A few notes about the rat's teeth

[littleindiangirl]

Did you know this?
Rats do not have canines.
The incisors are colored with a yellowish pigment that darkens as they age. The uppers will be darker than the bottom.
The two foremost teeth are called "open-rooted", meaning they will grow throughout their entire life.
The upper incisors are about 4mm long, and the lower ones are nearly 7mm long!
Rat's incisor grow at an average rate of 2.2 mm per week (upper) and 2.8 mm per week (lower).
If the incisors are trimmed, they will grow faster. If one is longer than the other, the shorter incisor will grow back faster to catch up.
The incisors only have enamel on the front of the tooth, the back side is dentin.
This dentin is softer, and wears away quicker, giving rats the incredible sharp beveled edge.
When gnawing, the molors dont touch.
When using the molors, the incisors don't touch. (They move their jaw forward or back to do either task)
A rat has a powerful gnawing technique. This is mostly due to the attachment points of the muscles that move the lower jaw.
One muscle runs through the eye socket, which makes the rats eye's "boggle" when bruxating. The muscles are closer to the end of the jaw, creating incredible force when gnawing.
The enamel of a rat is harder than iron, platinum and copper.
Rats only have 12 molors, 3 in each quadrant of the mouth. They only have that one set their whole life.

[ffollett]

I have had this bookmarked for a long time. This page talks about the different kinds of rat bites. Figured it may help illustrate some of what you were talking about with the teeth.

http://www.ratballs.com/RatTails/Tails059.html

[littleindiangirl]

Hey thanks, I'll have to check that out

[SatanicIntention]

I love that RatBalls site. They are some hilarious people

[ffollett]

No problem. When I was breeding rats I tried to learn as much as I could about them. I am a firm believer in rats make better pets than any other rodent out there. I actually had a pet rat long before my first snake and even after getting into snake I use to treat all of my breeder rats like they were pets.

[frankykeno]

Great stuff folks! Really does bring it home that these rats need a good, hard food source so those incredible teeth don't end up causing them problems.

Thanks for providing the links.