Brush your teeth 3 times a week to reduce the chance of mouth disease - pics

[Kadie]

A keeper brushes a hippo's teeth at the Shanghai Zoo November 3, 2010. The hippo has its teeth cleaned three times a week to reduce the chance of mouth diseases, local media reported. Picture taken November 3, 2010.


A keeper brushes a hippo's teeth at the Shanghai Zoo November 3, 2010. The hippo has its teeth cleaned three times a week to reduce the chance of mouth diseases, local media reported. Picture taken November 3, 2010.


:D



found more info...

Chinese zoo makes special toothbrush for hippos
A Chinese zoo has built a special four foot-long toothbrush to clean the teeth of its hippopotamuses, after using a broom for years.

Published: 8:51AM GMT 04 Nov 2010

Shanghai Zoo now puts on a public show three times a week where visitors can watch zookeepers administer oral hygiene to its three hippos.

“Usually wild hippos do not need to have their teeth cleaned,” said Pan Xiuwen, an official at the zoo, to the Shanghai Daily newspaper.

“They usually eat grass, which is not likely to get stuck in the gaps between their teeth. However, at the zoo we feed them fruit and vegetables which can easily clog up their teeth,” he explained.

Hippos have enormous mouths, measuring up to four foot-wide, and a pair of large incisors in each jaw. On the outer part of their jaw, they have curved lower canine teeth, which are a source of ivory and which can grow like tusks until they reach three feet in length.

more...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8109476/Chinese-zoo-makes-special-toothbrush-for-hippos.html

[Kookaburra]

1. For kissably sweet breath?

So cute. Wonder how long it took them to convince that hippo to let them do that?

[Kadie]

5. It says here they used to use brooms...

Chinese zoo makes special toothbrush for hippos
A Chinese zoo has built a special four foot-long toothbrush to clean the teeth of its hippopotamuses, after using a broom for years.

Published: 8:51AM GMT 04 Nov 2010

Shanghai Zoo now puts on a public show three times a week where visitors can watch zookeepers administer oral hygiene to its three hippos.

“Usually wild hippos do not need to have their teeth cleaned,” said Pan Xiuwen, an official at the zoo, to the Shanghai Daily newspaper.

“They usually eat grass, which is not likely to get stuck in the gaps between their teeth. However, at the zoo we feed them fruit and vegetables which can easily clog up their teeth,” he explained.

Hippos have enormous mouths, measuring up to four foot-wide, and a pair of large incisors in each jaw. On the outer part of their jaw, they have curved lower canine teeth, which are a source of ivory and which can grow like tusks until they reach three feet in length.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8109476/Chinese-zoo-makes-special-toothbrush-for-hippos.html

:)

[provis99]

2. That's cute!

Does the hippo's breath smell minty fresh after they're done?

[RKP5637]

4. Funny!!! I was thinking similar! That could give a whole new meaning to halitosis! n/t

[Bobbieo]

3. That is so neat. He/she seems to enjoy the experience.

[rocktivity]

6. ...Clifford Ray...once saved the life of a dolphin by reaching into its second stomach.

...a former (Chicago) Bulls center who later won an NBA title with the Golden State Warriors in 1975, (he) now works with the big men on the Celtics...

In 1978, during repairs on the dolphin tank at Marine World in Redwood City, Calif., a worker inadvertently dropped a large stainless steel screw. The dolphin, "Mr. Spock," swallowed it...surgery could not be performed. The veterinarian said, "If only my arms were 9 inches longer, I could reach down his throat and pull it out."

Ray's arms are an extraordinary 3 feet 9 inches long...He cut his fingernails, greased his arm, reached down the dolphin's mouth and extracted the screw...
More

:headbang:
rocktivity

[kestrel91316]

7. Harumph. Practicing veterinary medicine without a license.

:rofl:

[Kadie]

8. oh wow.

That is a cool story. Icky, but cool.

:)

[hunter]

9. Yikes! Even big bad crocodiles fear those guys.

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/11/hippos_killing_crocodile.php

Do not click on link if you don't want to think about angry hippos.

Hippos are generally regarded as the most dangerous animals in the river.

[Odin2005]

10. DAYUM!!!

:wow:

[Roon]

13. I remember the jungle boat ride at disney world

The guide would shoot LOUD blanks at a surfacing, mechanical hippo.

I am sure they stopped that practice a long time ago.

[Kadie]

14. !

:wow:

I'm afraid to click on your link.

:scared:

[Odin2005]

11. LOL, that's a ginourmous mouth!

[lonestarnot]

12. Yikes. Dat ting got my bloewd a boil'n.

What if dat thing made a sudden snap at the human toothbrusher.

[Man_with_a_plan]

15. Wow!

That is one large mouth! How impossibly large those teeth are. WOW!

First time in my life I've seen a hippo getting his teeth brushed. Thanks for posting!

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. Welcome to DU!

:hi: