Aging your ferret by their teeth

[Celene]

I was a little curious so I took a look at my girls' teeth. I only got photos of Nova's because she tends to sleep soundlier on me than Mocha will. Based on what the person we rescued her from told us, she's about 2 years old (when we got her in May we were told she was roughly 1.5 years) - the translucency seems to back that up.

The part that worries me and is causing me to post is the mention above to @julesalot about an abscess tooth. I always thought of a big swollen, fluid-filled lump when I heard "abscess" but I have noticed when I touch Nova's mouth (on the side not in the photo) she seems to grind her teeth for a second or two and doesn't really enjoy it. I always thought she was just tweaky like that because (likely due to her history) she absolutely freaks out over seemingly normal/harmless things. Anyway, as you can see in the 3rd photo her molar is quite dark, kind of a gray-blue-green colour. Mocha has it too. I've been (trying to) use oxyfresh on their teeth since they aren't on bones yet but hasn't been easy.

On a side note, Nova's teeth are already translucent at the top as well. Given her age, I don't even want to imagine what she was previously fed!

[Heather]

Her age by her teeth says that you're were told about right. I would peg her at about 2 to 3 by her teeth. The back molar might be a problem (only a vet can tell you for sure) but the gum doesn't appear inflamed...from the pic. Colours aren't always true in photos. Atreyu's gums actually have high red marks which is why he's on antibiotics at the moment
ciao

[Celene]

Unfortunately it was night time (which is why she was sleeping on me soundly enough to pull her gums back at all) so the lighting sucked.

I don't think either girls have red/inflamed gums, but both have dark colouration on their molars. I'm probably going to take both girls to the vet in the next month or so for a general check up, so will ask my vet then. Nova's spleen size (especially for her age) is also worrying me a little. It seems to have gotten larger since switching to raw.

[Celene]

Hey Heather, any guesses on Mocha? Based on what we were told she is about 3-3.5 years old, although it looks like the translucency starts a little high for that.

[Heather]

I'm afraid that little one is about 4 or 5 yrs old. I'm sorry. The clarity appears higher that 1/3
ciao

[Celene]

No it's all good - I definitely appreciate it! Our first baby Truffles passed away a couple weeks after she turned 5 so this does worry me since I thought I had more time with these babies. Of course I know some/many ferrets liver longer than that too.

[Celene]

Just in case it changes things Heather (I know it actually won't) here is a clearer pic I was able to take. The flash makes her teeth look yellower than they are, but shows the tooth better.

[Heather]

Sorry....still the same. I was hoping I could offer you better guess too. It's a really nice shot though...want to come over and take pics of my guys lol
ciao

[Celene]

The shot was a total fluke. Although I did a ton of research on what camera would be best for photographing ferrets (i.e. capturing moving targets and shooting in low light), I have no idea how to use it. So far I just use the "auto" setting since my girls won't sit still long enough to let me test all the fancy settings and such. The one thing I hate about getting the really crisp shots is it shows all the fluff and stuff stuck to ferrets (in this case some sort of black string on Mocha's lip). I always seem to find fluff and such stuck to them no matter how often I vacuum.

On the age thing, at least now I know the estimate was made with a clear picture where there is no doubt as to where the clarity starts. I love Mocha no matter her age and am just happy and honoured to be part of her business and offer her a loving forever home.

[Deleted]

Any help aging Slinky and Hammy as we weren't told a very clear idea of their age. If these aren't clear enough, I can see what better ones I can get, but they weren't very happy with me.

Hammy:


Slinky:

[Heather]

Hammy is more than 5 yrs of age, closer to 6 or so. The clarity is reaching up to half of the canine...half the canine is 7 yrs+. The second two, of Slinky, the lighting isn't quite right...I'm thinking about 2/3 yrs but I'm not entirely sure because like I said the lighting isn't quite right. You may want to have a closer look at that back molar though. It appears to have a gray or damage line. Hard to tell from the pic though....it's just a thought
ciao

[Deleted]

That's a lot older than their old owners told us, they said they were both around a year. I did look at her back teeth and they do have grey spots on them, but they were fed some sort of cat food until we got them on Wysong, so they're both kibble fed all their lives probably. My boyfriend is planning on taking them to the vet soon. He helped me get a better picture of Slinky's teeth when he got home from work.

[Heather]

I'm thinking about 2 yrs old...moving toward 3 yrs.
It's not uncommon for people to misrepresent the age of their ferret. Sometimes it's an honest mistake other times it's because they figure that they will probably not place an older ferret.
ciao

[crazylady]

up to now I would agree with all of heathers guesses she is spot on lol and believe me I have looked at a lot of teeth over the years lol and congratulations folks those teeth look lovely and clean ( you have no idea of some teeth I have looked at over the years 4 month old kits at shows crusted with tartar from kibbles !) I would get that suspect abscess checked out asp as it can cause a lot of pain and problems hope this helps take care bye for now
Bev

[Deleted]

We definitely still love the girls regardless of their age and would have. I'm glad you guys were able to give a more accurate age for us, and we definitely will get her teeth checked out asap. Thanks!