I bought my dwarf in Nov 05 and he was aged at 2 months. Today when I checked on him, noticed he had a real bad underbite and his bottom two teeth had grown crooked and long. I contacted the breeder and he said it may have been from gnawing on the cage wires. Here is what he wrote me back:

"What happens is that they get a hold of
the wire and pull on it...If this happens
and it is not caught in time...they form what
is called maloclusion...or Butting Teeth...
in some cases it is more severe than others.

This is what must have happend...since he was not
born with bad teeth...and when we sold him to you
did not have bad teeth. "


Anyone ever hear of this?

Thanks

Candini;

I worked in a pet shop for a while and yes this is possible however kind of rare. But as a remedy I would make sure that he has plenty of things in his cage that he can chew on. Including mineral stones which will help file his teeth a bit as well as being very healthy they are even shapped like carrots!

Hope this helps.

Magically yours,

Matt

Thanks Matt,

Looks like plenty of maintenance...I attempted to trim them but he moves too much.

"Trim" his teeth? Is that possible?

Jim

I would strongly recommend against doing it yourself. Your best bet is probably to contact a local vet. Doing it yourself will cause seriouse damage to the bunny. I would try what I recommended above first for a bit. If that doesn't help then go to a vet. Again, I strongly suggest you don't cut his teeth yourself.

Matt

Hi.
I know you can put in his cage a special piece of wood (sold in pet's shop): it is better and quite natural for him !

And DON'T CUT HIS TEETH YOURSELF !!!!! It 's too dangerous !

Vet bills would be about $30 every other month and could be more with office visit charges. I took him 72 miles round trip to breeder here. She did it and I helped hold her. It's a special wire cutter sold at fabric stores. If they are real long, you only have to trim them a little so he can eat.

Big pain though when breeder could have been honest I got him from. He only gives 2 weeks warranty. I could have traded him last night with breeder here but didn't. I checked his teeth when I purchased him and didn't catch the under bite then. Front teeth should just be in front of bottom, that way they will grow correctly.

Posted: Jan 22, 2005 11:02am
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My rabbit needs braces, please read:

http://islandgems.net/malocclusion.html
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Posted: Jan 22, 2005 12:07pm

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Pet rabbit grows tusks

An 8-year-old girl in Beijing has a pet rabbit with tusk-like teeth, the Beijing Entertainment Mercury reported today.

Two months ago the rabbit's lower incisors started to take on a tusk-like shape, protruding out of its mouth, said the young pet owner, Chen Shaotong, a grade-two pupil at the Beichangjie Primary School in Beijing.

It also gradually developed an eating style similar to elephants, using its tongue to roll the food in, and chewing on the side. The incisors are now 4 cm long.

Its upper incisors, 3 cm long, have taken on the same growth pattern in the opposite direction, retreating back into the mouth. The rabbit can no longer line up its upper and lower jaws.

The newspaper's source was the girl's winter vacation homework, a composition about her pet rabbit.

At first, they thought she was exaggerating or using her imagination, but seeing the rabbit left no doubt in the reporter's mind.

The girl bought the rabbit as a baby for 20 yuan (US$2.4) last year at a temple fair in Beijing. It's now full-grown, weighing about 3.5 kg.

Last year, the rabbit looked completely normal, eating anything the family fed it.

The bizarre development began two months ago with no warning, and remains unexplained.

Vicky Xu / Shanghai Daily news

Hi Candini

My rabbit had problems like this with his teeth. They just kept growing and the vet needed to cut them every three to four weeks. It was not good for the rabbit. The cutting stressed him out and the problems meant that he went for periods where he did not eat properly. What did the vet recommend after about four visits to cut the teeth? He recommended that the front teeth were removed. It sounds mean but that is what he did in the end. The rabbit is just fine and eats with his back teeth. No problems. Ironically the rabbit's name is Lucky.

Good luck...

