Bad teeth, what can i do?

[shell13]

My degu keeps getting bad teeth and the vet said that he could need uvb to help him absorb more vit D. What are ur thoughts on this? and is there any thing els i could do to help his teeth (he is not much of a chewer) and he has selective degu food so is not taking in suger (which can give bad teeth and diabetes in degus).
Some ideas would be gr8, thanks!!!!

[deguconvert]

Can you elaborate on his teeth for us? Bad as in rotting, or over grown, or colouring, or bad alignment? These can all require different approaches.

[shell13]

They are misaligned so i get them trimed by the vets every 3mounths or so. I know there is nothing i can do bout this but if i could improve them with treets of foods that have worked for u that would be gr8!

[smux]

You need to elaborate on their routine a little so other people have more to go on...

What kind of hays do you provide them, just bedding or Timothy hay or Alfalfa hay as well? Timothy and Alfalfa are both popular with degus and they need a lot of this to wear their teeth down naturally. How about stuff to gnaw, do they have any wood sticks or wooden toys or logs/branches or anything like that? It will be worth looking into places to buy these, I get my wood sticks in bulk at the moment from a shop on eBay as P@H have decided to stop selling them, and you may find that your local pet shop has them (they'll be known as wood chew sticks, willow sticks, gnaw sticks or all sorts of other names...and rest assured that THIS willow is from the "weeping willow" tree and is the safe willow rather than the unsafe willow, confusing, I know)...ANYTHING woody that is in the safe wood list will be a welcome chew for them.

Do you feed them vegetables regularly? Healthy eating with fresh veg would promote good health and it's possible it'll help promote proper growth. Also, degu nuggets (being quite firm) also promote tooth wear so if you feed them a mix then it would be a good idea to put a small amount of degu nuggets in with it with each feed.

Are the teeth a strong yellow/orange colour? Or faded? How old are the degus? (older degus might have weaker colouring on their teeth, but that's normal)

What do they do normally to wear their teeth down? Do they gnaw on the cage a lot? Degus normally find their own ways to keep their teeth worn down, but this depends on age partly as the older degus tend to be a bit less active than the younguns so they don't get so much wear on their teeth (although a 100% healthy degu of any age up to "old age" would be as active as the younguns)

[shell13]

The hay I use is P@H hay and alfalfa. I have also given lots of dif types of wood sticks but the interest in them never lasts. And other wood toys but they don’t really get chewed either. I have not tried the fresh veg though so will give that a go, I’m just worried about giving to much but I have seen on degutopia that they have a veg guide. Another problem is I have no idea of age the pet shop had not got a clue but defo adult. And don’t gnaw on the cage either.
I have just got some alfalfa bales from P@H they are very hard and seem to be liked.
Was just wondering if anyone had tried something I had not. Thanks though I will just keep trying different hays and hard food.

[deguconvert]

Lava perches are something that our boys really like to chew on. In fact, it is time I got some more to replace the onces they have chewed right down to the attachments. Not all degus will go after them the way ours do, but it might be worth a try, and they are perfectly safe for them.

[sarz29]

Has your Degu had an x- ray of his jaw? one of mine has the same problem as yours but he also has a problem with his jaw which makes him unable to chew properly unless very, very thin sticks. Maybe ask your vet to x-ray his jaw to check to see if there is another underlying problem.

[shell13]

yer the vets have x-rayed his jaw and they ahve not said any thing bout that but is worth an ask though. and the lava perches are defo worth a try.

Thanks!