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Toothless Piggy!

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slizzie91

slizzie91

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi all!

I am very new to the forum and am already owner of two happy and healthy boars! I have recently rescued another boar (living separately) and he has no teeth at the front of his lower jaw!

To manage this, I am trimming his upper teeth every 2-3 weeks (or whenever I feel they are getting long) and feeding him softened food!

He is managing well with this and some days prefers his harder nugget food and is managing fine with hay and some softer veggies!

Is there anything else I can do to enrich his feeding times at all?! Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Thanks in advance!
 
Are they growing at all or is there literally nothing there?

I am not too sure what to suggest other than syringe feeding or giving him a bowl of syringe food, cutting up veg really small, feeding bits of hay into his mouth etc. @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary deals with dental pigs on a daily basis so may have some more advice.

Is he maintaining his weight?

Welcome to the forum, please could you add your location to your profile, so that we can tailor our advice to where you are located.
 
Thanks guys! Will pop my location in now :)

Nothing growing there at all, he is eating fine and putting on weight slowly but gradually each week :) otherwise he's a healthy little guy, just making things more manageable for him at the moment :) he's a star!
 
Glad he is putting on weight. Will see what Debbie suggests but what you are doing so far sounds good. Did the vet show you how to trim the teeth?
 
It is great to see :) yeah they showed me the first couple of times, and now I can do it myself comfortably at home! Another thing, when they are trimmed, the white healthy part of the tooth 'crumbles' slightly when trimmed! I have heard this could be due to an abnormality in calcium levels…? Just wondered if you had any thoughts on this?
 
I don't know about that but hopefully Debbie who I have tagged will be able to answer when she is online.
 
Here at the Sanctuary, I have a number of piggies with missing bottom incisors, and they all manage to eat very well. Obviously they can't bite on hard veg, such as carrot, so will grate it for them. I take them to the vets every few weeks to have their top teeth burred, as I feel this is the best way to reduce the length of the top incisors. What are you using to cut the teeth? You need to be very careful that the tooth doesn't splinter when cutting teeth, as infection can enter the pulp cavity, which is the reason I prefer to get them burred.
 
He seems to get on well eating most foods, I stick to more manageable veg e.g. kale, spinach, cabbage/spring greens etc! and tiny pieces of harder veg to keep his top teeth under some control! I was advised to used a strong nail clipper which seems to work, but it does appear that the upper incisors are 'crumbling' slightly, this doesn't look like splintering it really is crumbly. I'm not sure if that is because of the trimming or if there is a calcium issue there! All advice is welcome I just want to make and keep this little guy on top form :)
 
slizzie91 said:
He seems to get on well eating most foods, I stick to more manageable veg e.g. kale, spinach, cabbage/spring greens etc! and tiny pieces of harder veg to keep his top teeth under some control! I was advised to used a strong nail clipper which seems to work, but it does appear that the upper incisors are 'crumbling' slightly, this doesn't look like splintering it really is crumbly. I'm not sure if that is because of the trimming or if there is a calcium issue there! All advice is welcome I just want to make and keep this little guy on top form :)
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I really wouldn't be using nail clippers to cut teeth, and I do think that is why you are finding they are crumbling a little. Has your vet not suggested burring them? Apart from this though, it sounds like you are doing everything right for your little guy x
 
OK thanks! I will speak to them tomorrow about this! Caring for a piggie with special needs is all new to me so any suggestions are totally welcome :)
 
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