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Repeat hamster dental trimmings

Freela

Freela

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So it is becoming apparent that Carmen, our 2-year-old Syrian hamster, is going to need ongoing dental trims. She had one a little over a month ago and will likely have to have another one soon. One front incisor basically grows sideways, so her teeth don't meet and don't wear. She is otherwise in great health and I am more that willing to do repeat dental trims as long as she is otherwise happy and has a good quality of life and health otherwise, but I am worried about her having repeated anesthesia every month or two to keep her teeth in check, and it is really costly (about 200 dollars) each time with this process. I love our vet, but I am wondering if I should try to find a vet who will clip teeth without sedation (our present vet prefers not to, saying it's too difficult/stressful/potentially risky, but I have seen videos and such of hamsters having incisors trimmed while awake.) Any experience with awake dental trims for hammies?

In addition, wondering if it's better to move her over to a tank instead of a cage with bars. I think her teeth got this way because we had a hanging chew toy in her cage for her to chew the wood... it took us awhile to realize that she was chewing the metal clip that attached it to the cage rather than the wood chews. I think that doing this nightly over the course of a long time damaged her tooth alignment. We have a hard time getting her to chew things that aren't the bars, even though she is in a good-sized cage. I'm not sure if removing the bars as an option would encourage her to chew more normal things of if she would just chew less and thus need more trimming. Any suggestions?
 
I would definitely move her to a tank instead, with the built in glass shelfs and mesh top for ventilation. Then put loads of toilet roll tubes inside for chewing. Other than this I know nothing about hamsters or about the care for them. Too long since I had them. All the best with her 👍
 
Thanks! I am going to try moving her to a tank after her next tooth trim, with the hope that if she has no bars she will try to chew other things (right now she just defaults to the bars, although we give her healthier options.) I checked out another vet to see if they have other options to trim her teeth while conscious, but it will be 100 dollars just for a consult, so I would rather keep on going to the vet I have because I know they're good with small animals and they are more affordable and they have been good working with me about the pigs in the past. She had her teeth trimmed last in October and they are looking longish again, so I'll hopefully be able to get her in next week before things start shutting down for Christmas.
 
Please don’t have them ‘clipped’ this risks fractures to the teeth or worse. However if you wish to take this risk then this is up to you.

In most cases like this we tend to prefer taking the teeth out completely, but at your hammies age I would be reluctant to do this but it is a possibility. Would cost more initially but then you may never need to clip the teeth again because they wouldn’t grow back.

x
 
Abi_nurse said:
Please don’t have them ‘clipped’ this risks fractures to the teeth or worse. However if you wish to take this risk then this is up to you.

In most cases like this we tend to prefer taking the teeth out completely, but at your hammies age I would be reluctant to do this but it is a possibility. Would cost more initially but then you may never need to clip the teeth again because they wouldn’t grow back.

x
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'Clipped' is probably the wrong word, rather than actually clipping, they use a tool to sand them down to a more manageable length. Supposedly it's safer that way and less likely to cause any sort of fracture in the tooth. My vet did discuss the option of removing them completely, but there isn't a vet in my area who is specialized enough to do that sort of surgery on a hamster. I would have to do some considerable traveling to even do a consult with a qualified vet (it's hard enough finding vets who do dentistry for guinea pigs in Ontario, let alone hamsters!) I would be tempted to try it because she is quite a hardy 2 year old now and is only going to get frailer and less fit for surgery over time, but logistically I think it would be very difficult to pursue. I feel like the best option I have right now is to continue to have the vet sand/reshape the teeth as needed, up until the point where she is no longer in good enough shape to tolerate the anesthesia anymore, and at that point we will have some tough decisions to make. She is scheduled to have her teeth burred next Thursday, so fingers crossed it goes well for a second time, and I will then change her habitat to remove all bars and give her more items that she can't chew on an angle to at least try to prolong each dental procedure for as long as I can.
 
Abi_nurse said:
Sounds like your doing a fabulous job and sounds the best course of action for her. Hope you can keep her comfortable and happy for as long as possible.

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Thanks, that's exactly what I hope, to keep her happy and comfortable for as long as I possibly can. She's my middle child's hamster and she's a favorite to all of us because she is just such a lovely hammy- she is happy to sit with everybody (our other hamster only likes her owner and will not lower herself to walk on the hands of anyone else!) Carmen will follow us around in her hamster ball and come to the sound of our voices, she's just a lovely, friendly girl and we want to keep her around as long as we possibly can!
 
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