Babies bottom teeth

[RescueMomma]

My 5wk old eastern gray squirrel's , thumbelina, bottom teeth are so long I can see two little indents on the roof of her mouth behind where her front teeth will be. I picked her up on 9/9 from the women who originally found her (she came to me severely dehydrated, I believe mom was moving the nest and wasn't able to come back and it caused thumbelina to look for help. Everything was done correctly for mom to come find her baby). Her top teeth are just starting to poke through, ive tried to give her things to chew on but shes not interested. I think her bottom teeth are to long. Should I clip her bottom teeth? Also her teeth don't seem well rooted they flex apart and back together. Is that normal? I am comfortable clipping her teeth as long as I know doing so I won't damage her young teeth (I know a vet would be better but the vets where I live dont even see rabbits, let alone a squirrel. There are no local rehabbers, the closest center is 3hrs away and is run by incompetent founders)

[RescueMomma]

My 5wk old eastern gray squirrel's , thumbelina, bottom teeth are so long I can see two little indents on the roof of her mouth behind where her front teeth will be. I picked her up on 9/9 from the women who originally found her (she came to me severely dehydrated, I believe mom was moving the nest and wasn't able to come back and it caused thumbelina to look for help. Everything was done correctly for mom to come find her baby). Her top teeth are just starting to poke through, ive tried to give her things to chew on but shes not interested. I think her bottom teeth are to long. Should I clip her bottom teeth? Also her teeth don't seem well rooted they flex apart and back together. Is that normal? I am comfortable clipping her teeth as long as I know doing so I won't damage her young teeth (I know a vet would be better but the vets where I live dont even see rabbits, let alone a squirrel. There are no local rehabbers, the closest center is 3hrs away and is run by incompetent founders)

[TubeDriver]

Can you post up a photo of her teeth? That would really help folks here to give correct advice. Squirrel teeth can move around like chopsticks so that may be normal.


My 5wk old eastern gray squirrel's , thumbelina, bottom teeth are so long I can see two little indents on the roof of her mouth behind where her front teeth will be. I picked her up on 9/9 from the women who originally found her (she came to me severely dehydrated, I believe mom was moving the nest and wasn't able to come back and it caused thumbelina to look for help. Everything was done correctly for mom to come find her baby). Her top teeth are just starting to poke through, ive tried to give her things to chew on but shes not interested. I think her bottom teeth are to long. Should I clip her bottom teeth? Also her teeth don't seem well rooted they flex apart and back together. Is that normal? I am comfortable clipping her teeth as long as I know doing so I won't damage her young teeth (I know a vet would be better but the vets where I live dont even see rabbits, let alone a squirrel. There are no local rehabbers, the closest center is 3hrs away and is run by incompetent founders)

[RescueMomma]

I can try to get a good picture but I'm not sure if ill be able to hold her mouth open enough to get a picture where you see the indentation on the roof of her mouth. She lets me look at them fine with only a few grumbles haha. Here's a picture of her because she's adorable311312

[CritterMom]

You are certainly right about the adorable part!

Have something to slip into her mouth side to side to hold it open for a moment - like a pencil, or a popsicle stick. Certainly indentations from the teeth on the top palate aren't good. Do the new top teeth look normal?

The teeth moving around is normal and proper. They widen to have sort of a prong-like action to hold and stabilize hard, slippery nuts in place while they chew their way in. It is a really cool adaptation that freaks the %$!&% out of you the first time you see it!

[RescueMomma]

It really did freak me out when I saw them moving I'm going to try again in the morning for a picture she was grumpy today and having none of it. Her top teeth seem to be coming in normal so far but I'm starting to think she's behind for her age. At her age shouldn't she be able to support herself on her back feet and hold things? I got her to nibble a little bit but is only interested if I hold it for her. Shell take it from me and when she can't hold it she'll try to prop it between one paw and the ground while she used her other paw to support herself or hold whatever I give her still. She ends up giving up on it and moves away from it and then she doesnt want that again. She also has no interest in exploring much so I have her in a nest box inside of her next level housing but she just eats sleeps and goes potty.

