Hog Nose Help

My son KJ and I purchased a Western Hognose at the Va. Reptile expo on 11/15. The vendor claimed he was eating well (weekly and f/t). We have yet to get the guy to feed no matter what we have tried (f/t, fresh killed, live, rubbed with anole scent) He hasn't lost any weight and when he is out and about seems very active. He actually looks as healthy as the day we bought him. As most of you know my expertise lies more with boas. From the information we gathered his temps are correct, plenty of hides, day/night cycle. My question is do Hognoses go through a brumation period or feed refusal like Ball Python's do ?

thanks

Since they are a North American snake It would not surprise me for them to slow down in the winter.
But that is just a guess.

That's kind of what I was thinking (hoping) but as I said this species is rather new to me and surprisingly there is really not much credible info on the net regarding there care.

From my experince and from talking to my breeder here. They do slow down alot as far as eating though stay fairly active. None of my males have eaten at all since mid Oct. and the one female that was eating stopped a few weeks ago. Mind this was with no change in cage temps (outside of night temps that are alowed to drop to room temp appx. 20-22C). None have showed any weight loss and two have even shed since than. My breeder stated that most stop eating around this time of year if they are in their second winter (about 1.5 years old) if the temps are dropped or not.

I have had good luck getting hatchlings to eat scented pinkies using the Amarican green tree frog for scent. Hogs don't seem to like to be tease fed it normally just scares them. Though, the smell of not so fresh food can get some hatchling hogs to eat too. Leave any food items with the snake for two full days before removing them. My breeder has had luck using small peices of raw chicken, though this did not work for me, but it may for you.

Hope all this will help you some and if you have any other questions just ask.

Thanks Titus. He is going through his 2nd winter and as stated he looks fantastic. Full bodied, alert and generally content. The little bugger just won't eat. I guess I'll just wait him out and make sure he doesn't start dropping weight. After so many years of Boas and Corns it's strange to not have feeding response. Thanks again

Hogs can be weird. As long as the animal is alert and still holding weight you're golden.

Just to note to the oddness, i've had a couple go from eating mice their entire lives to just one day only accept toads. wouldnt eat anything else and one day all of a sudden go for mice again. I've actually never had any adults go off feed. The only times I -may- get a refusal is during shedding.
Our young ones do sometimes miss a meal, however.

Cool,,thanks Zane