Eastern hognose Snake/ wild caught, have a few questions.?

Question

Alright guys, i have a few questions about the snake i just caught a few days ago. I brought it to a local pet store and they called it a Hognose. I got a tank for him, dirt, cave, heating lamp and all the accessory's but the store wouldnt answer all of my questions.

How often do i feed him?

Will he try to hibernate in the winter? or if i keep him warm will he stay normal?

How do i get him to eat mice?

Answer 1

feed him once a week and idk you cant tell unless you see it happen. also they dont eat mice often in the wild so it will extremly hard. they  eat toads a lot.

Answer 2

Unlike western hognoses which can easily be switched over to rodents, eastern hognoses rarely take rodents regardless of what tricks you try. It's possible, but only with a small percentage of them. I had one that I got to eat rodents, but they had to be live and I had to completely smother them in toad blood. Even then, the snake refused most of them. Unless you can provide this snake with toads or frogs all year around, it will die. If you keep it warm, it will stay normal. Cooling it is what causes it to hibernate. Eastern hogs usually don't do very well in captivity. This is the reason there are almost no breeders of them. Western hogs, however, are excellent pets.

Answer 3

1.  Offer him food every 3-5 days.  

2. In the wild they will hibernate, but it can be kept in captivity without brumation (hibernation).  The snake will probably be healthier with a 3 month brumation.  You can do this by putting him in a colder area of your house and cease feeding, and only open the container to water him. After the 3 months slowly warm him up with lights, like 5 hrs. one week, 8 the next, etc. until 12 hours of day light is reached.

3.  In the wild hognose snakes prey consist of mainly toads and amphibians.  You can get him to eat mice by catching a toad/amphibian and rubbing the mice against the toad to get its scent on it, aka scenting.  Then, if you are lucky, the snake will tag the mouse.  The first time will be the hardest, it should get easier each time.  We have done this successfully with garter snakes.  My husband and I own 12 snakes.  Email us with any questions @ [e-mail].  Hope this helps and good luck.  

One more thing-- if he doesn't eat don't starve him, let him go back into the wild!