Brown teeth

Question
Aloha Dr. Krempels,
I have two unrelated MiniRex rabbits with brown teeth.  One is broken Chocolate, male, 6 months old.  The other is an 8 month old female solid chocolate.  They eat the same diet as my other MiniRex rabbits, Purina Advantage Complete, and Timothy hay.  The water is filtered by ultra violet light.  They are the only chocolates I have.
The coloring does not brush off, nor do I see white tooth enamel at the gum line.
The teeth seem otherwise healthy.
They have not been getting any treats for at least 3 months.  I thought the coloring might be from something they were eating.  The teeth have always been brown.  The male has a litter mate with white teeth.
I have a picture but can't seem to attach.
Thank you so much.

Answer
Dear Trisha,

This may be genetic, or it could be a sign of early dental disease.  Without seeing the bunnies' teeth, I can't really judge.

Are these rescue bunnies?  We do see brown teeth in rabbits who eat a lot of natural vegetation and expose their teeth to a lot of tannins, but since their teeth grow continuously, you'd expect that to eventually go away with a less natural diet.

I'd suggest you take them to a rabbit-savvy vet who can do an in-person exam to assess the quality of their teeth and see whether they have underlying dental disease causing discoloration of the enamel.  I have seen this a few times in some bunnies, though it's usually only one or two teeth--not all of them.

You can find a rabbit-savvy vet here:

http://www.rabbit.org/vet

Hope this helps.

Dana