wild baby hog

I was out hiking and came across a baby eastern hognose. I brought it home with me and gave it a couple toads, which it quickly tried to eat. However, the toad was too large for the snake and pulled itself out of the mouth of the hoggie. I have had the snake a little over a week now and it hasn't tried to eat anything else. I haven't found any smaller toads, however I have a small anole lizard, crickets, and I bought a pinkie and rubbed it on a toad to try to get it to eat, but to no avail. I have it in a ten gallon tank with an electric rock and a 60 watt bulb shining down on it. I'm in Wisconsin and it's been cold here for the last week and a half, so the wild food has been scarce. Should I try to force feed it a pinkie, live or frozen,(but thawed).???

most likely he wont eat rodents well at least right off the bat. small lizards and possibly frogs or toads. but it would most likely be best to just retun him to where you found him.

One week isn't that long. You may want to see if you can find some tadpoles too, he may eat those.

What is the temp. directly under your heat light? It may be too hot. Robin is right about not eating pinkies right off and it probably won't eat the lizard. Try washing the pinkie with soap and water, rinse it thoroughly, then put it in a plastic cup with the toad for several hours and THEN try feeding the snake.

If you can't get it to eat in the next week or week and a half then you may want to take it back where you found it.

Good luck.

I am keeping a toad for scenting pinkies... Should I be using live or frozen pinkies or does it make any difference? I don't believe the light gives off too much heat. There is plenty of room away from the light that would be cooler for the snake, but he seems to like it in the warmth of the light. He also climbs up a white cedar branch I've placed in there which is under the light. The lizard stays in the branch, but keeps a wary eye on the snake, who shows absolutely no interest in lizard. I'll try the tadpoles, and washing the pinkie and letting him cuddle with the toad and see how that goes.
On a side bar...
I've been keeping snakes and lizards since I've been in 4th grade. I'm 48 now with 8 kids that love the outdoors including reptiles and amphibians. This is a great learning experience for me and for them. I've been intrigued with hognosed snakes since the beginning, but this is the first time I've caught one. Thanks for all your help.

Try live pinkies at first. Some babies key in to motion almost as much as scent.

my bad on the lizards... westerns will eat those or lizard scenting (we border on eastern and western [have seen a few westerns] territory but i have never seen [a wild one] an eastern to date just heard a few stories).... i am assuming that is an eastern hog? wow i didnt realize they were so north (hognoses in general)

One quick note......"electric heat rocks" are NOT a good thing to use with ANY snake.

We were in the south eastern part of the state on a boy scout backpacking trip in the Kettle Moraine area, an area formed by the glaciers a couple years ago. I've always known they were there, but until now had never seen one. It was very exciting. He did his cobra act and then played dead. It was very comical.
About the heat rock.... what is wrong with using it???

Heat rocks do nothing to raise the temperature of the environment, and they actual temperature of the rock is WAY hotter than what a snake should be subjected to. They can cause SERIOUS burns if a snake should wrap around them, and if the snake should happen to burrow under the heat rock, as many snakes will do, it can actually be burned to death.

I happen to disagree with you, cat. First of all, my heat rock is on the bottom of the terrarium, and the sand is built up around it, which does actually warm up the surrounding sand. I have a flat rock that the snake can crawl under, propped up against it, so the snake can, and does, sleep under that.
To the touch, the electric rock is warm, but not hot. In nature, the sun can heat rocks to the point where they are too hot to touch. I don't believe that snakes are so lacking in natural instinct as to actually cook themselves to death by resting or sleeping on a surface that can kill them.
All that aside, the snake still hasn't eaten, however he is still very active and sometimes climbs the branch that is propped up in the terrarium. Last night I got some tadpoles and set up a 'swamp' for them to grow up in. The little anoel and the snake are becoming buddies, although, I think the lizard is still leery of the snake. ;-)