TIPSY's Teeth

[BigNibbler]

I posted a few days ago about Tipsy sneezing and thought it was a cold.
He is not eating anything hard. Is frustrated by a simple almond in its shell.
Had been opening black walnuts, tooth picking wood boards, tree barks and branches till some weeks ago.

Wondering if my letting him chew on Suede Leather gloves might have irritated his gums.
Or if that caused his teeth to get misaligned?

How do they look to you? This is when he yawns or smiles :


http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-cGFRNG6/0/L/i-cGFRNG6-L.jpg (http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-SttG4/i-cGFRNG6/A)



His tongue easily flows over his teeth:

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-LwcQt5z/0/L/i-LwcQt5z-L.jpg (http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-SttG4/i-LwcQt5z/A)



http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-tfMXQQ2/0/L/i-tfMXQQ2-L.jpg (http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-SttG4/i-tfMXQQ2/A)

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-9v9J35n/0/L/i-9v9J35n-L.jpg (http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-SttG4/i-9v9J35n/A)

His Yawn seems full, but he won't grab a nut:
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-jzs7S9x/0/L/i-jzs7S9x-L.jpg (http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-SttG4/i-jzs7S9x/A)

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/i-p26LKT9/0/L/i-p26LKT9-L.jpg (http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-SttG4/i-p26LKT9/A)

[TubeDriver]

I looked through the entire pic collection on smugmug.

In general, his teeth look decent to me. They are even, alignment looks about right (they can move teeth like we move chopsticks so that can be tough to assess) or at least nothing alarming about his teeth alignment.

In a couple of those pics, his bottom teeth look a little long and the top teeth perhaps a little bit shorter than usual but not enough that I would expect to see eating issues.

Nothing there jumps out at me?

[BigNibbler]

I looked through the entire pic collection on smugmug.

In general, his teeth look decent to me. They are even, alignment looks about right (they can move teeth like we move chopsticks so that can be tough to assess) or at least nothing alarming about his teeth alignment.

In a couple of those pics, his bottom teeth look a little long and the top teeth perhaps a little bit shorter than usual but not enough that I would expect to see eating issues.

Nothing there jumps out at me?


Thank you TubeDrive. Maybe his gums or lips got irritated from chewing my suede leather gloves! I always buy cotton or kevler. But someone bought me a suede pair, and for a few weeks he really liked teething on them. So I let him. Now thinking that it may not have been good. Figured it was easy compared to barks and black walnuts.

I felt exactly the same about his teeth as what you are saying. I hope he gets better instead of worse. Watching him closely.

[CritterMom]

How old is Tipsy?

Does he chew the bars of his cage?

[BigNibbler]

Good question.
He was born around March 16th of this year.
His mother brought her in to me, because she knew he needed help.
He is neurologically challenged.
He was shaking terribly and at first I feared he was sightless from his behavior.
He could not climb down from his home.
His rear legs are very weak.
Been giving him a lot of calcium and he can walk and run, and hops sometimes like a bunny. But either leg can flip sideways and then he just drags.
So I am very careful with him.

He is in a Critter Nation, so he cannot chew the bars and he does not.
He was in another cage many months ago, and I changed that to prevent it once I saw him do it a few times. I also boarded up the area where he was prone to chew within hours of my noticing it. So No he does not.

He weighed 580 grams two weeks ago. Last week he ate much less. Now he is eating well. But only soft food.
I soak Harlad Teklad 2018 rodent nuggets in Sweet Apple Cider. He loves them and eats about six a day last few days.
I have to cut HHBs small for him to eat them.
Was eating lots of them.

Was toothpicking everything till a few weeks ago ?!?
And would have one black walnut a week.
Now he just growls and won't look at them.
He won't even open an almond!

[MAC]

please keep me posted, we have a similar issue, stopped chewing a couple weeks ,, thanks

[farrelli]

How do his teeth look now?

[BigNibbler]

Sorry for my being AWOL. Just peeked in and saw there were a few new responses.
Tipsy is doing great as far as his teeth are concerned. I was just about to trim his teeth, but they seemed marginal. It had gotten to the point he could only eat soft foods. Slowly he started eating normally. Fast forward, he is now devouring branches, eating hard rodent nuggets, can easily open walnuts ( though I have not given any in last three weeks ) and can work for hours and days on a black walnut till he has it all in pieces.

His teeth feel good to my fingers when he has my fingers in his mouth from the side.

I think what happened is that, I had let him chew and suckle on a pair of soft suede gloves someone had give me. It was a bad idea, but they felt nice and soft and we both got used to hanging out with him falling asleep suckling on my gloved fingers. He knows the difference between my finger and the leather. He liked chewing on the leather. And he quickly learned that I did not like him doing that with my fingers! Over the course of about ten days the leather got well fringed. I think he got sore gums from that. Or possibly but only a distant possibility the tanning material in the gloves, caused some astringent action either on his skin or even his fur to create a pulling sting when he would open his mouth. When I noticed that the underside of his chin to his neck was turning the gold yellow of the gloves, I stopped wearing them. I wish I knew what happened. But as he began to chew again, I gradually encouraged him at every chance. He is now tooth picking wood for hours a day.

If anyone knows a martial arts school, they break wood boards in practice and regular competition. They dump or donate the boards -1/4 and 1/2 inch after a single break. They would be happy probably to give them to you! Have them put to good use. That is what I got. I got a big box of wood slabs.

Unfortunately while his attitude, upper body, and teeth are doing so well, his lower legs, his ability to run and jump and his balance, have not improved much. He does not shake anything like he used to, and he can climb up the bed, or climb me, but his legs are very weak. His toes are squirrel strong though. Very sorry for delay in responding.