Long teeth!

[petluvr001]

Hello,

I am a first year college student, and have three wonderful Degus that I sadly had to leave behind at home 6 weeks ago . I have two little boys and one girl (separated of course), about three years old. I recently went home last weekend, and saw that my little girl wasn't looking so good and was drooling. When I got her out and wiped off her mouth, I saw that her bottom teeth were extremely long! Almost twice the length they should be! I am not sure why this happened, as she has tons of apple branches, cardboard, and various other objects to chew on as she pleases.
There is no vet within a few hours that knows anything about Degus, so I was wondering if there is anything that I can do to help her, I hate to see her sick like this! I don't want to have to put her under an anesthetic at the vet, as small animals generally don't make it out of that :[.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!!! I want to make my little girl better again!! Other than looking sick, she is behaving completely normal, ie running on the wheel, climbing, playing, etc.

~Jessica~

[NightwishRaven999]

Hello there ! Very sorry to hear about your poor degu.
This is a serious problem, and one that must be dealt with right away.
Perhaps if you tell us where you live, we will be able to help locate a good vet.

You may not see the effect now, but soon you will notice her weight dropping very quickly...at this point the situation becomes critical. The length of the bottom teeth will hinder proper eating and will result in quick weight loss unless resolved.

Your degu may not be able to chew on branches due to an injury to the jaw...perhaps from falling down. Going to the vet may be your only option. I would not recommend trying to shorthen the bottom teeth yourself.

[malteser60]

I have to agree with NightwishRaven on this one. The only thing you can do is what you've already done, providing her with lots of things to chew on. Now I'm afraid it's up to the vets. I know degu's are not as bad as say, hamsters, for anaesthetic. Quite a few degu owners get their male degus neutered, for example, which involves anasthetic.

You really need to get this sorted asap though!! If she starts loosing weight then her chances decrease especially if you then do take her to the vet and she needs anasthetic.

[deguconvert]

I support the vet appointment as well. And you need to do this today. They can lose weight very rapidly, as in one to three days passage and you are seeing bony hips. With the drooling it is evident she is unable to close her mouth properly, and that means she isn't eating or chewing properly either. Although you may not have a vet that is familiar with degus, they should be familiar with rodents, so they should be quite capable of trimming degus teeth successfully. Especially if they have trimmed the teeth of other small furries.

The need to have her teeth trimmed is actually very serious. NOT taking her to have her teeth trimmed will put her life at greater risk than exposing her to anesthetic will.