thick teeth or overgrown? [VIDEO]

[astrll]

hello!

one of our pregnant squirrels (egg!) has returned after two months as she usually does. during mating season, a lot of our mamas leave for two months before returning. i can’t place how they decide when it’s time to return but i assume it’s once their babies are weaning?

when she came back on tuesday, we noticed that she was struggling to crack shelled nuts. at first we thought her teeth were hurting but then we saw the length. since we’ve met her (three years ago), we’ve known that she likes to keep her teeth a little long and she’s never struggled with that. but right now they’re definitely longer than usual. the photos below are from april 22.

then we filmed her yesterday and when we zoomed in we noticed that her teeth seem… thick? i can’t really tell what i’m looking at but there is something off. and she still can’t crack a nut. the video linked below is from april 23.

https://youtu.be/WoJNs7ITfsg

other than her teeth, everything else seems normal. her weight looks good and her energy seems normal. she’s still nursing so i’m hesitant to catch her. we have an antler we can give her if grinding her teeth down is the issue but it seems like she’s struggling to grind. i also have baby ibuprofen on hand — i could dose a nut.

what do you folks think? is this normal or should we intervene?

[astrll]

she’s back again today and still can’t crack a nut. i couldn’t get a good look at her teeth this time because she kept turning away — if she comes back i’ll try to see if her teeth have changed or not.

[astrll]

she’s back again today and still can’t crack a nut. i couldn’t get a good look at her teeth this time because she kept turning away — if she comes back i’ll try to see if her teeth have changed or not!

EDIT: sorry double post!!

[astrll]

back again! she still can’t crack a nut and won’t grind on the antler i left for her. she’s mostly eating the calcium carbonate nuts i left out. her teeth look the same though, i don’t see any growth but they still look thick. will upload a pic in a sec! currently recording her.

[astrll]

looking at the videos today, it kind of seems like her teeth are curling inwards? it looks like she has a mouth guard on. and there’s a black spot between her teeth — is it a cavity? can squirrels get cavities?

video and pics from today below — the white stuff on her is calcium carbonate!

https://youtu.be/4E5P0eiaw-4?si=9HTUgcsBarXKT95F

[astrll]

she’s back again! she still won’t crack walnuts or hazelnuts but she’s able to crack an almond now. she usually doesn’t like almonds so it’s strange. she’s still not interested in the antler and mostly wants to eat the unshelled nuts i’ve coated with calcium carbonate.

she just now came so i haven’t had a chance to look at her teeth but i’ll record again and post later!

[supersquirrelgirl]

Hi Astrll, I viewed the youtube video in slow-motion and looks like the top teeth overlap the bottom teeth with a significant gap. I check the wild gang here and their top to bottom gap is smaller (top is almost inline with bottom teeth).

Had to be very careful looking at their teeth as they think my thumb is a whole walnut.....couple of close calls!

MrSSG

[astrll]

i got a better angle in her teeth and it seems like they’re growing inwards into a hook? and they seem white instead orange. she still won’t crack a walnut or filbert but she can crack an almond. she’s not losing weight and seems healthy… but i’m concerned that she’s not grinding on nuts. should we give her baby ibuprofen?

these are from the 26th

[supersquirrelgirl]

Still a little hard to see contact point of top to bottom incisors. I noticed the messy eating where food is around her mouth.

Would you say that top teeth are curled inward and the bottom are straight making the contact point of bottom teeth to about halfway on the curled section of the top teeth ??

Having curled top teeth would certainly make cracking a walnut difficult as squirrel is missing the top chisel. Almond shell is considerably smaller than a walnut shell so maybe the teeth line-up better to crack the almond ?? Many of the wild foxes here do not crack a dry walnut shell. They first bury it for a few days then dig it up to eat. There is one small grey squirrel (about 1/2 the size of a foxer) who cracks a walnut without any trouble.

Ibuprofen would be useful if you suspect pain or inflammation?? I would suggest you get a squirrel dentist to give you an opinion. Having misaligned teeth are problematic. Glad she is healthy.

Mr.SSG

[supersquirrelgirl]

I looked at the video again and it appears she cannot get a good bite on the walnut to even hold it. After several attempts, I sensed she was frustrated and moved on. I wonder if a cutting the top teeth slightly could remove the curl and make the chisel (tooth end) at a better angle ?? Something like 1-2 mm shorter.

[astrll]

I looked at the video again and it appears she cannot get a good bite on the walnut to even hold it. After several attempts, I sensed she was frustrated and moved on. I wonder if a cutting the top teeth slightly could remove the curl and make the chisel (tooth end) at a better angle ?? Something like 1-2 mm shorter.

i got that sense too. we’re hesitant to catch her because she’s currently nursing is it an immediate danger to her?

[astrll]

trying a new tactic — we’re getting the nuts started for her by leaving a crack in the nut. when she notices that the nut has a crack, she does grind on the shell a bit, so hopefully we can get her grinding a little more.

she also seems much happier, being able to crack a nut on her own.

another squirrel stole our antler but she wasn’t really grinding it. i have more coming — i think i’ll chop up the antler and try giving it to her.

is there anything else we can do? are there other things that are better suited for grinding?

she’s finally trusting us again (whenever she returns from having babies, there’s a couple weeks where she keeps her distance) and coming up to our hands, so i’m going to try and get a close up of her teeth.

[supersquirrelgirl]

i got that sense too. we’re hesitant to catch her because she’s currently nursing is it an immediate danger to her?

Yes, I read she was nursing. Oh you lucky grandparents! More littles around!!

You said she is healthy in general. No sense in keep her trying to open walnuts and get frustrated. She is cracking almond and such if needed. There is plenty of good food that is soft for her to handle. Having babies is enough stress right now. Her health is most important with babies.

This has been a great journey for you guys! So much fun to read your diary!

[supersquirrelgirl]

trying a new tactic — we’re getting the nuts started for her by leaving a crack in the nut. when she notices that the nut has a crack, she does grind on the shell a bit, so hopefully we can get her grinding a little more.

she also seems much happier, being able to crack a nut on her own.

another squirrel stole our antler but she wasn’t really grinding it. i have more coming — i think i’ll chop up the antler and try giving it to her.

is there anything else we can do? are there other things that are better suited for grinding?

she’s finally trusting us again (whenever she returns from having babies, there’s a couple weeks where she keeps her distance) and coming up to our hands, so i’m going to try and get a close up of her teeth.

Your idea is so sweet! If she thinks she did the cracking, she will be so happy for herself. Nice thinking! When I give whole walnut here, the wilds do the spin test and if nut passes, its immediately buried. Any hole or crack, they will eat right away.

Maybe your squirrel can find something in the yard to chew on to help trim those teeth. My gang chews the crap out of lawn sprinkler heads and the big plastic green waste bin. Tricky to tell the trash company I need a new green bin.

Keep up the good work!

Mr.SSG