Author: Laurie Stroupe, Precious Pet Rabbits

Ideally, the top front teeth of a rabbit will lap over the front bottom teeth. Since rabbit teeth grow, this positioning allows natural wearing to occur as the rabbit eats his food and hay.

Occasionally, the front teeth will butt. If the teeth are wearing normally (you don't see any really long teeth), I would judge those teeth acceptable for a pet rabbit. Butting teeth is a showing disqualification, so if you are willing to accept a rabbit with non-problematic butting teeth, you may be able to adopt a gorgeous [otherwise] show-quality rabbit.

Sometimes the teeth will butt or overlap the wrong way and not wear normally. In this case, the teeth can be clipped. It only takes a few seconds and is easy to learn how to do; your vet or a breeder can teach you. My vet charges less to clip a rabbit's teeth than to clip a dog's nails. The frequency of the clipping
would vary with the severity of the malocclusion. If the teeth need clipping but are not clipped, the rabbit could lose his ability to eat and literally starve to death.

Wolf teeth are misaligned teeth that grow in all types of directions. Simple clipping may not be enough to all rabbits with this sort of teeth problem to live a normal life. In many cases, rabbits with severe teeth problems may require euthanasia.

Checking the teeth is only one part of the pre-purchase evaluation you should perform before you decide to purchase a pet rabbit. Visit Precious Pet Rabbits (http://www.pet-rabbit-care-information.com/) for more information on buying pet rabbits.

About the author:
Laurie Stroupe is owner of Precious Pet Rabbits (http://www.pet-rabbit-care-information.com/), a website dedicated to providing quality rabbit care information. She is also the owner of The Nature Trail Rabbitry (http://www.thenaturetrail.com/), home to her herd of Holland
lop show rabbits. You can read her daily blog at http://www.thenaturetrail.com/blog/BLOG.htm