White teeth!

[nikihiki29078]

Ok let me start by saying...I have 4 chins...a 2 year old male, a 9 month old male, a 4.5 month old female, and a 3.5 month old female...males and females are caged separately!

My question is about their teeth. All of my chin's teeth are the normal orange color except for my 4.5 month old ebony girl. Her teeth are a very light yellow/almost white color. Even my 3.5 month old beige girls teeth are a nice shade of orange! It has been brought to my attention that it's possible that my ebony chin might have a calcium deficiency.

She also seems to be crumbling her food. Though I've always heard that tooth problems rarely show in chins so young.

I've started giving her alfalfa hay constantly instead of timothy hay, have gotten her to start eating a rosehip everyday, and have cut out all supplements and treats with oats and grains in them.

She seems like she's even put on a little weight since we made those changes to her diet. What I'm wondering is...because her teeth worry me so much...is...if these changes are working...how long will it take her teeth to start to change colors? I would feel sooo much better if I could see a difference! It terrifies me to think of something happening to one of my babies!!

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks!!!

 

[squeaker123]

Since im new ive been searching the archives here and on a thread about cuttlebone (i think thats what its called) someone said white teeth meant too much calcium, not a deficiency.

 

[Laurie]

alfalfa hay everyday is not necessary if you are giving her good chinchilla feed. What food are you chins on?

 

[Brittany]

I've heard it takes several months for a baby's teeth to get dark orange. My 6-month-old's teeth aren't as dark as my 2-year-old's. When I first got her, at 9 weeks old, they were more yellow/white then orange. Perhaps a breeder will see this and give some input on the the time table for teeth changing.

With a young chin she needs a well balanced diet to grow properly. A good pellet, mostly timothy hay, and alfalfa hay occasionally (mine get's alfalfa once a week).

Some chins crumble their food more then others. The only way to tell if she's having malocclusion issues would be to take her to a vet. If it was my chin I'd be looking for more signs then just crumbled food (weight loss, drooling, pawing, grinding teeth, etc.) However if it is malocclusion it unfortunately can't be cured with dietary changes.

 

[squeaker123]

And i guess the thread i was reading was wrong cause i just searched cuttlebone and all of them say deficiency. Weird.

 

[nikihiki29078]

My chins are on the Kline Diet which I've heard is a great feed. It is also the feed that the breeder we got our girls from uses.

I talked to the breeder and she says quite a few of her chins crumble their food so I'm not completely worried about that now...since she has no other syptoms of a tooth issue except for the white teeth.

I guess the main reason her teeth worried me so much is because her cagemate is a month younger than her and her cagemates teeth are nice and orange already. But I guess...every chin is different.

I do wish her teeth would start to yellow a little bit! lol!

 

[Chub_Chub]

When I got Pirate at 4.5 months old, his teeth were closer to white than orange as well. My breeder said they get orange as they get a little older, and his teeth are now perfect Cheeto-neon-orange. Plus, I don't think you would want to give supplements to a chinny that young. I would just give it time to happen on its own.