Dental Surgery - I need some support :(

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Lovelywhiskers

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 11, 2014
Messages
71
Maybe for the past 2 days I noticed my chinchilla Moxxi (3 1/2 years old) been very quiet lately in her cage. I noticed she tries to eat things and she just grinds her teeth. It's the same behavior when trying to chew things. So I thought their must be something wrong with her teeth. I look at her teeth and her bottom lower one was pretty big. This scared me so I got a Vets appointment today and I won't be hearing from them until sometime after 3pm. They putting her asleep and doing surgery on her tooth. Seems it has gotten overgrown.

Is there anyway to prevent this? I mean like extra ordinary way to prevent this?

I personally was thinking putting them (3 girls & 2 Boys) in their playpen just with a lot of toys and see what goes on a daily basis. They do have toys of course, but I always wonder if it's enough. Or is there any tricks on what toys to give them to help with this situation?

Also need some support from others, to tell me their experiences with this.

Thanks
 
I give mine fresh apple twigs every day, they get 10 or so and they use them up. Once toys are "expired" in a chinchillas mind they wont touch them so a supply of new chew items needs to be offered frequently. Another problem that happens is the cheek teeth overgrow and don't allow proper chewing since the mouth can't close all the way, why they overgrow can be environmental or genetic.
 
So moxxi has been doing well. Eating more the last few days her wet food they gave me. They took out both of the bottom teeth, and they filed one of the molar teeth down since it was a bit sharp. Other then that the vet told me she was in good health and to keep doing what I been doing.

Anyone else live with this problem with chinchillas?
 
If they removed the entire lower incisors, the chin will need the upper ones trimmed on a regular basis like every 4 weeks, the cheek teeth will also need attention on a regular basis since the dynamics in the mouth have radically changed and chin teeth are not anchored in bone like humans, they will drift to fill the gaps.
 
Question not related to the teeth issue. When you say: "I personally was thinking putting them (3 girls & 2 Boys) in their playpen" do you mean putting the males and females in the same playpen at the same time? If so: 1) are they spayed/neutered? 2) are you wanting to breed (because there will be babies if there is un-spayed/neutered mixed playtime and breeding when there are teeth issues present is strongly discouraged); 3) Are they used to playing together? (Chins that are not used to playing together may fight if suddenly introduced into an environment with chinchillas they are not used to interacting with.).

For the teeth: how many are now on each side of the bottom and top? Are there additional extractions planned and is there a plan for regularly filing the ones that no longer have a tooth below/above them? Another way to help monitor teeth issues is to monitor your chins weight (food scales work well). Often when there are teeth issues a chin will reduce their food consumption and their weight dropping may be the first indication you have that there is an issue. How is your chins hay consumption? What does their diet look like (diet can contribute to teeth issues as well)?
 
wait why did they remove the incisors? Those are easiest to deal with with chew sticks and food?? Plus they can just trim them down.
 
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