• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Francesca has a wet chin

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Sep 30, 2009
Messages
785
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
West bromwich
Hi, ive noticed that francesca seems to have a wet chin - now I'm not sure whether this is from the water bottle or whether she is drooling but its nearly always wet. Ive checked her teeth and I dont see anything drastically wrong. She has the little indent in the top teeth for the bottom teeth to go into, the bottom ones are quite long though - is this normal? She is eating fine (more than fine in fact she is the greediest one here!) and they dont seem to be troubling her. Am i just over reacting?
 
Her front teeth are normal. it's either a problem with her molars or greediness.
 
ok I'm going to sound really dumb but where are her molars? And if it was a problem with her molars, would it cause her discomfort or trouble with eating?
 
Her molars are her back teeth; that where they chew on and where most tooth trouble is located.

Another possibilty could be a rash or sore in her mouth. Try some daktarin oral gel from the pharmacy (don't say it's for piggies).
 
They get trouble with the molars, and what happens is that they gradually grow over the tongue. If you are in doubt I would get them checked by a cavy savy vet, sooner rather than later.
 
what would they need to do? file them down? is this expensive? is there any other reason why she could be dribbling?
 
ive just tried to have a look in her mouth but she clamped it shut - I managed to open it enough to see the front teeth which are straight but I cant see the rest.
 
The back teeth aren't very easy to see because guineas have very fleshy mouths inside, but they are quite a way back, and unless you are quite knowledgable about guineas teeth, I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly where they should come too. I myself have tried to look in a guineas mouth and it is not that easy, vets have special tools to look into their mouths. Sorry I can't tell you any more.
 
Dribbling is more often than not due to dental issues. If your piggie is still eating then it may not troubling her too much at the moment, however it is best to get her checked out before more serious symptoms present themselves. Something else to bear in mind is that dribbling can also be a sign of a throat infection. Either way, if you can, get Francesca to a vet to professionaly examine her teeth it will put your mind at rest . Good luck..
 
if there is something wrong with her molars does anyone have a rough idea of how much it costs to set right again?
 
Never needed such treatment yet fingers crossed, but apparentley the procedure can be done without anestetic. I couldn't guess at a price really. Do you have a good vet that can do this do you know?
 
If it is her molars that have grown too long she will most probably need a dental. This may only be once but more often than not it is an ongoing problem.

I have only ever had one piggie that had a dental problem, which was quite severe and he needed a dental every 6 weeks which cost around £70 a time.
 
Last edited:
Guineas pigs teeth continue to grow so if they are not worn down correctly the chances are they will keep causing problems. It is thought that teeth problems in piggies under 2 is a genetic problem although it could be due to a poor diet or something else.

As Weibke said take a look here
http://www.guinealynx.info/teeth.html

I would take her to the vets to get her teeth checked before worrying about long term problems it may be something else.

Since my dental piggie I have found a vet that does concious dentals which is much better for the piggies and cheaper.
 
ok I'm worried now. Ive looked closely and she is actually dribbling. :(
But her weight is fine, and she is eating fine too .....
 
I would get her checked as soon as possible, it's much better if they do the dental earlier, before she gets unwell in herself and stops eating.

Is she actually eating, my boy used to look like he was but didn't actually pick up the food, sometimes he would chew the food and then it would dribble back out of his mouth.
 
Last edited:
I'd take her too the vets then, just to be sure.

If you need the details of the vet that does conscious dentals you'll have to let me know. I think it cost £12 for my last foster bun.
 
My own vet did the dentals on my piggie he had a GA and his teeth burred this cost around £70, it was before i knew a vets that would do conscious dentals.

Any foster animals that have needed dentals go to a different vets which do the dentals conscious these ones cost around £12.
 
I don't think it would matter as I didn't book them in under the RSPCA, although they knew they were fosters. You could always ring and see what they say. It may be different as mine were rabbits not piggies.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top