# Big Brown's teeth broke off!!??



## fannymanson (Aug 20, 2010)

Big Brown is a Mini Rex. He was born in November of 2008. 

His diet is mainly rabbit pellets and timothy hay cubes. I give him a tiny little snack once a day. The snacks I give are apples, grapes, raisins, carrots, celery, or corn chips (for the salt because he won't use his salt lick).

I noticed the last couple of days he wasn't eating his snacks, which is strange for him because he is usually so eager. Today I gave him a corn chip and though he took it from my hand he didn't begin eating it. I gave him a second one and he mouthed it but did not bite through it and I realized he might have a tooth problem. He is still able to eat his pellets though.

I took him out of his cage for a little exam and his top two central incisors are broken off completely way down by the gumline. It looks as though they have begun to grow back, but they look gnarly and crooked. 







I don't know exactly when or how this happened. He lives in a huge plastic dog crate and has a plastic litterbox with wood shavings. He has adrip style water bottleand a small ceramic dish for treats and a metal pellet feeder. My only suspicion is that maybe he got his teeth stuck in the screen at the bottom of his pellet feeder. I measure hispellets and only give him a certain portion each feeding. So maybe his teeth got stuck trying to clean up his food? I didn't find the teeth so I'm just guessing.

My other bunny is Big Brown's brother, Bobby, and he has the same diet and I examined him and his teeth are totally fine.

I wondered if this is something that can just sometimes happen or if maybe he has a problem. I also am concerned about the teeth growing back normally.


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## jamesedwardwaller (Aug 20, 2010)

*fannymanson wrote: *


> Big Brown is a Mini Rex. He was born in November of 2008.
> 
> His diet is mainly rabbit pellets and timothy hay cubes. I give him a tiny little snack once a day. The snacks I give are apples, grapes, raisins, carrots, celery, or corn chips (for the salt because he won't use his salt lick).
> 
> ...


do you have an exotic dvm specialist.??-it may well be worth the price of the exam,and radiograghs to find out whats going on/..rabbits teeth grow at 2-3 mm per week-that given they will grow back,,according to the picture-it appears something is run-a-muck(wrong)--the mouth is wheremajority of problems start.,it is a virtual pandora,s box.//.are the shavings aspen,..donot use pine,cedar,clay litter.//.-if you notice alot of teeth grinding--this is an indication of pain...let me know please...sincerely james waller:big wink:


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## fannymanson (Aug 20, 2010)

I'm not sure if our local vet has any experience caring for rabbits. I'm new to the area, and it is fairly rural. I have met the lady that judges the 4H rabbits at the county fair so I could probably ask her for a recommendation.

I believe the shavings are pine. I use the big huge package that is normally used for bedding horses' stalls. I can't remember how many pounds are in the bag, but it's probably between 25-50 pounds I think.


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## ra7751 (Aug 20, 2010)

Actually there are four upper arcade incisors and they all appear to be broken. In most cases, they will grow back normally and will align when they meet the lower incisors. But this certainly bears watching since in some cases the roots are damaged and they do not realign....called malocclusion. Any of the four incisors can have an occlusion issue which would require regular trims or extraction....and when you extract rabbit teeth you have to do both the upper and lower that oppose. I would suggest really pushing the hay since as they grow back and hopefully occlude, the hay will allow them to wear properly. There is also a small chance of infection in these cases.

I would also highly suggest a diet change that is more hay oriented and not so much on the treats...especially corn chips. Improper diet can cause dental problems including overgrown teeth. Hay cubes are not an appropriate substitution for long strand free choice hay.

Since most people don't know about rabbitdental formula....there are four upper incisors. The two primary that you can see and two "peg" teeth that are directly behind the primaries. These teeth are thought to aid in the tearing of vegetation.

Randy


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## Nela (Aug 20, 2010)

That happened to my bunny as well and I agree with Randy. Hers grew back fine but yeah, I made sure to push the hay and held my breath for quite a while. Hope your bunner's teeth will grow back alright.


