Table of Contents
How To Keep Red Foxes As Pets
When planning to get a pet that you will take care of, nurture and treat as your friend, a red fox is not likely going to be the next animal that comes to your head because most people do not perceive them as domestic animals but wide animals. Well, they are partially correct because red foxes are actually primarily wide animals, however, they can be domesticated and made to live with people without hurting them and causing any unprecedented distress.
As a matter of fact, keeping them as pets is not a difficult task as some people envisage at all. The most important thing about keeping red foxes is to understand them and in order for you to be able to do this successfully, you need to be equipped with some requisite information that will help you ensure that you are able to successfully tame them and make them do your bidding. You are already moving towards that right direction by reading this article because it is replete with the right information you need in order to make your dream of keeping a red fox a reality.
Foxes are known for their wily conduct and cunning strategies while chasing. Their smooth, attractive appearance, which takes after that of numerous residential creatures, makes them an engaging creature to endeavor to tame. Notwithstanding, taming a fox is an intricate procedure that ought to be endeavored just by the most learned specialists. Despite the fact that a solitary fox can now and then be prepared to adjust to a household situation, it can take over 40 long stretches of rearing and patient preparing to accomplish a litter of manageable fox little guys.
Pick a fox with a low “flight distance.” The flight distance is simply the closeness the fox permits and a human before fleeing. The more agreeable the creature is within the sight of individuals, the swifter the adjustment procedure will be. A wild fox that quickly escapes your quality and hints at other dread, for example, hostility, will be hard to prepare, and possibly hazardous.
Breed the fox for a litter of little guys you can raise by hand. Albeit some grown-up foxes can be gradually prepared to react to human contact, starting the subduing procedure with a little guy yields the best outcomes. Handle the little guys as frequently as could be expected under the circumstances, as this will enable them to change in accordance with the nearness of people.
Feed the little guys with a jug so they learn reliance on people. Keep them separated from wild foxes, and open them to positive human contact however much as could be expected as they develop.
Rehash the way toward reproducing and raising fox little guys to accomplish a fox that is completely trained. Select from your first litter the little guys that have minimal propensity to escape human contact. These foxes ought to be agreeable container nourishing by hand and should hint at a couple of forceful conduct. With each litter, the foxes ought to end up more agreeable. Proceeding with the procedure overages can even reason the little guys to physically change. Moves in appearance may incorporate bigger eyes and floppy ears. These adjustments are an aftereffect of neotenization, the maintenance of adolescent qualities in grown-ups, which is a run of the mill consequence of training overages.
Foxes belong to the Canidae family which includes jackals, wolves and dogs. They are signified by their relatives because of their lithe frame, long thin legs, pointed nose and bushy tail. They are omnivorous and they have a diet of great variety. They feed on birds, amphibians, reptiles, fruits, berries and vegetables. The males are known as “dogs,” “tods” or “reynards,” the females are called “vixens” and are slightly smaller than the males while the juveniles are known as “kits” or “pups.” They are very social animals that live in packs called “leash,” “skulk” or “earth.” A pack may include older siblings, foxes of breeding age, mates and mothers. They generally like to stick around family members.
They are nocturnal and like to haunt at night and sleep during the day. If they live in a place where they feel safe and fairly free of predators, a fox pack could haunt at day time. Foxes have great hearing and eye sight. They can see as well as a cat and hear low frequency sounds and rodents digging underground. They are also very fast and can run up to 72 km/hr.
1. Genetic evidence that red foxes can be domesticated
In case you are still not convinced that red foxes can be domesticated, there is genetic evidence for the tendency of red foxes to be friendly to humans. As chief of the recently stamped Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Belyaev was interested in the matter of how dogs initially end up trained. He chose that to completely comprehend the procedure, he should endeavor to duplicate the beginning of training. He picked foxes for the test due to their nearby family ties with dogs (both are canids). His examination group went by hide cultivates over the Soviet Union and obtained the most agreeable foxes available. They figured utilizing the most compliant of the wild foxes for their reproducing system would hurry the pace of taming, in respect to the large number of years it took to breed dogs.
To demonstrate the foxes’ benevolent aura was the consequence of hereditary choice, Belyaev’s group started to breed foxes that appeared inverse attributes of the agreeable little guys. Rather than being cordial and energized by experiencing individuals, these foxes were guarded and forceful. This outcome demonstrated certain parts of the fox’s conduct could be fixing to hereditary qualities and spotted amid rearing. 58 years after the beginning of the program, there is presently a substantial, supportable populace of trained foxes. These creatures have no dread of people, and effectively search out human brotherhood. The most amicable are known as “world class” foxes.
“By the tenth era, 18 percent of fox little guys were world class; by the twentieth, the figure had come to 35 percent,” Lyudmilla Trut, one of the lead scientists at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, wrote in a paper portraying the test in 1999. “Today first class foxes make up 70 to 80 percent of our tentatively chose populace.”
2. An unusual pet
Foxes are intelligent, beautiful and affectionate animals but they have not been incorporated into homes unlike the dog, cat or horse because of their pungent smell. Foxes have a gland in their tail which produces civet musk (a very offensive animal odour). This smell together with the stench of feaces and urine which they occasionally use to mark their territory is the main reason why people are put off from keeping foxes as pets. Another problem that makes pet foxes difficult is that they are incompatible with other pets. This is due to their high predatory instinct. A fox can get into a chicken farm and kill all the chickens but take only one. It will kill a prey even when it’s not hungry. Its predatory nature makes it difficult to coexist with small animals such as rodents, birds, cats and even some small dogs. Some larger dogs may even get the fox killed because of their offensive smell which triggers aggressiveness in the dog to an ancient enemy.
