Caring for a Hamster's Teeth: Guidelines and Tips
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If you're a lover of rodents, you'll know that one of their most peculiar and notable characteristics is their teeth, which grow continuously throughout the animal's life. There are many species of rodents, from the smallest mice from the biggest capybaras.
Hamsters, small rodents who have earned our affection as a pet, are one of the few animals that are born with teeth. Therefore, taking care of their hygiene and oral health is a priority in order to keep your little pet in top condition.
Looking after this kind of pet is quite easy, but there are some guidelines and tips on caring for a hamster's teeth you should be familiar with in order to avoid complications that could harm your pet's health. Stay with us at AnimalWised and learn all about it!
Contents
What is the best diet for a hamster?
It is always better to be safe than sorry, and one of the main things to remember when caring for a hamster's teeth is to give it balanced and adequate food. This will ensure the hamster gets all the necessary nutrients, without which it may develop an oral disease.
The hamster is mostly a granivorous animal, that is, it mainly feeds on seeds in the wild. At home, however, you should feed a pet hamster the following food groups:
- Vegetables: Raw or cooked; vegetables provide hamsters with water, minerals and vitamins. Be careful not to give your pet too many carrots, as they could cause it to become overweight.
- Wild herbs: Hamsters love clover and dandelion.
- Fruit: You can give your pet hamster fresh or dried fruit, such as pears, peaches, apples, grapes, strawberries and cherries. You can also include nuts in its diet.
- Cereals: Oatmeal, bread, barley and wheat.
- Protein: Protein can be provided with insects, meat, fish and eggs.
You must combine these foods, taking into account that a hamster requires 12-15 grams of food a day. It is important to be familiar with the forbidden food for hamsters that can cause them harm.
Common abnormalities in a hamster's teeth
The most common abnormalities or problems that may occur in a hamster's mouth can be down to different causes such as diet problems, a hormonal imbalance or congenital disorders.
The following problems are the most common:
- Broken tooth
- Mouth infection
- Excessive teeth growth
In the event that the hamster has a broken tooth - this may be due to a calcium deficiency caused by excess sunflower seeds - or even a mouth infection, the opposite tooth will grow to compensate for the other. This poses the same risks as an excessive growth of all its teeth, which can even cause death by starvation.
This is why it is so important to know of the necessary care for a hamster's teeth.
Caring for a hamster's teeth
Let's see now our guidelines and tips on caring for a hamster's teeth, which are actually simple but important in avoiding serious diseases in your pet:
- Check your pet hamster's mouth at least once a month.
- If your hamster is older, you will need to check it more often, since older animals are prone to suffering from broken teeth.
- When faced with overgrown teeth, you should go to the vet. They will show you the best technique to file down the teeth so that you can carry out the procedure at home.
- If your hamster loses its appetite when it has a dental problem, soften its food with water to avoid malnutrition.
- It is counterproductive for your hamster to file its teeth with inappropriate materials such as the thick bars of its cage. You should always provide them with compressed bars, calcium chews, minerals blocks and lots of wood.
Your hamster should only gnaw its teeth with products designed specifically for rodents. While at first these steps may seem a little excessive or complex, nothing is further from the truth; you're simply setting a routine for your pet's health.
Are you passionate about hamsters?
If you've found that a hamster is the best pet for you, stay with us at AnimalWised and learn all about caring for this small pet. We recommend the following articles:
If you want to read similar articles to Caring for a Hamster's Teeth: Guidelines and Tips, we recommend you visit our Dental hygiene category.
This was a really good article. I have a hamster and I gave a sunflower seed, a little egg, dandelion and some seeds. I also gave her a small piece of apple. She used to hoard. But now she only seems to eat litttle bites. Is this normal ? She also jerks a little bit when I hold her, and seems to have poop stuck in her butt.apart from this she seems healthy.She is four months old. Thanks, from Kemi.
