Hatchling Mac still hasnt eaten.

[stipe]

its been 23 days since my hatchling mac last had a meal. His last meal was a day old pinkie mouse. Ever since then ive been trying to feed him but he just refuses. He is kept in a 30cm long by 15cm plastic tub with a head mat on one end. The gradient is 32 at hot, 28 middle and 25/26 at cool end. humidy is at avarage 40-50%. He hides during the day which is normal and is very active at night. Always going out exploring trying to escape. When i recieced my hatchling mac on the 12th of feb, the owner said it was due for a shed, but it still hasnt shed. I check it daily. It looks perfictly healthy. It goes exploring and is very reactive with sudern movments and calm when i move slow.

Ok ive tried
-day old pinkies, frozen and live
-Washed pinkie
-lizard scented pinkie
-cockatiel scented pinkie
-brained pinkie
-fish scented pinkie
-fish.
-chicken meat

Nothign worked, he didnt even go for them just turned his head and walked away. I sometimes left them overnight next to his hide hide box but its still there in the morning. I do it with tongs to that he cant scense my heat and only the foods but he still ignors it. It was born x-mas day and is rougly 32cm long and pencil width. Since it was born it ate the following meals. Lizard, lizard, lizar/pinkie, lizard scented pinkie, pinkie. So its last meal was a plain pinkie but it woutn even look at a pinkie.

Can anyone offer me advice? I woudl higly apreciate it.

[Hoppa1874]

maybe go back to the lizard meal.. and give him a few at a time.. my mac was eating 5 skinks at a feeding and he is 25 cm long..he is now eating pinkies tho.. but i had to bleed them everytime for the first 4 times.. so be patient wif him..

[gaara]

Are you feeding in an empty enclosure? If not, you need to pull out all the hides, and substrate before you try to feed it.

Macs generally take to the 'being pissed off' method, where by you lightly bash the mac around the neck and tail with the pinkie mouse (obviously lightly as they aren't as sturdy as a wombat). Be careful not to hit the mac too hard, just a tapping will irritate it. They'll either strike out or try and escape. If you have the escaping kind, don't persist as you can condition them to fear the smell.

[TrueBlue]

get a pair of long tweesers or forceps and grab the pinky and bash the snake around the head,nack and body area untill you pee it off enough and it will grab and eat it.

[dragozz]

if that doesnt work, get him to the vet and they will take a feces sample to see if there is any parasite there that might be throwing them off their food. It doesn't cost much at all. Like $5

[sparticus]

The last thing you want to do if it was eating unsented thawed pinkies is take a step backwards and start giving it live or scented pinkies,I have mac hatchies that last ate on the 17th of feb and there condition is still good.Did you feed it the pinkie or the seller??If it hasn't fed for you I would ring the seller and ask how they kept it???it could be as simple as the setup..

[Harry74]

I have 10 maccie hatchlings that were born on the 26th of Jan and none of them have eaten yet. I also have tried a number of methods and obviously none have worked. I am starting to get a bit worried. The majority of them stike out and grab the food but they then just release it and have nothing else to do with it. I am starting to get a little worried about them. I don't really know what else to do

[hazzard]

I keep saying it, and no-one listens.

Try gettng a jap quail bleed it all over the head of the pinkie and irritate the snake by bashing it around the head until they grab it. Sometimes you just have to push it toward it's mouth other times when they grab it you need to keep hold of it and jiggle it a little.

Harry, what temp's are you running with the hatcho's. They must be kept at a constant 30 if you want them to feed.

The other method i've heard that works well is the pilchard scenting. Never tried it but I've heard of plenty of success using it.

[stipe]

thanks for the advice guys, i will try bashing it. I dotn think i an fidn a quail around here but i know of a place abit out that sells them.

Hazzard - pm sent.

[stipe]

heres a pick of the set up and snake. As you can see he is an escape atrtist thus the duck tape.

[Magpie]

3 weeks and you've tried at least 8 times?
Leave the poor thing alone for 2 weeks.

[stipe]

Its not like i invade him or anything. I enter the room quietly open the lid quietly and use logn forcepts. He doesnt even know im there. Well i dont htink he does. Its not iliek i shove the food in his face and say "EAT U BAS**RED"

[Dabool]

Try and warm the pinky up to 40degrees tops and go with the washed pinky i use a bio degradable deturgent make sure no residue is left!

[Tatelina]

Originally Posted by stipe

Its not like i invade him or anything. I enter the room quietly open the lid quietly and use logn forcepts. He doesnt even know im there. Well i dont htink he does. Its not iliek i shove the food in his face and say "EAT U BAS**RED"

hehe
Sounds like some methods will be making you do just that.
IMO he looks fat still..so it's all good. (but then again I don't know much).
Good luck with it!

[Tatelina]

Originally Posted by Dabool

Try and warm the pinky up to 40degrees tops and go with the washed pinky i use a bio degradable deturgent make sure no residue is left!

Why on earth would you wash it with detergent? They don't have that in the wild..??