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## Nancy McClelland (Aug 20, 2010)

need to add timothy hay to their diet. Agree that it needs watching and a rabbit savvy vet check is good for peace of mind.


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## fannymanson (Aug 20, 2010)

I actually do give them Timothy hay. I keep their hay feeders full, but they enjoy digging out the hay and scattering it all around, but they don't ever eat it. I leave it for a few days and then it gets dirty so I clean up and start over.


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## tonyshuman (Aug 20, 2010)

Rabbits don't really need extra salt--that's one of those myths that people spread to sell more salt licks and stuff--so the corn chips aren't helping. They may also be eating the hay but you're not noticing. Also, putting the hay in or near the litterbox and cutting down on pellets will encourage them to eat more hay.


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## fannymanson (Aug 23, 2010)

I took Big Brown to an excellent vet in a neighboring community today. The vet said that the little nubs of top teeth were not even attached and he was actually able to wipe them off/out with his thumb. He said he would be surprised if they ever come in correctly at all. :-( 

The vet also trimmed Big Brown's bottom teeth way back because they were quite overgrown which makes me think that perhaps his top teeth have been gone for longer than I imagined. Poor thing.. He was so good and patient at the vet's clinic. I just wish I could make it all better for him. 

The teeth clipping only cost $11 which I felt was totally reasonable and I was very satisfied with the vet's facility and care he showed for my pet.

I'd also like to say a big THANK YOU to all the helpers on this forum!


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## fannymanson (Sep 23, 2010)

One of the top teeth grew back, but the other has not and it's been a month. Since I had his lower teeth clipped, Big Brown seems to be managing pretty well. Now I'm considering what the next step should be because I want to take him to the vet again soon. These are my questions:

Do I want to go ahead and have the opposing lower tooth removed? 

Or should I give that top tooth a little more time to see if it makes an appearance? 

If I have it x-rayed, would the vet be able to see if theres a tooth root in there?

If I have the top and bottom tooth on the left side removed, is it advisable to also have the right side teeth removed? Or are they ok to leave in?

I have increased the hay for both of my buns and cut back on the pellets. I also finely chopped a bunch of hay and mixed it with smashed pellets and apple juice to make little "cookies" for them and they get one a day in the evening. Each one is about equivelent to a tablespoon.


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## tonyshuman (Sep 23, 2010)

Those treats sound really good.  Unfortunately, I don't know about your tooth questions. I would assume that yes, the vet would be able to see if there is still some tooth root present in the top by doing an x-ray. I would assume also that it would be ok to leave the right side teeth in, and it would be better in the long run to have the left bottom one removed because repeated trimmings can be stressful and there's always a chance they might not work right.

Randy will have experience with this, hope he chimes in.


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## fannymanson (Oct 6, 2010)

I can see Big Brown's peg tooth on the left side coming in, although the main left incisor is still MIA. Is it ok to let the peg tooth come in, or do I need to have it removed? I haven't made any decision as to whether I should have his bottom tooth removed. I would really appreciate any advice the good people here can give me. I just want to do whatever is best for my lil nugget.

They nowget 2-3 leaves of red lettuce or a bunch of parsley everyday, and I cut back the pellets to a quarter cup and one bunny cookie per day per bunny. And of course they have free choice timothy hay. Big Brown eats his lettuce, parsley, pellets, and cookie but I still wonder if he's actually eating any hay. I only see him rearranging it.

I went out to the the apple orchard this weekend and the owner showed me his brush pile and said I can help myself to all the little apple branches he had in there. So I filled up the backseat of my car and gave each of my boys a couple little branches to play with. They immediately set about chewing and rearranging them. It was so cute!


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## tonyshuman (Oct 6, 2010)

Goodness, I don't know. I think that the peg tooth should be removed if the incisor does not come back, but I have no experience with that. I do know that the bottom tooth should be removed if the top incisor does not return because otherwise it will require constant trimming.

Glad they like the apple branches! They're very tasty it seems.


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