[Nancy in New York]

She is adorable! :klunk
Can you get a photo of her head on so we can see that little face?

[HRT4SQRLS]

I will add another vote to the adorable column. :grin2

I know your question was about her teeth but I wanted to ask about her formula.
What formula is she on? Have you heard about the issues with Esbilac this year?
I just wanted to throw that out there because it's been such a huge problem this year.

[RescueMomma]

I have lots of questions the more I spend time with her the more I think something is different about her. Ill post a few pictures of her and a video at her next feeding of her walking. She walks very odd but she might just be in awkward baby stage. I did see about esbalic but not quickly enough because I started her on that after 24 hrs of rehydration with heavy cream and occasionally plain full fat organic yogurt. I ordered Fox's brand and Henry's blocks for her, they should be here today. She weighs 116g and I measured her while stretched out she's about 5 inches not including her tail. When shes sitting like in the first picture I posted she is maybe 3 1/5 inches. Ive been encouraging her to stay up after she eats for a little bit to walk around and she likes apple sticks so I try to get her to chew on those. She moves everything fine so no broken bones just slow awkward movements. Should I be worried about mbd?

[RescueMomma]

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[HRT4SQRLS]

I have lots of questions the more I spend time with her the more I think something is different about her. Ill post a few pictures of her and a video at her next feeding of her walking. She walks very odd but she might just be in awkward baby stage. I did see about esbalic but not quickly enough because I started her on that after 24 hrs of rehydration with heavy cream and occasionally plain full fat organic yogurt. I ordered Fox's brand and Henry's blocks for her, they should be here today. She weighs 116g and I measured her while stretched out she's about 5 inches not including her tail. When shes sitting like in the first picture I posted she is maybe 3 1/5 inches. Ive been encouraging her to stay up after she eats for a little bit to walk around and she likes apple sticks so I try to get her to chew on those. She moves everything fine so no broken bones just slow awkward movements. Should I be worried about mbd?

Based on your time with her I would say no but it depends on how long the other person had Thumbelina.
The walking odd is concerning.

[RescueMomma]

The woman who found her only had her for a few hours before someone told her about me. She did feed thumbelina a few drops of straight formula (petAg puppy milk replacer plus not the esbilac). She does walking butt scoots here and there She can mostly wee on her own and poo with help and some on her own do I'm assuming that's what the butt scoot is for. She rarely pushes off with both of her back feet to do little hops she just walks every where. Hopefully both videos will post. The first one is right after she ate an used the bathroom she wants to go straight to bed. The second one is me bothering her haha but really just trying to get her to move around more and stretch out her muscles. I don't think I'm going to be able to get you guys a picture of behind her front teeth. I'm just going to keep offering different things for her to try to wear her teeth down naturally but keep an eye incase I need to clip them.

[TubeDriver]

Based on your initial photo of her bottom teeth, I would NOT trim those teeth. Give here top teeth some time to grow in and monitor them both.

[RescueMomma]

https://youtu.be/-r7BVGH-LXw

[RescueMomma]

This is the only way I could figure out how to upload a video.

https://youtu.be/PS9E_2JU7Rw

[Nancy in New York]

Quick question. If you already answered I apologize.
What formula are you feeding?

[RescueMomma]

I have been using esbilac with whipping cream and occasionally plain full fat yogurt. I have Fox's formula that I ordered and should be here today. I'm disappointed I didn't see the esbilac formula had changed sooner or I never would have put her on that and went with petAg goat milk replacer instead until the proper formula came.

[RescueMomma]

I wont mess with her teeth unless I'm sure they will cause her damage. Years ago I rescued a rat that had had a stroke and couldn't chew the same anymore, so her teeth needed regular clippings. I've seen how terrible the death can be from not wearing down their teeth and I don't want that to happen to this little baby. I am so happy I found this page and everyone is so helpful here. Thank you guys so much for the help.