[cjshrader]

Hey all again,

Like I said, it has not been a good day for my rats.

I noticed that one of my rats always drinks water upside down (Her name is Jordan). Today as I watched her do this out of curiosity, I noticed it appears that she is either missing a tooth or has a tooth that has broken really small.

I also notice some kind of yellowish something on the top of her mouth, but it is not possible for me to check because she will not let me touch her (She never has). She squeaks like crazy, as always. I originally thought that she just hated to be touched, but now I wonder if there is something more wrong with her. She seems to be eating normally and everything.

I think a vet trip is unavoidable here. However, if I'm not able to make it to the vet tomorrow (They are only open from 8-noon, but I'm hoping they aren't full), is there anything I should do to make sure she's comfortable until I can get her to a vet? Are rats ok with one tooth?

 

[Lesath]

I'm no expert by any means but I'm fairly sure that yellow/orangish/reddish teeth are normal as a by product of the..... stuff (it escapes my mind!) they produce. I think I remember reading somewhere that they SHOULDN'T have white teeth really. Maybe someone else that knows can clear that up.

Edit: Porphyrin is the word I was thinking of.

 

[Forensic]

Are her teeth growing in odd? If she's always been this way she'd likely get overgrown teeth.

 

[cjshrader]

No her teeth are a healthy orange. I'm saying there's some kind of strange other growth on the top of her mouth. I can never get a good look at it but I'm very confident it isn't her top teeth.

Maybe her teeth are overgrown? I don't see how, but I suppose it's a possibility for sure. I'll see what the vet says tomorrow.

 

[lilspaz68]

Does she have 2 top incisors and 2 bottom incisors? Are they fairly equal and even on the tops? Your rat is probably fine. Do you have another rat to check in comparison? It might just be the anatomy of a rats mouth.

 

[cjshrader]

Forensic was right on the money on this one. Her teeth were overgrown. That "growth" on the top of her mouth was her top teeth, it was just larger and more curved than I ever would have thought. I felt really bad about never noticing it before, I don't know how I missed it or how long it'd been going on. She seems a lot happier now.

The vet said that some rats' teeth don't naturally gnaw down when they eat, which I'd never heard of. So she'll just have to be brought in every once in a while to get her teeth trimmed, which isn't a big deal.

I guess it could have been worse (Her teeth, which were all there just overgrown), but I still feel bad about letting it get so bad. I'm going to have to start up more regular teeth examinations. Does anyone know of a good website to show what a good rat teeth length should be?

 

[Mana]

Is that malocclusion? (or however it's spelled)

 

[cjshrader]

Yes that was the word he used