I have written a book called the diagnostic guide to guinea pig problems. this book contains quite a lot of the information included in the rodentologists training program. You are having a problen finding a rodent vet because NONE of the vet schools give any training on rodents, hence the British Association of Rodentologists offer training courses which are available to members of the public. We do have 3 students in the west country but they are all at the early stages of their training at the moment.
If you e mail me your postal address I can either send you a copy of my book £29.50 inc p/p.you can pay via pay pal or post cheque made payable to v stanley spatcher to Cct/Bar 1 Splash Lane, Wyton, Huntingdon Cambs PE282AF, or for free I will post you a copy of the corrective dentistry section. I can at a later stage let you know when the students down your end of the country are 'up and running'.
Generaly speaking one broken tooth should not be a problem, most problems occur when 2 either top or bottom get broken, the owner fails to notice, and the unbroken opposing teeth are allowed to grow on too long before the broken ones reach the correct length. When a double fracture to teeth occurs the unbroken ones should be cut to the same length as the broken ones. That way both sets, after a few days occlude correctly again. Failure to do this often results in a permanant mal-occlosion.
I do have a qualified rodentologist in Dorset but she is currently unavailable due to problems with elderly sick parents. The next nearest to you would be either David Thomas (rhondda south wales) Eugene Tiltman( west Sussex) or Chriss Slade (reading).
Your local vet could check the back teeth by first giving the guinea pig a drink to wash down any food, then empty the mouth of any remaining food by sucking the contents out with an empty 1ml syringe. If he then uses the longest thin tube from his otoscope set he can introduce this into the back portion of the mouth and view each back tooth individually. There would be no need to give the guinea pig an anaesthetic either wrapp the guinea pig up in a thin tea towel or pop him into a small plimsole bag and hold him whilst the vet has a look. Hope you find this information helpful. Kind regards Vedra.
PS, grind up his normal food in a coffee bean mill, mix this fine powder to a smooth paste with prev boiled water and after cutting a 1ml syringe across the barrel, give him a few meals a day untill his eating and weight are back to normal. 2 drops of Abidec human baby vitamins from your chemist will prevent him from getting a vitamin defeciency. Weigh pig daily and adjust amount of food according to weight.
