Really odd dental issue, would appreciate ideas

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ladylazarus

New member
Joined
Dec 10, 2016
Messages
3
Location
UK
Hi all! I have had a beautiful rescue chin since last November. Her owner gave her up after her cagemate died of intestinal issues and fed her oats as treats. Other than that little is known of her background. She also arrived with healed injuries, a missing toe and an ear tear.

I was concerned initially as she never chewed and disliked hay, and tooth chattered a lot. Since then I have bribed her into chewing with pumice and willow sticks.
However she has never been keen on hay though she has fresh daily. She has tried timothy, burgess excel chinchilla hay mix and I sometimes give her afalfa cubes to boost her calcium.

I took her for a visual tooth check under sedation when I got her. This showed no issues.

Today I looked at her teeth and noticed her lower set of front teeth is pale, almost white. The upper set is still dark yellow, which is why I had assumed her calcium was ok lately. But this seems very odd to me.

She is going back to the vet on Wed and I will ask for a referral to a specialist if they can't help.

I have been feeding her the following daily:

Timothy hay
Burgess excel chin nuggets
Burgess excel hay mix for chinchillas with marigold and grasses
Pets at home chinchilla herbal forage which contains twigs, rose hips, and leaves.

She has treats a few tines a day- tiny chips of dried apple (only about 4mm) and chips of dried carrot and a vitamin c infused rice grain once a week.

I would be very grateful for any info on anything I might be doing wrong, or what might be happening. She only plays when I am in the room with her and supervising and seems to be eating her pellets and generally happy so it doesn't seem like an injury.
 
im not sure about the color issue itself, but i can say for treats, dried apple and carrot are not good for them. Nearly any form of those still has a high level of sugar which there body can not process. It can lead to some nasty issues internally over time as well including digestion and gi issues. You really want to avoid any type of fruits, veggies, seeds, or nuts. They all have bad effect on chins, no matter how small the treat is. It adds up over time.

Some safer treats include the twigs, maybe a plain cheerio or plain shredded wheat. You also dont want to over treat a chin. Only one cherrio/shredded wheat a week or so. The only real treat they can have a lot of are twigs.

As for the hay, iv never heard of Burgess excel before. So i have no idea about there quality. You could try different brands and different cuts as well. Maybe try mixing in a little bit of orchard grass. Or try compressed hay cubes. Some have even taken hay and put it in a bag with mint leaves for a day or two. Then take all the leaves out and give them they hay. It leave the mint smell on the hay that some chins like.

Some chins tho just have a natural like/dislike for pellets or hay. I have some that go right for the hay. Others that barely touch it and are big on pellets.

As for any chin, just try to keep as many different chewable items in the cage as you can. Some go nuts, some barely acknowledge them, but you gotta try. And different items help mix up the potential taste and texture. Maybe find one item they actually do like. KD pine ledges, poplar ledges, lava ledges, pumice chews, loofha, chola.
 
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