"Started to eat it and backed off..." I am sorry to say it, but this is likely the start of the issue. You scared the snake mid-meal. Feed, cover, and LEAVE ALONE until you are pretty sure it has eaten. Your goal at first is not to watch your new pet eat: it is to let it start eating in peace. You accidentally scared it, and that MIGHT have turned it off of feeding for now.
FYI....You really should never leave a CUPPED snake on the warm side. It can't get away from the heat, if needed. I recommend the middle temp part of the cage if the low side is too low. Never leave on the WARM side, though! It could be getting HEAT STRESSED in the cup especially if under lights. Cheap on/off thermostats do not control element overshooting, so you don't know the actual temps without a max-min thermometer recording them. ($10 on MAZN can get you one that records max/min in 2 different parts of the cage at the same time.) You might be stressing it by trapping it in too warm of an area. The heating element typically keeps raising the cage temps a bit after it first gets shut off by the thermostat.
Where to "start over" now......
The best advice is always to repeat EXACTLY what the previous breeder was doing. Ask Don for his exact low side and warm side, and match it exactly.
Ask him EXACTLY how he fed it (cupped, small cage, left in a hide, whatever), and match it. If a small cage and dropped feed, do that. If cupped, do that. If defrosted in water, do it. (Dropped in water or under running water is different. 125F water and 100F water is different method - match him.) If air defrosted, do that. If live, do that. Etc. Basically, ask him for the SPECIFICS on exactly what he was doing, and match that exactly FIRST. Don't do it the way you want yet: do it the way the snake was used to. Change it later once an established feeder. Normally, minor differences don't matter, but (1) hognose can be strange and (2) they DO matter whne they DO matter....and you are having issues, so something matters.
Most importantly, leave the snake alone (no handling!) while trying to get it feeding. Handling stress is stress, and stressed snakes are less likely to be good feeders. Make sure there are lots of hide and the cage is not too open/exposed. If in a glass cage, COVER THE SIDES! If running overhead lights, TURN THEM off. Heat and lights should be different! ...and don't try feeding it more than once every 3-5 days! If thee are stressed by the pink being forced on them, they are less likely to eat.
Luck you! Best Wishes!
-KJ
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KJUN Snakehaven
http://www.kjunsnakehaven.com
http://www.kjun.us
