Missing Teeth

[Emz1999]

Hi all, looking to see if anyone has any knowledge as to what to do in these situations,

We recently bought a couple of piggies from a family who were no longer able to look after them. So far had them since Tuesday and both have settled themselves in constantly popcorning and squeaking.

Today I just noticed when one had her nose in the air that she's missing one of her bottom front teeth and a good chunk out of one of her top ones. In the 9 years of owning guinea pigs I have never seen teeth like this before. She is eating happily and still has a good bite on her as discovered when I let her bite my finger to check. Her weight is very good and I figure that its not causing a problem with her appetite. But surely it is uncomfortable in other ways? What could have caused her teeth to be like this? What can be done about it?

She did come from questionable living conditions. She and her friend was kept in a large hamster cage and I'm unsure how often they were allowed out for a run round. Previous owner did not specify. It was also clear the first time we gave them hay that they haven't come across it before. The food that they were given did not come in a labelled packet, and was some sort of muesli mix. I'm wondering if the living conditions contributed to the problem.

Any insight will be greatly appreciated.
Emily x

 

[Betsy]

Hi Emily and welcome to our friendly Forum!

Have you had them both vet checked? If they came from "questionable conditions" it is probably wise to do so. It sounds as if they are enjoying life with you. Where are they housed? I strongly suspect it is the diet (or lack of it) and the living conditions that have contributed to the problem. A pellet style food is much better than muesli as it stops piggies leaving the stuff they don't like. Let us know how you get on at the vet.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all, looking to see if anyone has any knowledge as to what to do in these situations,

We recently bought a couple of piggies from a family who were no longer able to look after them. So far had them since Tuesday and both have settled themselves in constantly popcorning and squeaking.

Today I just noticed when one had her nose in the air that she's missing one of her bottom front teeth and a good chunk out of one of her top ones. In the 9 years of owning guinea pigs I have never seen teeth like this before. She is eating happily and still has a good bite on her as discovered when I let her bite my finger to check. Her weight is very good and I figure that its not causing a problem with her appetite. But surely it is uncomfortable in other ways? What could have caused her teeth to be like this? What can be done about it?

She did come from questionable living conditions. She and her friend was kept in a large hamster cage and I'm unsure how often they were allowed out for a run round. Previous owner did not specify. It was also clear the first time we gave them hay that they haven't come across it before. The food that they were given did not come in a labelled packet, and was some sort of muesli mix. I'm wondering if the living conditions contributed to the problem.

Any insight will be greatly appreciated.
Emily x

Hi!

You may want to have your guinea pigs given the once over by a vet.

Teeth that break easily can be caused by malnutrition/lack of vitamin C in their diet, especially as a result of a no hay diet (hay should make over 80% the daily food intake) with some selective low quality dry food as a replacement, but it would be better to discuss it with your vet as to whether this could be the case here and whether he is recommending any extra measures in addition to a normal balanced diet rather than treating on spec.
You may also want to talk about potential problems you may have to keep an eye out if there is indication of damaged that may rear its head in the longer term. If your piggies are still young, they may hopefully escape this and go on to live a healthy normal life span.

 

[Emz1999]

Hi Emily and welcome to our friendly Forum!

Have you had them both vet checked? If they came from "questionable conditions" it is probably wise to do so. It sounds as if they are enjoying life with you. Where are they housed? I strongly suspect it is the diet (or lack of it) and the living conditions that have contributed to the problem. A pellet style food is much better than muesli as it stops piggies leaving the stuff they don't like. Let us know how you get on at the vet.

Thank you! Had this account for over a year but just not had the need to use it yet.

They have not yet been checked by a vet since I only just noticed this problem this morning and nothing else jumped out as a issue. But now that things are unravelling e.g they don't come from a notable pet shop but were instead sold from a small high street pet shop that has a bit of a reputation, I've decided it will probably be a good idea. Hopefully they will have no underlying medical conditions.

They now live inside in what was the ex dining room (until the piggies took it over) in a 1x2m (approximate) indoor enclosure similar to the types sold at pets at home alongside other my other two who live in another one across the room. They've both been moved over to Pets at Home nuggets and have worked out that hay is edible. Kale is a daily part of their diet.

Hi!

You may want to have your guinea pigs given the once over by a vet.

Teeth that break easily can be caused by malnutrition/lack of vitamin C in their diet, especially as a result of a no hay diet (hay should make over 80% the daily food intake) with some selective low quality dry food as a replacement, but it would be better to discuss it with your vet as to whether this could be the case here and whether he is recommending any extra measures in addition to a normal balanced diet rather than treating on spec.
You may also want to talk about potential problems you may have to keep an eye out if there is indication of damaged that may rear its head in the longer term. If your piggies are still young, they may hopefully escape this and go on to live a healthy normal life span.

I considered buying vitamin C supplement for their water as I believed this was a possibility but I know some pigs won't drink their water after this because it smells different. The two of them are still very young, half the size of a typical adult, and so fingers crossed I stepped in at the right time.

The lady did tell us that one of them had been given antibiotics because they suffered from tiredness. At 6 months old I wouldn't have expected this, but I thought this might have been simply because they were stuck in a small space. I'll update the thread after they see the vet. Hopefully it's just the teeth.

 

[Katiedid]

I agree get them checked out to rule out underlying conditions such as a vit c deficiency. Hopefully the teeth will grow back as well. However just to reassure you I have a boar who knocked a front tooth out damaging the root in the process and it's never grown back. Apart from regular dental trips to trim the opposing tooth (which gets longer than it's pair) he is perfectly able to eat and not in pain. I did have him checked out as soon as he did it though to check for infection and underlying issues.

 

[Janice C]

Welcome to the Forum! You will get lots of help on here as lots of informative guides at the top plus lots of Forum members willing to help you with any problems!
We always advocate a visit to the Vets of course, particularly if the piggies have come from either a pet shop or from a home that you have had concerns about.
If the piggies haven't been getting hay it's not unsurprising to find they have dental and nutritional problems.
Will be interested to hear what the Vets say.
Post photos when you have the time!

 

[Emz1999]

Photos attached of her teeth for reference

 

[Katiedid]

That doesn't look too bad - looks like its growing. Have a vet check for underlying issues, improve their diet and I'm sure it will all be ok.