Crooked teeth

[babyz]

Hi everyone! we recently found this squirrel outside, he keeps gnawing even in his sleep and i noticed his teeth are crooked and are digging into his top lip. Is this normal?

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hi everyone! we recently found this squirrel outside, he keeps gnawing even in his sleep and i noticed his teeth are crooked and are digging into his top lip. Is this normal?

Hi Babyz:
Thanks for finding The Squirrel Board! A few questions first if you don't mind; Is this an adult Squirrel? How long have you had the Squirrel? Is the Squirrel just lying there for the photo or he being restrained? What are you giving for food and hydration? Have you ever taken care of a Squirrel before this one came along? Does it appear that there are no other concerning behaviors except for the gnawing at night?

To get to your concerns and question; the bottom line is that it is NOT expected that a Squirrel will gnaw in his sleep or for any relatively prolonged period without something to actually gnaw on. That brings up my other comments based upon your photo and you post---In the photo you have uploaded, it is difficult to see great detail as the becomes pixilated. Nevertheless, it appears that the upper incisors are to the right of the lower incisors and there is an opening in the skin of his lip or mouth toward where the lower incisors appear to rest. Please verify these observations and if possible, post other but more detailed photos from the same view, directly from the front (preferably with his mouth open), and from the side.

If the teeth are going the way it appeared to me and stated above, it seems that either the the lover incisors are angled to the left of the upper incisors or the Squirrel in attempting to close his mouth is having to let his mandible (lower jaw) "slide" over to the left. If so, or similar, he is probably not so much "gnawing" as much as trying to get his mouth fully closed without being hampered by his teeth. It may be as you say and his teeth are not aligned (if so please also verify which teeth appear "off", the upper or lower or both) and/or his teeth are excessively long (if this may be the case, I suspect from you photo that it is the lower incisors that may be too long). If his teeth are simply excessively long, the immediate fix is relatively simple and the excessively long teeth need to be trimmed. If that is the case, we can help you with some instructions and suggestions to accomplish this.

Again, if that is what is going on, trimming the elongated teeth will result in immediate improvement BUT, the reason that the teeth grew excessively without naturally being worn down by eating and grinding the teeth down on rocks or other hard object as is done in the wild will need to be determined. It may very well be that this Squirrel has malocclusion (the teeth do not align properly). The cause for this, if it exists can be because the teeth are not growing out normally for what ever reason and/or there may be an abnormality for the upper jaw (maxilla) or the lower jaw (mandible) or its joints with the skull.

As a contingency, are you aware of any Squirrel friendly Vets where you live or nearby?

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel