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Asked by alicegd to Jo, Kevin, Valeria on 21 Jun 2012.
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Kevin Mahon answered on 21 Jun 2012:
This is part of being a rodent – continually growing teeth are one of the defining charactersitics of this group of animals.
It has been suggested it has evolved in this group as there need for large and sharp teeth because of their diet – hard foods or difficult to open foods like seeds and nuts that need strong teeth. Obviously rodents whose teeth can only reach a certain size are at a disadvantage – they won’t be able to open that one nut that is particularly hard for example.
Continuously growing teeth though an advantage this way obviously have problems – for one if the animal doesn’t contstantly gnaw, there are huge risks with overgrowing teeth causing pain and even piercing the mouth and head!
It’s one of those cases of a trade off – it’s a feature that under the right circumstances has allowed rodents like the hamster to thrive whereas there are still risks, especially for domesticated rodents who don’t get the natural opportunities to gnaw a field mouse or squirel would have!
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Joanna Cruden answered on 21 Jun 2012:
If we grind our teeth then our own teeth get ground down and not replaced, so dentists will try and stop this habit, however with hamsters the food they eat is pretty hard and so they are technically grinding their teeth and to counterbalance this they also grow their teeth.
If the teeth are not aligned properly it can cause them problems as the teeth can overgrow and grow through the cheeks so if you have a rodent as a pet it is very important to check their teeth and take them to the vet if they seem to be geting too long.
Comments
alicegd commented on :
thanks kevin