Need help with YANA's teeth!

[Syntdea]

So YANA is about 18.5 weeks old now and I'm starting to worry more and more about his teeth. They don't seem to meet, seems to be a gap of about 1/8th of an inch (bottom behind front), and the bottoms seem to be REALLY long. I was only able to get two pictures of his teeth (one really crappy one and one ok), could you all look at them and tell me what you think?
Thanks.
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I can try to take more and from different angles if that would help.
Thank you.

[island rehabber]

Syntdea, their bottom teeth ALWAYS look long. However, his top teeth look perfect, so he must be grinding them down properly with his bottom teeth. Do you observe any of the signs of malocclusion? (Sniffling, sneezing, not wanting to eat anything but mushy foods....pawing at the mouth?) If not, don't worry. :)

this pic of a squirrel skull in profile might help you to see how long the bottom teeth are:

[gs1]

i think the bottom teeth move too ... which would really freak me out .....:D

where in canada? i'm near toronto...:Welcome

[Syntdea]

IR, he does a LOT of sneezing and some sniffling. He still eats well, blocks, veggies, formuls/block mix, a few nuts (not many), but he isn't opening walnust anymore, just buries them.
gs1, I was really careful not to move his jaw when I pulled his lip down for the picture. Thankfully tsb explained about moving teeth to me already.
I live in a tiny, spot on the wall town north of Guelph.

[island rehabber]

IR, he does a LOT of sneezing and some sniffling. He still eats well, blocks, veggies, formuls/block mix, a few nuts (not many), but he isn't opening walnust anymore, just buries them.
gs1, I was really careful not to move his jaw when I pulled his lip down for the picture. Thankfully tsb explained about moving teeth to me already.
I live in a tiny, spot on the wall town north of Guelph.

OK then, Syntdea, then I will retract my statement and say that we may very well have some overgrown toofers here. If you have to trim them yourself, we have some very good info on the proper clippers to use, etc. from Jackie in Tampa.

[Syntdea]

Thank you IR and gs1 for responding. I really appreciate it.
I will be doing a ton of reading and looking for a squiggle friendly vet in Ontario in the next couple of days. Wish me luck.

[gs1]

in ontario vets can have their licenses removed for helping a non rehabber with a non releasable squirrel....

if his teeth are really bad he'll be unreleasable....

ontario is probably one of the worst states for helping wildlife... if it can not be easily treated and released they prefer it put to sleep ....

if you can find a rehabber( - the licensing is really almost impossible to become a rehabber - it involves multiple home inspections and any 'wild' animal found ...even a mouse would be cause for you not to get permission to become a rehabber...)

anyway if you could find a rehabber, you'd have to give him to them and if he was non releasable they'd have to be put him sleep or lose their license too.....

my preference would be to do a teeth trimming yourself ...after you've spoken to jackie in tampa and looked at the videos a million times... you also need the right tools.... there's a clipper that helps prevent splitting.....

while you're at it ...also start looking at getting together a medications box.... for the future....:grouphug

[Squirlgirl]

:wott :bowdown :flash3 STOSH has great trimmin'n vids and pics and experience!

[astra]

agree with gs1: finding a squirrel-friendly vet in ON who will not report you and will not seize him from you is impossible. (and if you do find one, could you please share the info?;-))

But seriously, if you disclose having a squirrel, they will take him away and euthanize him.
Do not even tell anyone you have a squirrel when you start looking for a vet - just tell them that you are looking just in case or something.

Do get prepared to do it yourself:
Stosh has posted great videos and his own experience with trimming.
Do speak to Jackie - she will guide you.
Here is a good thread: http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?p=710498#post710498

[Syntdea]

I have found someone who will look at him on Friday, but I have been asked not to give her name out (the whole stupid MNR thing).
He seems to be sneezing less and has started chewing on wood again, so I really have no idea what's going on with him. I'll give everyone an update on Friday.

[gs1]

it might be a good idea ...if you can ... to find hickory nuts ....wipe/wash them clean and then crack it just a little bit and give it to him to wear his teeth down on .... although you might have to wait until they're trimmed but it might stop this happening in the future....

the only fear i'd have is if they were sprayed with pesticides etc....

maybe you could try whole foods (there's one in oakville, mississauga and toronto - maybe there's more)...

i think another really hard nut would be hazelnuts....

(while it's true we don't want to give nuts because of the fear of mbd ...maybe just these really hard ones will be ok)

:grouphug

ps: the chewing on wood is helpful which means that his teeth could wear down by themselves ... i hope.....

try to do searches on teeth we've lots of members with this problem....



http://thesquirrelboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29471&page=14


I discovered a wonderful thing in Scotts workshop. A table vice. If I put the hickory nut in the vice and turn just to the point that I hear a crack it cracks the nut to a point that Richard can smell what is inside but has to work hard using his teefers to get into it.

