Jaspers bottom teeth U/D

Hi all, I've just noticed that J-boys bottom teeth are really long!

I've only had buns since June, and they were babies, so don't have much experience with teeth. Obv. I'm gonna take him to the vets on Monday, but can somebody tell me what normally happens, or how long teeth have to be before something needs to be done? Do they have to knock them out and grind them down - i'm just wondering how much this would cost, am a bit poor at the mo.

I do give the buns regular checks - but Jaspers a rescue bunny so he's really not keen on being picked up and poked. So a bit nervous about going near his mouth, until I see the vet do it and see how he re-acts.

I've tried a search on the net - but I couldn't find much info and I know you guys are the experts on buns.

Forgot to add, he's eating normally (like a pig! he likes his veg!) and they both have trilions of things to chew, esp they love them hard corn things and those dried berry and veggie sticks - and I know they both eat them, so wondering why his teeth aren't naturally ground down?

I've just discovered malocclusion in one of mine. In a normal rabbit the teeth should meet and wear down naturally, but if they're slightly out of line this can not happen so they continue to grow causing problems. They burr the teeth without anaesthetic, Sugarplum had her's done yesterday and it came to £35 but that was with VHD as well so prob about £20 for the procedure. If they don't get better she is going to have her front teeth removed so she doesn't have to go through too much burring as it can't be a nice experience! :shock:

Thanks Touie,

What exactly is burring and what is VHD - is it a long procedure - or do you just wait?

How was/is Sugarplum now? And how long was she knocked out for?

Hi there. I think burring is like sanding down the teeth with a big long instrument. Sorry I'm rubbish at explaining! Different from clipping where they just cut the teeth back.

Hopefully someone else can explain better and know why vets opt for one option over the other. My vet says that burring can sometimes expose sensitive parts of the teeth but gets good results. Burring can take the teeth down much further than clipping can I think. Again, I'm a bit unsure.

I don't know much about front teeth, its the molars that have been giving my bunnies a problem.

Your bunnies are very cute! Lots of luck with your bunny's teeth

Fiona x

Hi S-O-G! Burring is basically where they get a little tool like a dremel and use it to file the top of the tooth away. They used to use a pair of clippers, but recently this has been overtaken by burring - because clipping can damage the whole tooth and be very painful to the bun

Are the bottom teeth in front of, or behind the top teeth? Can you see them curling over into the mouth or up towards the nose? Hopefully your vet will be able to sort it fairly easily, although as touie said, if it looks as if the teeth are out of line (maloccluded), then it is often better to have them totally removed, as this prevents you from keep on having to get them burred. Buns live perfectly happily without their front teeth - you just need to make sure that you grate veg etc for them as they can't bite into it.

By VHD, touie is referring to the vaccination against the disease VHD - completely unrelated to the tooth issue, but if your bun hasn't yet been vaccinated against myxomatosis and VHD I would strongly recommend you get this done. The two vaccines are given two weeks apart and give protection for up to a year (myxo is recommended at 6 month intervals in high risk areas) before they are re-done. Both diseases are transmitted by insects such as mosquitos and VHD can also be brought into your house on clothing and shoes, so it's important that even housebuns are vaccinated!

Good luck with your little one xx

Thanks guys,

Jaspers bottom teeth are in front, going up towards his nose. Like I say he seems happy enough, but I have noticed he doesn't grind his teeth (he does this when I stroke him, to tell me he likes it) but didn't think much of it as Jessica stopped doing it too (maybe she's just copying him). His teeth don't look wonky to me - the two bottoms are totally straight.

Anyway will take him Monday and hopefully he'll be ok - at least I know for future and either book him in for it reguarly or if his problem is bad then think about getting them removed! Poor love.

Thanks for your help - dunno what I'd do without this forum - worry myself to death no doubt!

Hi S-O-G!

He'll probably just need the teeth burred for now, but depending on what the vet says and how often they need burring, you might need to have the teeth removed at a later date. It's not always a matter of what they have to chew on, although buns born with well-aligned teeth can get malocclusion from not being able to chew properly. What's probably going on is that he was born with slightly wonky teeth, which isn't unusual. It's a genetic issue that bad breeders don't always care about.

If you did get him from a breeder you should call him up and let him know, as that means he'll have to stop breeding both the mom and dad to prevent passing on these genes.

