you can see any ridges running across either the top or bottom front teeth, that is a sign of tooth disease.

Tilly has dodgy teeth. I can see very slight ridges on her front teeth. She had spurs on her back teeth until the vet filed them down recently. Unfortuantely I think this was probably caused by poor diet at their previous home. Humphrey's front teeth look very good however.

As long as you feed the correct diet (ie lots of hay and veg to promote grinding motion and keep the back teeth, as well as the front teeth, worn down), her teeth should be fine. b-m
 
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