broken teeth

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I have a 5 month old Campbell's male dwarf hamster. In the last day, he
seems to be having a hard time lately with eating. He just licks everything and
can't seem to bite. He's still storing things in his house and filling his pouches
but just seems to get frustrated when he tries to eat hard things like pellets.
He did alright with some tofu but still, it took him a while to eat the small
peice. Also, yesterday he had an episode where he seemed to lose his
balance, start convulsing a bit and make clicking noises like he was choking. I
rushed him to the vet but by that time, they said he seemed completely
normal. They emptied his cheek pouches which were really full so could that
have broken a tooth? I tried to check his mouth but I'm not good at doing it
so I haven't been able to see inside yet. Anyway, how can I help him eat? And
besides going to the vet, is there anything I can do?
ANSWER: Hi there,sorry to hear about the problems your hammy has been having. Did the vet check the front teeth to see if they were overgrown? It does sound like a dental problem. In the meantime offer baby food to the hamster but if the front teeth arent the cause, they will probably overgrow and need trimmed by a vet regulary, like every 2 weeks or so. Practice looking in his mouth, if you grasp him by the scruff which doesnt hurt, it opens his mouth and exposes the front teeth and you will get a good look at them. Try the baby food and keep a close eye on him, though if he continues to have problems go back to your vet for further investigation. Good luck

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for the speedy answer:)Basically the new vet I found
confirmed that he broke  his top teeth so can't chew. I will have to make his
food softer so he can eat like grinding it up but the consistency will be a
problem. He will eat it so far, but he doesn't get as excited about eating and I
don't think he eats enough. I ground and broke up some of his seeds today
and fed them to him out of my hand which he liked and will definitely try the
baby food. Just the vegetable kinds? I'm thinking of just soaking the pellets
and letting them get really soft so he still eat them and hold them still, along
with grinding the seeds. I get free weight check-ups at the vet every week so
I will be able to monitor that , and I will practice with looking at his teeth.
Hopefully they'll take a quick look at those too when we're there. They want
to keep trimming in mind in case so I'm sure they will. Thanks for your help!
Does it sound like there is anything else I really need to do?

Answer
Sounds like everything you are doing is good. I have a hamster that was born with a tooth missing so the teeth grow at the wrong angle and she needs them trimmed every week or so. I give her chicken and vegetable baby food because she cant really eat anything at all and they can lose weight very quickly when they are struggling to eat. Shes been doing well on the baby food for a long time now. You could make your own by blending chicken and vegetables up, the chicken is a good source of protein for them and they love it. I tried soaking the pellets but my hamster didnt like them like that. She does eat very small seeds like millet though. If you search on the net for hamster restraint, there are good pictures that show you how to scruff them, it looks worse than it is! Hopefully your hammy will soon be back to normal! Good luck