first teeth trim, advice please?

[blossombrooks]

Hey everyone,

Dougal is booked in at the vets on Saturday for his first tooth trim. Despite having Degus for a little while now i've never had to take one for this before. Its his bottom teeth which i'm unhappy with, he's eating ok and weight is stable but they seem really long compared to the girls. We've tried everything but he just isnt wearing his bottom set down fast enough.
They mentioned using a mouth 'bit' to help, is this normal?
Also the vet isn't far away, he should be back home within an hour, do you think it will cause problems if I take him alone? I'd rather not take the whole gang if possible.
Its ages since I've been with a goo to the vets, daisy was just a baby still and she coped really well but I don't know how it will affect them now they're older.

[yasmin]

My 4.5 year old degu, Azure, has been to the vet several times on her own – well, actually, she was with me and I'm sure she knows me and my voice so I made sure I didn't cover the cage all the way while she was in the car so that she could see me, and I talked to her while driving.

Putting her back in the cage with the others after a couple-of-hours absence also was not an issue. She just goes back in, a few of the others greet her, and then they go on with their activities as is she had never gone.

Azure has had to have her back molars trimmed of spurs twice in the past 10 months but I've never had a degu that needed a front tooth trim. From what I understand, it's a relatively simple procedure done with clippers (but I'm not 100% sure). Dougal should be fine. Someone else might be able to answer your question about the "bit".

Good luck Dougal.

[blossombrooks]

Thanks Yasmin! :-)
I know Dougal is ok with the car journey thank goodness, when we adopted him it was a 2.5 hr drive to bring him home and he was really relaxed, snoozed most the way! You answered my question tho, It was the separation then reunion I was concerned about, I know it shouldn't really be a problem in that little time away but you've put my mind at ease. I worry so much about things like this! :-(

[moletteuk]

Can't really help with the teeth trimming part, but perhaps if you offer him the sandbath before you put him back in, it will make him smell right again.

[blossombrooks]

Yep I was thinking i'd do that :-) and also im gonna make sure there's a mix of some dirty substrate in the carry cage too, can't hurt!