Scott

Scott,

Mine has both the uppers and lowers growing though (since they don't touch). That certainly would be a problem taking him to the vet that often. It is stressful but somehow I hope he would know it is helping him to eat. Mine seems to eat okay so far, even when the teeth had grown long.

Candini

It's normal for their teeth to grow like that.
There are cases where the rabbits teeth will lock up and they will starve to death.

I checked him again today Daniel and they had grown some more. I trimmed them a little more....the bottom ones are growing outwards. Hopefully we will both get use to the trimming.

How much did they charge at the vet to extract the front teeth Scott?

Hi everybody!

All this talk about teeth being clipped, or simply taken out has me a little stressed for my two rabbits! I have been looking at them for the past week, and are looking fine to me. I was wondering what you guys feed your rabbits? I feed mine Timothy Hay, some rabbit feed, and carrots. They also have a salt lick that they use to claw and chew on. So far they do not seem to have any problems with their teeth! Hopefully this will remain that way!

Louis

They need a lot of stuff to chew on, and what the pet stores supply is probably no better than what you have around the house. I keep several pieces of soft wood just scattered about the cage, and believe me they show from the wear that he loves to gnaw on them! Any non-painted, non-treated, non-aromatic [not cedar] wood, pine is best, including pieces of yardstick, Home-Depot paint-stirrers, even broom-handle segments.

Mine don't chew on anything. I have wood and cleaned branches in cage also. I even put a dog chew in there also. One's teeth is fine but the other one has the problem and will need attending regularly.

As far as good, I also feed mine timothy hay, grass hay, pellets and occasionally veggies. They love snap peas!

Well, my two bunnies certainly love to chew on anything they can get their teeth on!

I will get them more stuff to gnaw on. Probably some pieces of wood like Rossmacrae suggested. The little thing may not cost much to replace, but I certainly have grown attached to them (and so have my kids!). I would not want them to start having teeth problems!

Louis

Hello Candini.
I have at least two rabbits on hand at all times incase one should get sick.
I never had any problems with their teeth.
Here is how you trim their teeth. Get a piece of dowell and put it in hi mouth, just the way he'd pick it up---you may need someone to help you--hold the dowell back to his jaw corners and he'll open his mouth. Take a very small sharp wire cutter and trim his teeth. He wont feel any pain, for the teeth are not as hard as they look.
I have done this many times. That is exactly how the pet doctors do it.
To prevent his teeth from growing again, put a piece of hard 2x4 wood in his cage I use "maple" . They will chew only the edges, you will noticed that as time goes by the wood gets rounded.

Thanks for the advice Richard!

By the way, I got you PM for cut and restored rope routine, but have not had time to reply... You will get it by tomorow... hopefully!

Have a good day!

Louis

Candini,

How is it going with your bunny's teeth? Keep us posted as to how it works out.

I have owned 7 Netherland Dwarf bunnies and haven't had a problem with their teeth yet. (Knock on wood) I keep some hardwood in my rabbits hutches and they chew it often. I give mine "cleaned" apple tree branches too. I also feed them pellets, and dehydrated vegetables sometimes. Mine love raisins and oatmeal, but they only get those occasionally as treats.

I give mine fresh veggies sometimes as treats too, but be careful. I never give them any veggies or tree branches unless I wash them first. It is very easy for Netherlands to get sick. They have a sensitive digestive system, so please make sure any vegitation you feed them has been well-cleaned.

Regan

Thanks all and Richard for instructions how to trim them. I will try different wood, still no chewing and I have branches, hard wood etc. in his hutch.

I also have two rabbits Richard. The youngest is the one with buck teeth. Boy do those teeth grow! I checked yesterday and they have grown a good 1/4 inch.

PS: What type of effect are you doing for those tourist Loual4?

Hi Candini.
A piece of 2x4 about 8 to 12 inches long will do , make sure it's hard wood.
Eventually, they will chew the edges off. Here in Canada we have Timothy Hay, which is good for the bunny's teeth.
I didn't understand your question at the end.
Richard.