|
Post by krazychica on Aug 2, 2008 21:49:44 GMT -5
Scruffing doesnt work. I use, or try to at least, Marshalls ferret toothpaste and a small dog toothbrush and finger brush. I dont care if I get bit, I just want their teeth clean before I dive into raw feeding and I dont like putting them unneccessarily under anesthesia
|
|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Aug 2, 2008 23:06:43 GMT -5
Raw diet alone will help clean tartar off teeth - this is the bone-crunching part. Also, I truly beleive that getting rid of the gains and starchy stuff in kibble drastcally reduces the amount of paque that 's in the mouth to begin with. The the bone, cartelidge, etc. does a lot of scraping. How bad are your ferrets' teeth??? If they're young, they may not have a huge need for immediate cleaning by a vet, and bone crunching may take care of the issue. here are always ferrets who take longer to switch and bone-crunching may be a way out in the future. If your ferret is older and resistent to change and/or bone =crunching, a good cleaning may be the best thing to do. That beig said....the rubber tfinger tooth brushes are not very effective at cleaning teeth, although they do mesage gums. And, if you keep using the, buy a big box of band-aids!, and I'll go buy some stock in Johnson & Johnson . On a more serious not, the cat tooth brushes and tooth paste work better. Some ferrets will bit the tooth brush, which pushes the britle into the teeth and messages the gums. I feed alot of ground diet and some raw meaty bones. My brats are not the best bone crunchers. As such, I use a dental tool to scale their teeth about 3-4 times per year. There's hardly anything to clean from their teeth - their gums are pink and tight. I scruff my kids, and they're actually very tolerant of my hands and dental tool. The rubber finger brush made my kids nuts, and the brush wasn't tolerated much better. Giuli has had remarkable success restoring really crummy teeth/periodontal issues with bone-cruching alone. Depending upon what feeding options you choose, and depending on how quickly your ferrts changes to raw, you may want to try the dental tool if you have good eyeight, good manual dexterity, and a loyt of patience. I typically clean 1 side of the mouth at a time. Now, if your ferrets teeth are really bad, I'd pass on using the dental tooland either have the vet clean them or wait on the bone. Unfortunately, Giuli will be on vacation net week, so she may not ave time to respond before she leaves. A lot will depend on how bad the tooth/gum issues are. -jennifer
|
|
|
Post by josiesmom on Aug 3, 2008 9:28:29 GMT -5
When I adopted Faylene & Fozzy they'd eaten nothing but kibble for the first 5 years of their lives. They both had tremendous build up of placque and tarter. To the point of having dark grey deposits all over their carnassials and even their front incisors. Within a month of eating the raw meaty bones and whole prey their teeth were almost all clean!
Ididn't have any success in trying to physically clean their teeth and it was horribly stressful to them to even attempt success.
The second crew I adopted were not as old( two to three or under) but their teeth were yellow and their gums were inflamed and a couple had tartar built up on their back carnassials. Again within a month of eating their natural diet their teeth were clean.
Thankfully Roman, my last adoptee didn't have any placque or tartar build up, but then again he is the youngest ( less than 8 months at adoption time) and he kept his teeth clean by chomping human flesh and knuckles!
Forgo the toothpaste and toothbrushes and get them onto the raw natural diet! Chicken necks work wonders for teeth cleaning!Now after a year of natural eating everyone's teeth are pearly white, shiny brite and they all have bubble gum pink gums!
Now that being said I DO think every ferret should be used to having his mouth manipulated. When your ferret is sitting with you quietly and you are massaging it, rub his jaws gently until he yawns. Keep massaging his jaws and as he settles back to dozing gently prise his mouth open. Wet you finger tip and gently massage his gums. Do both sides of course. Getting them used to this can come in handy should they get something lodged between their teeth, which happens occasionally.
Cheers, Kim
|
|
|
Post by mustelidmusk on Aug 3, 2008 9:57:32 GMT -5
Kim. Thanks for posting - I've never had ferrets with build-up on the teeth, so I could not speak from experience on how long it might take to clean up badly caked teeth with bones alone.
I agree 100% with Kim - the tooth brushes may help a little if you are religious about doing this every day. but the bones are very effective at teeth cleaning.
-jennifer
|
|