Help W/ Young Western Hognose Feeding?

[Obioe]

My girlfriend and I recently purchased a western hognose from a local reptile store in the area on 12/29/2017, so we've had her for about a month and a half.
They were able to answer quite a few questions and give decent background information on the snake. The hognose was a $120 normal/wild, captive bred, at about 4-6 months.
They had stated that the hognose was eating consistently and regularly, and I was hopeful, but in the time we've had her she's eaten once, halfway through January.

This is incredibly unnerving and frustrating, as I've read that these younger snakes, especially hognoses, should not be going off of feed, and should be eating steadily to prepare for proper growth into adulthood.
We are rather worried for the wellbeing of our snake, and we would like some reassurance and or tips to help make this a bit easier on us.

We can provide pictures and additional information if anything important isn't listed.
We have been offering frozen/thawed mice and rat fuzzies, unscented (although we have considered trying chicken broth, not toad with scenting), and regarding husbandry we aren't too convinced it has to do with housing.
With a good gradient and low humidity, we aren't convinced it has to do with temps, or lack of hides, proper substrate, etc.
She is being housed in a 10 gallon aquarium with two hides, aspen substrate, a small water dish, and a regulated UTH to provide heating.
We are aware the Western Hognose is a diurnal species, and so we have tried extra lighting during the day to help with feeding.

I'm very sorry if this was too drawn-out, and or unnecessary, we just have very limited experience with this species of snake, and we are highly concerned at this point.
Thank you so much for any ideas, husbandry tips, or suggestions!

[the_rotten1]

A 10 gal sounds a little big for a hog that young. I usually keep them in 6qt tubs for the first year or so. A smaller enclosure might help her feel secure, maybe a 5 gal tank if you don't like the look of tubs. Do you have small hides, not much bigger than she is? Is the aspen deep enough that she can burrow down and completely hide herself in it? Exact temperatures and pics of the setup would help.

Btw, are you sure it's a female hognose? The males are more likely to have eating issues. You could try cupping. If you have a small deli cup, put her in it with the food and leave her alone for awhile. Some snakes are just shy and don't like eating in front of people.

Without more info that's all I can say, but hopefully Deborah will chime in at some point. She has a lot more experience with western hognoses than I do.

[Obioe]

The hognose was originally being housed in roughly a 5 gallon, so the size upgrade may have been something. We actually tried placing her in a 20, but we didn't see any noticeable difference in temperament, so it was back to the 10.
Smaller tubs are definitely an option, but I'm going to have to read a bit more about using a UTH with them (plastic sterilite tubs, we'd be using).

The hides are small enough to fit snuggly around the hognose, and I find her sitting on the cool side most often. We've found her frequently buried in the aspen, and we were actually worried we may have had too much aspen at one point (It was a thick layer, and may have been impacting the thermoregulation, we thought).
Exact temps are around 75 - 95 degrees, with one side constantly sitting around 90. Humidity sits around 15 to 30%, with very light occasional misting every 3 to 4 days.

The hognose is currently unsexed, but we refer to her as a 'she', out of habit. She probably is a male, but the situation remains the same.
We've tried cupping, placing her in a brown plastic bag with the mouse, etc, and her first response is *always* hissing and faux-striking. She frequently hoods, and will make great leaps at and past her food, during every offering.
Lots of hissing, lots of jumping; she shows very little real intention in consuming the mouse, and seems much more scared of it, then hungry for it.

Thanks so much for the response, tonight. Looking forward to future tips and ideas!
Listed are a photo of her in a small container with a mouse, as well as the enclosure: https://prnt.sc/igockz (container), https://prnt.sc/igocxu (enclosure)
I'm not quite sure how to directly post photos from my computer, so if anyone could guide me in that as well.. much appreciated.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Can you post a picture of the tail (close up)

What is the weight of that hognose?

We've found her frequently buried in the aspen, and we were actually worried we may have had too much aspen at one point (It was a thick layer, and may have been impacting the thermoregulation, we thought).

That is what hognose do, they do not use hide they burrow, this is what they are designed to do hence the nose that help them shovel up substrate to bury themselves.

[Obioe]

Weight wise, we aren't sure, as we don't have a means of measuring grams at the moment. That's one of the key reasons we are concerned, as she may have already lost 10% or potentially more of her body weight, and we aren't even sure.
We'll look on amazon at some point to find a new scale of some kind, that would work out for our snakes.

As for the substrate, we had just put so much in, to where we didn't think the apsen was being heated properly. It ended up being fine. With the hognose primarily burrowing, are you suggesting we remove the available hides?
She uses them rather often, in conjunction with burrowing.

I've provided two photos of the underside, hoping they will suffice. I was told she would be too young to attempt probing, and I knew it would be an uncomfortable ordeal.
http://prntscr.com/igotd4 and http://prntscr.com/igotjm [EDIT: I just realized you asked for the tail. Hoping again, this will still work out for viable photos.]

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Without weight I can't really tell you if the current behavior is normal or not and if it needs to be addressed ASAP and how it needs to be addressed or if there is room for patience, a scale will cost you around $10 at walmart.

You can live the hide however I was pointing out that burrowing behavior is normal.

There is no need for hognose to be pop or probe I do not know any of breeder that does, this species can easily be sexed visually like this

[Craiga 01453]

Deborah is our best resource for all things hognose, so you're in great hands with her guiding you. I adopted a hognose almost a year ago who was struggling with two previous owners (I started a few threads on Cosmo if you choose to read them). So I followed Deb's advice to a T and Cosmo has been thriving since.

From what I can see, that enclosure is way to big and way to exposed. I would switch to a smaller enclosure with more privacy. Also, the prey seems too big at a glance based on the photo you shared.

Getting the snake's weight is very important, grab a scale fro the kitchen section at Wal-Mart, $15 or less.

Anyway, follow Deb's advice to a T and you'll get your snake eating. It may take a little time, patience and trial and error, but she'll get you there

Also, are you handling the snake?? If so I advise little to no handling until the snake is eating regularly.

Good luck, keep us posted!