The vice works best for Richard to have to work hard to get in to it.

Hickory nut information may I help you?

[gs1]

here's some information from crittermom...same thread as quoted above....




www.nativenuts.com - and they do ship to Canada.

Shagbark hickory are smaller, shellbark hickory are larger with thicker shells...:D


it might take a while to get but it's great that it's winter... they're not sitting in hot trucks etc...

[astra]

(while it's true we don't want to give nuts because of the fear of mbd ...maybe just these really hard ones will be ok)

let that be his treat :), instead of giving him all those shelled nut pieces as a treat, give him a nice big hard hazelnut - that will be his treat AND his toy AND his entertainment, because it might keep him busy for a while (giving you a nice break, too:))


So, now you have nice "toy/treat/teeth tool options:
nice, big, fat hazelnuts, hickory nuts, .:)

I know that Brazil nuts are not advisable nutritionally, but again, once in a few months you could give him a Brazil nut, too - they are very hard, too.

Just, whatever nut you end up giving him, keep checking his stashes, to make sure he does not stash them, or he will end up accumulating a nice stash of nuts - we don't want that to happen:) :nono

You can always recycle the same nut, that is, if he stashes it, take it, wipe it well (b/c sometimes, i think, they can smell that they have already "tried" it) and give it to him again. Saves money, too.:)

[gs1]

let that be his treat :), instead of giving him all those shelled nut pieces as a treat, give him a nice big hard hazelnut - that will be his treat AND his toy AND his entertainment, because it might keep him busy for a while (giving you a nice break, too:))



yes...that's what i wanted to say .....:D :thumbsup

[Syntdea]

gs1 and astra, thank you so much for all the information and your continued support.
As occasional treats he hazelnuts and walnuts already which he used to open with no problems until the last week and a bit. He actually has one walnut that he just likes to stash and re-stash and re-stash. Everyday he takes it from where he left it the night before, chew on it a bit, and then moves it to another location. I am going to be ordering the shellbark nuts once I'm done on TSB.
What is so weird with him is that he went from chewing on everything to chewing on nothing and now he's back to chewing on things. :thinking He's driving me a bit batty (but I can't help loving him). We went out and bought him some dowels that were the size of pencils and he's been going to town on those (he steals every pencil he comes across and demolishes it) and got a bendy flavoured wood dowel hide from the pet store and he's loving that. I don't really like buying non-natural stuff but I was hoping that the flavours would entice him to chew it. And it seems to be working, his teeth already look better (a little bit that only an obsessive would notice) so I'm hoping that with a few other options that we can cycle through, we'll be able to keep him interested in chewing. Could that be what the problem was? Do you think that he was just bored with his maple and pine sticks, his pine toys, walnuts and hazelnuts? Well, even if that is the case he is going to have someone look at his teeth on Friday.
I really appreciate your support. Thank you.

[Margie]

I got Stormy Lee a small deer antler and wired it to her cage and she really went to work chewing on that for a while. She was chewing on a lot of wood, like the window sills, furniture, etc. but isn't doing that so much anymore. I have given her a couple of hickory nuts from the tree in my yard, and they are all hard shell, with no nut to speak of inside. I can't crack them with a nutcracker. Some of the pet supply places like Chris' Squirrels sells deer antler pieces if you can't get any locally. They are also good as a source of calcium. She will hold it with her top teeth and scrape her lower teeth on it over and over, to wear them down. They are starting to look better and not as long as they were before.

[Syntdea]

YANA was seen today! His top teeth are good, but his bottom ones are just a bit longer than she would like them to be. She wants me to do all that I can to get him to chew more as she doesn't like the risks that come with clipping teeth (she'll do it if she has to, but would rather try alternatives first). So, when the shellbark hickory nuts get here he'll be getting those. Right now it's lots of new branches, some filberts and walnuts, lots of wood, did I mention sticks? :D And we'll be keeping a very close eye on whether they wear down or not. She isn't too worried right now, I think she realized that I am a bit overly concerned with the issue, and if they don't wear down nicely then we'll look at trimming them.
As a progress report, his teeth are a bit shorter now then they were last week so cross your fingers that we can keep this trend going.

[gs1]

:D :thumbsup :thumbsup :thumbsup really good news!!!

[shellyb1018]

Maybe something else you could add:
I put cuddlebone and mineral stones and even pumice-like stone in my Skeeter's cage. They all were purchased from a local pet store and found in the parrot stuff. She chews on all the stuff all the time. they have flavored mineral stones also, they are in shapes of bananas and grapes and they just wire right to her cage. She also has a constant supply of wood chews, also found in local pet stores and are in with the rabbit stuff. Hopefully, that helps your guy chew more. :thumbsup