Thanks naturestee,

I didn't get him from a breeder, I got him from a rescue place - so I don't know anything about his history. Gosh I feel so mean for not noticing sooner, I can't wait for monday now to get him all fixed. Poor baby!

When I take Jasper to the vets, shall I take Jessica too (nothing wrong with her btw), seeing as they are bonded?

How long will the procedure take? And how much does it cost roughly? I just wanna make sure I've got enough money - defo wanna get it done tomorrow.

Phew - took him to the vets this morning, they had to gas him as he was having none of it! Anyway they did burr them down, and only cost £37 - result!

Will go back next month for a check up, to see if its a re-occuring problem.

He wasn't eating when I got him home - just washing, guess he wasn't able to clean himself proper. Anyway, tried everything, he weren't interested - started to get a bit worried, so went to the shops and bought him some grapes, parsley and digestive bickies (they only have them rarely as treats, but they love em!) anyway, that did the trick and wolfed that down and started on the parsley!

Hurruh for Jasper - I was so worried and guilty, will always check their teeth now - no matter how much he hates it, the vet showed me the towel trick - even tho that didn't restain him much in the vets - but least I know how to do it now.

Thanks for all your advice btw

P.S. I've just gone to check on him and give him a nose rub, and he's just ground his teeth at me - awwwwww he loves me again! i'm doubly happy!

A bit of an update and advice.

Jasper had his teeth burred 3 weeks ago, I just cannot believe how much they have grown since, I'd say over a CM, they are sooooo long again!

Already got an appt. next week which was made by the vet for a check up. I think I'll wait til then, as he's not having problems eating yet and want the vet to measure how much they've grown in a month.

It looks pretty obv. he's gonna have to have his teeth removed at some point. Just wondered if anyones got any experience of this and any advice.

Poor lil' man!

Front teeth are often removed for various reasons, it's quite common and there's very few problems with this, unlike molar removal which can cause nearby teeth to move out of line as they move to fill the gap, causing more complications. I would definitely reccomend removal over routine burring for the front teeth as there are far fewer complications and there is no longer the worry of repeated GA's.

The recovery time is generally quite quick. It just requires you to possible syringe feed for a couple of days and to give pain relief and pro-biotics etc. Afterwards, the only difference is that you will need to slice up or grate their veg, and possibly mush up their pellets, but most buns seem to get the hang of slurping food up like spaghetti real quick.

I have heard of people having to clean the teeth sockets with a cotton wool bud too, but that may just be if there's a chance of infection :?


So all in all, removing the front teeth, would be a good option!!

Thanks KerinTravis,

I think that we'll get his teeth romoved in Jan/Feb as theres a lot going on this month, so want to give him full attention for his recovery. Last time the vet gave him a bit of gas, becos he was having none of it when the vet and I were trying to restrain him in a towel to have a look.

I have heard of people having to clean the teeth sockets with a cotton wool bud too, but that may just be if there's a chance of infection

Click to expand...

That would be a nightmare, as above he just wriggles and wriggles![/quote]

Thanks KerinTravis,

I think that we'll get his teeth romoved in Jan/Feb as theres a lot going on this month, so want to give him full attention for his recovery. Last time the vet gave him a bit of gas, becos he was having none of it when the vet and I were trying to restrain him in a towel to have a look.

I have heard of people having to clean the teeth sockets with a cotton wool bud too, but that may just be if there's a chance of infection

Click to expand...

That would be a nightmare, as above he just wriggles and wriggles!

Hi guys, I know I keep posting about this but I'm just concerned. I couldn't wait for Jaspers appt next week so went to the vets yesterday, as I noticed his top teeth were really long too - obv. they've not been grinding on his bottom teeth.

I spoke to the vets and said I was very concerned at the rate they've overgrown in just 3 weeks, he said he'd have to speak to another exotic vets about this as they deal with rabbit dentistry as its a very complex subject.

I'm just concerned as he made out its a complex thing and I'm worried about Jasper. He's quite a laid back bun (expect when you need to inspect and handle him) so having his teeth burred, doesn't really affect him from what I can tell, its just the frequecy of it, every 2-3 weeks!

The vet is gonna give me a call next week to see what the other vet says. But I'd like to do some research first, just so I can ask the right questions and can feel confident about Jasper having his teeth removed.

Thanks again for any advice you can give.

A worried mummy X