Another problem feeding hognose

[onna_shinigami]

Picked up a late '12 male hognose back in September. He ate fine until the end of October and has refused everything I've offered. I'm starting to worry about this little guy, he's so tiny I worry about force feeding but almost seems like I may have to. Temps and humidity have been fine so far and has plenty of hiding spots. I've tried leaving him alone for a week or two and offered food and no luck. Same with trying every couple of days and still no interest.

[Chris633]

What kind of setup are you using? What temps? How much does he weigh? He may be refusing due to winter. All my males stopped feeding in the fall prior to brumation.

[reptileexperts]

Not all males - most males - and usually during their second winter, and not their first for the brumation thing.

Some young ones can just be picky, sometimes it takes scenting their prey items. If you can get your hands on a toad from outside, catch one and freeze it for a few days, come back to the toad and rub a frozen / thawed pinky mouse all over the toad to transfer the scent to the pinky. Offer this to your snake and he should take it. If you don't have access to a toad, you can also try scenting it with sardines to try and get it to eat. If you've been trying f/t, offer live and see if you get a different result. Hognose are not typically problematic, but during winter they can just turn off from food till about march.

[sharkrocket]

Mine refused food for 3-4 weeks recently, and I placed the food on a paper towel in his enclosure and it was gone within an hour. Apparently they are scavengers and predators in the wild. Maybe try leaving the prey for a day? Or have you tried that?