Treats and dental care

[xeopse]

To my disgust, my 1 year old research babies ALL have significant tartar build up on their molars. Quality laboratory kibble my a**!!

So, until they start working up to bones since they're only on soupie now and will occasionally rip meaty bits off bone, what can I give them to encourage them to use their back teeth to scrape off this dental plaque? For dogs I know a lot of people that swear by bully sticks and deer antlers - can I use the same for ferrets? Is there something better apt for their little teeth? There mouths are so small... not that that stops them

After all the dental scrapings I've done on dogs, cats, and primates, I NEVER want to do them on ferrets. Cats are bad enough, I can't even imagine have to put these guys under to do it, nor would I want to risk putting them under for something so preventable.

I know bones are best but... they haven't quite figured those out yet What to give them in the meantime to encourage chewing with back teeth??

[bluemoose]

Other than regular raw meat and bones, which you're already working on incorporating into their diet, chicken gizzards are supposed to be good if you can get them to eat them. They're tough and chewy (would also help build up jaw strength for bones later) but not as tough as bone.

Besides that, you could try brushing their teeth occasionally until they're on a regular raw diet. It's not an easy job of course and might work better with two people. I don't know how bitey your ferrets are if you'd want to get your hands that near their mouths

[Heather]

Gizzards...work very well. Brushing is the only other method that I can think of (other than bone). You can use a regular child's toothbrush to brush their teeth. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how good the kibble is it's too brittle to clean your little one's teeth. It's one of the great kibble lies.
ciao

[xeopse]

I didn't know about the gizzards! I can pick those up for cheap around here.

And yeah, the whole thing about kibble is a load of crap. I won't try to do the teeth brushing... it won't go well. As it is, the only way I can check their teeth is if they do one of their biiiig yawns.

I'm hoping they will just figure out the bones pretty soon and I won't need to worry about it. I'll introduce gizzards too, hopefully they'll like it =) I've found that mine are lazy little boogers though... they don't like working for food I can tell.

[Heather]

It's not just your little boogers believe me. Ferrets are a lazy chew and if there's an easy way to get their food without having to chew, they'd do it. It's hard to believe that a creature that will spend 20 min. trying to get under a door, or to flip open a cupboard can't take 1 min. to eat a piece of bone. I told Napoleon that if there was a way to get his food via osmosis he'd do it .
ciao

[mjohn143]

I got a cat toothbrush for a couple of bucks and some peanut flavored pet toothpaste and at first they hated it, but now I think they think it is a treat... lol its funny tho

[Heather]

I was suggested by a long time ferret breeder to use fish oil and bone meal...mix it to a paste and use a baby's toothbrush. I've not had the opportunity to try it but considering that my guys love the fish oil and the bonemeal won't hurt them and has no horrible addititives it might just be worth a shot
ciao

[horse656]

Nov 10, 2010 0:13:05 GMT -5 Heather said:

I told Napoleon that if there was a way to get his food via osmosis he'd do it .
ciao

that would be pretty awesome for them wouldn't it