Broken Top Front Teeth

[Tinkerbunk]

I have a question much sooner than I thought I would. It seems that my daughter's pig, Shyla, has either broken both front teeth or worn them down in a desperate attempt to get to my boar who recently moved into the cage directly next to them (C&C cage divided in half with sows on one side and a single boar on the other). The bases of the teeth are still there but even with the gum line. She's eating fine if the food is minced. I'll keep track of her weight with the kitchen scale to be sure. Is there anything else I should look out for? And is this likely to reoccur, meaning should I find another living arrangement for Beau?

 

[Wiebke]

Make sure that she is getting enough fibre (syringe mushed up pellets with a 1ml syringe whose narrow tip you have cut off); up to 80% of the daily food intake should be hay/fibre.
http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

If the teeth are still firmly sitting in the gum, they should grow back within a matter of days. If they are loose, please see a vet. http://www.guinealynx.info/teeth_broken.html

You may want to put an opaque divider between the cages whenever Shyla is coming into season. If you happen to have access to a good vet, you may want to consider having Beau neutered and joining the girls after a 6 week post op wait (I have a surprise baby courtesy of a supposedly safe over 5 week post op boar, so it can really happen that late). If you don't have a good and experienced vet, I wouldn't bother; the risk of complications is too high in that case.
http://www.guinealynx.info/vet.html

 

[PipandPop]

My old piggy once snapped his top two teeth. We mushed his pellets and fed him short bits of hay for a couple of weeks while they grew back. We also took him to the vets who prescribed antibiotics just in case. After they'd grown back he had to further problems.

It's quite shocking at first, but amazing how well they can adapt in the short term.

 

[Tinkerbunk]

They're not bleeding or even sore and red, just completely even with the gum. (I tried for a picture but Shyla wasn't having it.) The vet is closed except the high priced, emergency option that tells me to bring them if they sneeze, and since she's acting fine I hesitate to jump to that just yet. I'll call our regular one Monday as long as no complications arrise. I picked up a syringe for mushed food but she wasn't interested which means she either hates it or wasn't hungry so I've put her into solitary confinement to see just how much pellet she'll eat on her own. She currently has the weight appropriate 51 grams (she's 854g, putting it here too in case I lose my post it with her current weight ) Thank you for the link, I had read their page on broken teeth but missed that one!

I've looked into castration for Beau because I think he'd be so much happier with the girls instead of just next to them. Unfortunately, our regular vet isn't very experienced with them and reluctant to do one; which is why we love our vet, he'll admit when it's out of his comfort zone and recommend a specialist. He's trying to find someone on our side of town that may. I appreciate the advice! Pretty sure this all happened in the past 24 hours as they are spoiled pigs thanks my 10 year old, and she has them out often. I'm the first to hear if anything happens. It's usually something along the lines of Shyla jumping back into her cage and a fear she may have hurt herself. That girl has 14" verticle!

 

[Tinkerbunk]

Silly piggy didn't drink anything last night. She's eating timothy hay and spring greens still, but not interested in her pellets. Biggest problem is she is down 20g since last night. How often do I syringe her some water? I'm thinking a couple tsp every few hours. Mash water counts to the 4 oz, total correct? She's eating some, but not as much as she normally would and doesn't seem to mind the mash meals too much.