How to prevent over-grown molars?

[Cassidyfare]

Hi guys!
So I take my Peaches to the vet every 4-6 weeks to get a little check up and nail trim, and last month my vet told me one side of her molars was a little over grown, so to try and encourage more wood-chewing. Since then, I got her a new wood bunny hutch, and she’s been chewing it like crazy so I thought for sure it would’ve helped. But today I took her and the vet said it hadn’t improved at all and the other side was starting to over grow too I scheduled a tooth filing for next week. As of right now she’s eating totally fine, she’s still active and playing/binkying, etc. She has a lot of wood toys, but she doesn’t prefer them. She does chew them, just not as much as other toys. But like I said she has been chewing her new house like crazy! She gets a fresh unlimited supply of a Timothy hay/ oat hay mix everyday and she eats that primarily. Sometimes I’ll add in some orchard grass to give her some variety, and that’s really crunchy and thick. She also gets leafy greens and pellets.
I’m wondering what you guys suggest for toys and possible other hays/foods to prevent them from over-growing again?

 

[zuppa]

There are some toys designed for that like here, I have this one too so the idea that they can use their molars chewing them, or appletree branch/stick fixed in the corner so they can chew not with front teeth but use molars for that.

Eco Friendly Natural Wood Mini Exercise Chew Teeth Care Molar Toy for Rabbit Chinchilla Hamster

 

[Cassidyfare]

There are some toys designed for that like here, I have this one too so the idea that they can use their molars chewing them, or appletree branch/stick fixed in the corner so they can chew not with front teeth but use molars for that.

Eco Friendly Natural Wood Mini Exercise Chew Teeth Care Molar Toy for Rabbit Chinchilla Hamster

Thank you!! Do you fix any sticks in a corner? If so, how do you do that so they’re steady enough not to fall down while they’re chewing?

 

[JBun]

Chewing on wood doesn't necessarily promote wearing down of the molars. That would be more the incisors. Silica in hay is what helps wear the molars down. Silica is abrasive, so is basically like sandpaper on the teeth.

Orchard grass has a higher silica content then some of the other grass hays. So if your bun eats the orchard hay really well, I would focus on primarily feeding that. I do know of someone that switched their dental prone bun to it and went from needing molar burring every 2 months, to being able to go a year before the next one was needed.

So that's what I would do, lots of orchard grass. If bun doesn't eat much hay, I would reduce pellet amounts and any carb/sugary foods, to encourage more hay eating (ensuring lots of hay is being consumed and rabbit maintains a healthy weight ).

 

[Cassidyfare]

Chewing on wood doesn't necessarily promote wearing down of the molars. That would be more the incisors. Silica in hay is what helps wear the molars down. Silica is abrasive, so is basically like sandpaper on the teeth.

Orchard grass has a higher silica content then some of the other grass hays. So if your bun eats the orchard hay really well, I would focus on primarily feeding that. I do know of someone that switched their dental prone bun to it and went from needing molar burring every 2 months, to being able to go a year before the next one was needed.

So that's what I would do, lots of orchard grass. If bun doesn't eat much hay, I would reduce pellet amounts and any carb/sugary foods, to encourage more hay eating (ensuring lots of hay is being consumed and rabbit maintains a healthy weight ).

I actually Confused the orchard grass with oat hay/: The mix she gets is a Timothy and Orchard Grass mix, and I will add in the Oat hay periodically! She is really good about eating the hay though, thank goodness. She sometimes has off days where she won’t eat AS much, but it doesn’t happen enough for me to think that would be the cause. If Orchard grass is that helpful though I may just buy the Timothy and Orchard separately (I usually buy a blend in one bag) and give her more of the orchard and add in smaller amounts of Timothy!