Trimming lower incisors

[dazp92]

Hello again on behalf of Butters, received great advice last month about our poorly girl who needed dental treatment on her molars.. We've adjusted her diet to keep her molars as short as possible, cutting out nuggets and feeding more dried herbs, grass mixes etc. And so far she is doing fine and gained a lot of weight. We've added more chew toys, twigs and things but her lower incisors are still gradually getting longer again.. She is chewing on toys but not nearly as much as our other two so was looking for some more recommendations on what we could give her that she would be more interested in.. I know nothing about trees but some branches could be worth a try yet, without knowing what trees are which, I can't be sure they're not toxic (bar apple trees but I don't know of any around our area). Thank you!

[bouncy]

If you want to play it really safe, you can buy branches and roots at some shops, including The Range. Avoid bamboo - apparently, most animals find this quite bitter and tend not to chew. If you want to try and find some locally, have a look at the leaves etc. In the "safe wood" thread, you'll find a couple of links to picture guides. Just give the branches a good scrub!

Alternatively, try pumice or terracotta.

[yasmin]

Do you use a sun lamp on her cage or are you adding Vitamin D to her diet? If not, then make sure she is eating some nuggets – they contain Vitamin D but the plant matter usually doesn't and degus cannot synthesize it without specific rays from direct sunlight.

There may be an alignment issue that is causing the lower incisors to grow too long even though she is actively chewing.

I have observed that my degus with root issues don't chew as much. Have you tried to see if she will chew on a pumice stone? These are sold in pet stores – my degus love them along with Apple tree branches and chewing up their wooden "Chinchilla" huts and ledges, and straw mats that line their upper shelves.

[moletteuk]

Here's the safe wood list, it's always great to provide a selection of sticks and branches:
deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15617/safe-tree-wood-list?page=1

I agree with Yasmin that there is likely to be a molar issue which is altering how much or how hard she can close her mouth which then limits how much she can wear down the incisors.