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NeonNephilim

Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2012
Messages
24
I took my chinchilla to the vet last month after I found out his one top incisor had overgrown and so they trimmed it and said one side of his molars look great and the other side good, but could be slightly better but it fine. Well, less than a month later its started overgrowing again because he refuses to chew anything besides some pellets.

A friend helped and took him to the vet again yesterday and now a different vet is saying he has hooks on his molars and wants to put him under to file them.

What are some major flags or concerns I should have when dealing with chinchilla's teeth and what the Vet says/recommends?

My chin's appointment is tomorrow and I'm also getting an X-ray done this time to make sure things aren't more serious than the vet is making it appear.

Procedure list:

Sedation/Anesthesia Minor
Teeth Trim
Metacam Oral 1.5mg/ ml per ml
Radiology Exotic/ sm mammal 2 view
Enrofloxacin suspension 30mg/mL

My chinchilla is honestly not a huge chewer to begin with so I'm really at a loss on how to help promote him to chew on something besides just his food pellets. Also, I was planning on getting some probiotic to add to Critical Care cause of the Enrofloxacin.
 
First of all pellets are too soft to do really anything to wear down teeth, remember in the wild chins chew up rocks. The incisor wear down chewing on things, your best bet is to try lots of different things to find something he likes. My guys have an assortment of lava chews, coconut shells, vine toys, and different types of wood, each chin seems to have their own preference for wood they like. Pet store wood sticks are generally not well liked, over processed and tasteless I'm guessing. If you haven't already check out some of the vendors on here for wood, online stores like Rona's Chinchillas has a wide variety of wood types and sizes to choose from. A variety of toys is also helpful, some chins like toss toys best, others like horizontal hanging, others vertical hanging toys, etc.

The molars are worn down with hay, hay should make up 70% or more of a chin's diet, it's not only required for wearing down the teeth but also proper digestion. Different types of hay wear teeth differently too, so a variety of hay is also a good idea. Mixing hay types can also make hay more interesting for chins too, which often makes them eat more of it.

As to what the vet said, you can't really get a good look at the molars without sedating the chin, and even then their mouth is so tiny that an x-ray is really needed to get a good look. Unlike other animals chin's teeth all grow all the time, if crown of the tooth overgrows the roots start growing into the skull and jaw, and that can't be see without x-rays. Overgrown roots, and spurs on the molars will definitely cause a chin to not want to chew, because it hurts. I can't help with the meds, I don't really know too much about that so hopefully someone else can help there.
 
There is no need for baytril (enrofloxacin) during a routine filing unless the vet is not telling you something. To use it on a first time filing will almost guarantee you are going to have one heck of a time getting the chin to eat. If the vet is just using it as a pre-med, meaning just in case, I would use a sulfa based antibiotic such as TMS, trimethsulfa.
 
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