Guinea Pig Teeth (An Article)

[Dawn - Admin]

What you need to know about…
Guinea Pig Teeth

By Hannah (CAC Cavies)

Guinea Pigs (Cavies) have 20 teeth: 4 incisors at the front, then 8 molars on the top and 8 molars on the bottom at the back.

Cavies’ teeth are rootless otherwise known as open-rooted which means they will continue to grow all through a Guinea Pig’s life.

Teeth Problems

Below is a picture of Healthy Incisors. This shows how to check the teeth and also the picture indicates what Healthy teeth should look like.

Healthy Incisors on Chardonnay,
our Buff Self Sow

Also here is a diagram of a Guinea pig’s molar Teeth:

This is the top layout of teeth and it is the same on the bottom layout.

Problems in Guinea Pig Teeth

Slobbers – This is also called Malocclusion of Premolar Teeth. It is a common problem in Guinea Pig Teeth, more common in cavies over 3 years of age. This problem comes when the premolar teeth don’t meet properly when the cavy is chewing. It can result in too much wearing of these teeth and can also cause injury to the tongue.
Affected Guinea Pigs find it hard to eat and can’t chew or swallow food properly, and their weight can drop very fast.

As soon as the illness is noticed, the cavy should be taken to the vet. The vet will examine the mouth and diagnose the cavy with the condition. Trimming or Filing under General Anaesthetic is almost always needed but there is no permanent correction for this problem.


Trimming cavy teeth

Cavy owners will never have to get a Guinea Pig’s Teeth trimmed at all if they have a proper diet of hay, dry food and veggies.

If your cavies’ teeth do get overgrown and really have to be trimmed or cut, take to a vet, *NEVER ATTEMPT TO CUT THE TEETH YOURSELF*
If the teeth are overgrown, touching the gums or skin in the mouth, you HAVE to take them to the vet immediately!
It is not often at all that a guinea pig gets overgrown teeth if he/she is on a proper healthy diet, but unfortunately some piggies have a poor diet and those are the piggies that develop overgrown teeth.
If the teeth are left in a bad condition, you have to reMember that they are open-rooted so will still continue to grow, and this can make a guinea pig stressed or make him/her develop more problems which can result in death of the piggy.

Below is a picture of a cavy with overgrown molar teeth. As you can see, it is quite a serious problem for a little piggy to have.

THE END

Let our piggies have healthy teeth for life!

BY HANNAH (CAC Cavies)