Teeth

[murphysmom]

2 questions.

1. I was told there was a thread on here that showed how to sorta tell a range for age by the teeth. I can not find it. And I am trying to figure out about how old one of my ferrets are.

2. What product would be good to use for dental care for a ferret that has some build up?

[Heather]

None of these pics are particularly clear. I have them printed out and a penned line drawn where the clear and the white areas are

This first pic is of a 1 yr old juvenile....the tooth is totally opague with no clear parts on the tooth



This second pic is of a 4 yr old adult.....the tooth is 1/3 transparent.


The last pic is of a 7 yr old adult....the tooth is 1/2 transparent and some of the gum is also showing signs of transparency.



I'm sorry that these aren't clearer. I'm thinking that I should probably try and get some clearer photos. These photo weren't taken by me, they were sent to me when I first started rescue so that I dould age my little ones. Often people who are surrendering their furbabies are less than honest about the ages of their fuzzies and one really needs to have some idea of approx. ages especially when dealing with vet care.
ciao

[sherrylynne]

I just thought I'd check Sinnead's teeth against these pics. Our supposed 3 yr old has teeth somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 transparent!

[Heather]

I found that this is fairly accurate as I checked the ferrets that I know exactly how old they are (actually have papers for them) against the photos and they're reasonably accurate. Now, you can get diseases during a kit's life that may effect the clarity of the tooth but not often enough to negate the chart.
ciao

[sherrylynne]

Great. That would put her somewhere around 5, instead of 3 1/2.
Ah, well- she's still our kissy face girl anyway!

[weloveourweasels]

There is a chart with very clear pictures on Ferret Forum. Not sure where I saw it at on there.

[spiritualtramp]

Sherry, you're not the only one to be misinformed about a ferret's age. When I rescued Scout, I was told he was two. He turned about to be more like six I think a clear chart would be helpful to us all, Heather. I'm going to try to get some pics, too, perhaps I can help construct a chart.

Murphysmom, considerable dental buildup should be assessed by a veterinarian. A dental scrape may be necessary. Often I find that the switch to a natural diet with raw bones to gnaw on helps most moderate tooth issues but more severe issues should be determined by a vet. I tend to find toothbrushes and toothpastes are mostly useless and hard to work with ferrets --- but some people genuinely use them and find them helpful.

[weloveourweasels]

I PMed Wenmister who is a mod at ferret.com forum asking where I can find the chart. I swore it was a sticky but I can't find it I'll let you all know when she gets back to me.

[murphysmom]

Thanks guys. I know Ollie is older than 2(previous owner had him for 2 years), but I wanted to get a better idea, so if needed I can alter his diet to better suit his needs. I tried taking some pics of his teeth too, but the darn ferret would not yawn!!!
So here is the best I got, if you can tell anything, let me know!





I think that I will have to take him to the vet for his teeth, but I am not comfortable putting him under. Call it ferret mom ESP, but that is not an option for me for him. He is healthy, but I just do not feel that would be right for him at this point.

ugh! Just looked at the pics and they are horrible. But you can see the yellowing of teeth. Sorry for horrible picture taking on my part!

[spiritualtramp]

It is hard to tell with those pics, but when he does open wide can you see buildup on the back molars? If so, I'd get him into the vet's. Has he had reactions to things before, which is why you're nervous about putting him under? Some ferrets do have severe reactions to anesthesia, my Captain Morgan's littermate Tipsy had a horrible reaction. Yellowish discoloration, though, there's not much to do about, even a dental won't remove that. My Diesel's canines look like he was a heavy smoker and coffee drinker for much of his life... and though switching to a raw diet helped them a lot, they're still quite stained. There's not much else to do for it as long as there is no buildup of plaque.

[murphysmom]

I can't remember about the back mollers. I'll have to recheck.

No, as far as I know- he has not had any reaction of any sort. There is something and I can not put my finger on it, that tells me not to have him put under, that it would be bad for him. Call me crazy , but I have learned to listen to that inner voice about things. I will try to get some better pictures too.

[Heather]

I'm looking at the bottom pic, the last one you posted. It's not clear so if any one can sort of double check (I'm fighting a migraine tonight so the old eyes aren't necessarily seeing real clear ) but it looks to me as though the clarity is about 1/2 way or more. I would give the age of the ferret about 6 or 7 but without looking at the ferret itself, the photos can be misleading. The length of the tooth is also extensive. I've only had 2 ferrets that I can place with that type of length of tooth both ferrets were older than 8. This is a pic of Little Mischief (pronounced Meeteef). If you look closely at the photo, mark the length of the teeth, how far they reach down the jaw and the clarity of the teeth...his are more than half way up the tooth, the gums are clearing. Unfortunately, because of the way the photos have to be viewed the pic isn't as clear as I would like to illustrate. Little Mischief was 9 yrs old in this pic, maybe even a little older. Little Babushka's teeth are very similar to this and she's over 10 yrs old.

[sherrylynne]

Looks about 1/2 way to me as well, Heather. Sorry to hear about the migraine. They are no fun. I know.

[murphysmom]

Ok, I was trying to get a better pic and doing it one handed is not easy. So I messed around a little on photobucket to see if I would be able to show you guys better. The two little dots are were the color changes from a kinda clearish opaque to a tooth white.



Hope you head is feeling better Heather.

[Heather]

That's about where I thought it was....that's putting the age between 5 and 7 I'm thinking...maybe a little older but not much. How old were you told? or were you? I took in a threesome, the lady had originally been trying to sell them along with a ferret nation cage (2 level) for $500. Anyway...the short of it, in the end I got them (no charge...strictly rescue). She told me the little boys were 1 and 2 and the little girl was 6 months. I wish they wouldn't lie...I take them anyway if I have room. The one little boy, Aremis was 6, the other Athos was 3 and Sprite was 2 or somewhere about there. This particular rescue cost me big but I loved them anyway....so what did it matter. I just wish they would be honest with me.
ciao