I have heard stories of sugar gliders teeth being clipped by vets!

so, fact or fiction? do gliders teeth need to be clipped?

I say NO! NEVER!

Sugar gliders are not rodents and their teeth do not grow continuously!

If your vet recommends clipping the teeth for the sole reason the will grow and grow, please get another vet!

Oh heavens I read the title of this and shuddered. lol
I can't imagine.

You're right. They are NOT rodents. Their teeth do NOT continually grow, so if they're clipped, nerves are being exposed. How painful, for the entirety of their lives, to live with clipped teeth.

I have had many toothaches and I would not ever consider having my suggies teeth cut. SO PAINFUL! The only animals that I have ever gotten teeth cut is when i have had my horses teeth floated and that is so sad to watch but its for their own good.

Absolutly NOT.

When I got my first pair, the book the breeder gave me talked about getting their teeth filed. The breeder told me that anything I didnt know already would be in the book.

Never said hey, but the teeth filing thing is false. Lets just say that the book was great, but it was one of the first books published on gliders.

I decided from that day forth, NOT to go back to that breeder.

Marsupial teeth are like our own and should never be cut, filed or trimmed. Imagine if we did that to our teeth?

I cringed inwardly when I read the title of this thread. I gotta start looking at what forum threads are in!

Sadly this DOES happen and just happened to a glider here in FL. What is worse is that there are vets out there treating animals they know nothing about. Since this event I have added a veterinary care page on my site. I have tried to explain what should and not happen at a vet visit as well as other helpful tips and numbers. Hopefully this will prevent this happening again somewhere.

The guy who sold me Elliot told me I should have his teeth clipped, but I'd already read (I think on here, possibly, before I registered) about that and knew better.

Thank GOD I didn't take that advice. I'm not sure a vet here would have done it, since they seem to believe that they can't operate on a glider for any reason anyway because of anesthesia issues, but still.

Just thinking about it turns my stomach.

I am glad this topic came up again, it may seem obvious to a lot of us, but for some newbies it is not, just like many of us did not know this when we first started out with sugar gliders. It is OUR responsibility to make sure that our vets know not to file a glider's teeth.

Unlike a lot of other species, sugar gliders have fixed teeth, which do not continue to grow. Also, they do not have "replacer" teeth to replace one that is lost, like for instants a kangaroo who sheds teeth.

By filing/trimming their teeth, the nerves in their teeth will be exposed causing never ending pain, leading to infection and tooth decay.

The only reason sugar gliders chew on branches in the wild is to access sap. How do they brush, simple, carrots and mealies keep their teeth clean.

I have a little girl who came to me as a rescue. (She was found just left at a college party). Her top front teeth appeared to be filed or trimmed. So I know that there are some people out there (vets or not) that think this is necessary.

My little girl definitely has increased sensitivity in her teeth. Before I realized what was going on I would pull her food out of the freezer/fridge at the same time as everyone else's and she would refuse to touch it until it was room temperature. She also generally avoids any harder food items. We haven't had any cavities or infection from it yet, but I am always watching for it.