I recently noticed that my hamster Duke seems to be holding his mouth open, and his teeth look longer. Maybe it's just me? He hasn't been eating as much as he used too, it comes and goes. I think his teeth migth hurt. Do you trim%26#92;clip hamsters' teeth? If you do, where do you get it done?
Answers:
Hi. I've kept hamsters for many years and have never had any problems with clipping their teeth myself. Taking them to the vet is unnecessary for this, as it puts far more stress on the hamsters, and usually you will have to pay a small fee for the vets' time.
It can be a little nerve-wracking the first couple of times, as you'll probably worry about your hand slipping and cutting them, but i've never had any accidents.
Anyway. The best thing to use is an ordinary pair of nail clippers. Hold the hamster by the scruff of the neck (where the skin is loose- This doesn't cause them pain,) This will make their mouth stretch and they will bare their teeth. Next, just ensure that the teeth are in between the two edges of the clippers, and the tongue is behing them.
Then just press quickly and firmly, and be very careful that the clipped teeth do not fall in the hamsters mouth.
It may sound a bit daunting, but you'll get the hang of it!
I usually clip my hamsters teeth about once every 1.5 months.
Also make sure that you have plenty of things for them to gnaw on, and this will keep clipping to a minimum.
Good luck!
Just to say that I am extremely annoyed with the person who said doing it yourself is cruel. Sorry, but that's the biggest load of rubbish I've ever heard! I've been keeping hamsters for over 10 years, and it most certainly is NOT cruel. Surely it is far better to learn to do it yourself, which will save you much time and money going to the vets and back, which seems a lot crueller for the hamster. At least the hamster knows you, and won't feel half as scared as being at a vets surgery and being held by some stranger. Like I said, it's very EASY to do, and anyone can learn to do it. Why pay a vet to do something you're perfectly capeable of doing yourself?
If you would like step by step instructions, then please e-mail me. And that goes for any hamster owners reading this! lol
The thing that worked best for me was to put those little wood blocks for them to chew on. If that doesnt work you can have a vet shave them down a bit or else they will eventually puncture his skin.
The vets will trim the teeth for you.
In the future it's best to give him enough to chew as once you start trimming the teeth you have to go back every few months. It gets expensive.
Yes you can trim them... If you do not think that you are up to it... you vet will! Quick and painless.. I have actually seen vets use scissors, nail trimmers or wire cutters! It doesn't hurt them and they will thank you for it... they can actually grow up into their head... after you trim them put some hard hamster chewies in there for him... Good Luck!
I have never heard of trimming teeth down, but I do know they do it thereself naturally, but if he had nothing hard to chew on maybe they have gotten to large. I would call a vet.
My hamster had very long teeth and we never did anything about it. Pet stores may carry things that are good for hamsters to chew on. If you still have no luck, talk with someone at the pet store about it.
a vet should do that, try getting those wood blocks at petsmart for it to chew on, but yes their teeth do overgrow, they need to gnaw on something.
does your hamster have sufficient chew toys? our pet store wouldn't let us go home with out chew toys for the hammie...
I'm not sure what will happen to your hammie- but I did have a friend who was unable to take her guinea pig to the vet when his teeth got too large and the guineas teeth grew up into his skull and punctured his brain which caused a slow and painful death (I'm sorry-I don't want to scare you-your hammie probably won't die) I would suggest more chew toys (or a different type) and if you don't see a difference in a week call your small animal vet
give Duke some wood to chew on. also try sunflower seeds! I hope I helped!
Yes, you can get their teeth trimmed! Take it to a vet or give him something to chew on to trim his teeth on his own.
Yes. Not to short. You can get them done at Petsmart
please do not try this yourself, I have read some of your other answers and some of your answers sound good but just give him some hard things to eat, wood blocks, nuts even a dog cookie if that doesn't work then please go to a vet for a trim, do not ever use regular clippings to do it yourself, this is cruel and not a right way to do it, your vet is the person,
you can have the vet do it, or you can get dog biscuits and they will chew on it. i read on a website that you can take a regular nail clipper and hold the hamster by the scruff of his neck and cut the bottom teeth shorter. make sure it's not too short so that they can still eat.
Our hamster did the same thing and I took him to the vet and they trimmed his teeth, and it only cost about ten dollars. After a while they slowly stopped growing as fast.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment