How to Trim a Rat's Teeth

Rats don't normally need to have their teeth trimmed. If you supply them with things to gnaw on (such as hard foods and wood blocks) their natural gnawing will wear down the teeth. If your rat's teeth get long enough that you can see the top teeth even when the rat's mouth is closed, or if the rat begins to drool or have trouble eating, you will need to trim the teeth. If you have any doubts about being able to do it yourself, take the rat to the vet and have the vet or a vet assistant show you how to do it.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• A folding nail trimmer or dog nail clipper
• A nail file, if necessary
• An assistant

1. Determine if your rat's teeth need to be trimmed. Drooling is one of the first signs that something is wrong. Also, if the teeth are not parallel but are growing off at different angles, they probably will need to be trimmed. Look at photos of normal rat teeth and overgrown rat teeth. Notice that the bottom teeth are supposed to be longer than the top ones, but should be parallel.
2. Hold the rat by the "scruff" of the neck. Holding it in this manner not only immobilizes it, but also makes the rat naturally open its mouth a bit so that you can get at the teeth. One person should immobilize the rat while the other person does the trimming.
3. Snip the teeth so that their final length is no shorter than 1/2 inch (1 cm).
4. Check for sharp edges. If you find sharp places, use the file to smooth them out.

Tips & Warnings

• Look at a picture of normal rat teeth before you decide to trim. Be sure you know what you are doing.
• Get someone else to help you with this. This job is very hard to do single-handedly.
• Don't over trim the bottom teeth. The bottom teeth are supposed to be longer than the top teeth.