Foxes are wild animals and if kept as pets, they are actually tamed wild foxes, and not domesticated. The difference is that taming only modifies the behavior of the animal and it still retains many of its wild instincts, meanwhile domestication modifies the genetics process of an entire species. For example, the dog is domesticated because it was originally a wolf taken from the wild and selectively bred over many years for certain qualities and temperaments that make it comfortable around humans. A pet fox is termed an “exotic” pet which typically means anything that isn’t a dog, cat or any domesticated farm animal like a cow or horse. The wild instincts of foxes can lead to very destructive and undesirable behaviors. They chew, climb, jump, dig and steal. Studies have shown that a fox can dig up to six feet of earth in a day. It would therefore be very impractical to keep them indoors.
Aside the Russian domesticated red fox, the only other fox species which can be properly kept as a pet is the fennec fox (Vulpes zerda), which is a nocturnal fox of the Sahara desert. It is the smallest animal in the wild, and it is more practical to keep them as pets because of their smaller size and lack of offensive odour. They can even be kept indoors, while other fox species require some form of outdoor housing.
3. Historical background
The project to domesticate foxes was first started in 1959 in the former Soviet Union by a group of scientists interested in the science of domestication. It was led by zoologist Dmitry k. Belyayev. Belyayev and his team studied how wolves were tamed and evolved into dogs, and they did the same with foxes. Red foxes were selectively bred for their temperament towards accepting human company.
After some generations, the foxes were seen to develop “dog-like” traits like raising their tails, licking their owner’s hands and going to heat twice a year. They achieved what is called “The Russian domesticated red fox.” This research was however short-lived due to the dissolving of the Soviet Union some years after in 1991. Their research proved however that foxes can be tamed. Some of the tamed foxes were sold as pets to some individuals and the research still continues today in The Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Russia, being led by Lyudmila Trut who worked as an intern for Belyayev when the project first started.
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the most common and widely distributed fox in the world. It is present across the entire northern hemisphere from the arctic circle to North Africa, North America and Eurasia. It has now been introduced in Australia which due to its presence there, it is included in a list of the “world’s 100 worst invasive species.” The red fox is the largest of all the fox species and can weigh up to 30 pounds. It is also distinguished from other fox species by its ability to adapt quickly to new environments. It may be called “red” fox, but its species often produces individuals with colour alterations such as the albino and melanist red foxes. For example, the silver fox is a melanistic form of the red fox. Their fur is black, but white at the tip. Other colour variations of the red fox are the cross fox and arctic fox.
4. Keeping red foxes
The red fox is very important to humans for its fur and has been haunted for the fur trade for several years. We cannot completely say that the red fox has been fully domesticated because they were domesticated for too few generations and still have an unfriendly and elusive character. The silver fox is another variation of the red fox which has also been selectively bred for its fur colour and can be kept as a pet. There are farms, mostly in Arabia dedicated to breeding foxes and selling them as very expensive pets. A red fox can be sold as much as 6,000 to 10,000 US dollars. Red foxes can live up to ten years in captivity meanwhile; they would live only about two to four years in the wild. Red foxes are curious, independent and anti-social and love to climb like cats. They have been deemed as a one person fox, although in rare cases they have been tamed to socialize and meet new people.
The first thing to consider before embarking on keeping a red fox as a pet is whether it is legal in your area (country or state) to have it as a pet. It is illegal in most countries to own pet foxes and if discovered, it could be confiscated and killed. Another very important thing to consider is the availability of a vet who would willingly accommodate a fox as a patient. Since red foxes are outdoor animals, they would require a wide garden space that measures at least 250 square meters or 820 square feet. A cage is a bad idea for a fox. A large wire fence is best to use as an enclosure and it is best to build a top for the fence also because foxes are expert jumpers. The fence must be placed in the ground at least 3 feet (0.9 metres) deep because the fox would try to dig its way out to escape. It would be better to use concrete floor to prevent the fox from digging under the fence because it can be though on the fox’s paws. However, concrete floors must be covered with dirt or mulch. A sizeable shaded area should also be provided in the field. A dog house should be added as a place for the fox to sleep and hang out. Fill it with blankets, hay or straw or anything warm to sleep on. Toys should be added to the area. Foxes are very active and love to have toys to play with. You can add tunnels made for dogs, sticks, dog or cat chew toys or balls. The bowls for food and water must be very heavy because the fox can flip light bowls over just for fun.
Red foxes diet does not have restrictions like some other foxes do. However, they require more of meat protein since they like to haunt animals. Red foxes eat premium quality dog food which could be supplemented with insects, fruits and vegetables. You need to work with your vet to create a list of food you should not feed your fox. For example, avocadoes, caffeine, chocolate, tomatoes, green eggplants, green potatoes, peppers, xylitol, grapes and raisins are common foods that will harm a fox. Vaccines, regular checkups and period medical treatments are also required just like other pets. Annual appointments with your vet are best to keep track of your fox’s health.
The fox must be kept leashed, collared and tagged. They must be kept fenced in when you are out because they are escape addicts and would try to escape and attack other animals. Foxes are very high energy animals and would need a lot of exercise. You could take them out on regular walks. Use a pet harness for walks and attach a leash to the harness because attaching it to the collar may choke the fox. It is also very important to take care of fox teeth because they can have tooth decay just like dogs and cats. Brushing the fox’s teeth every week or three days is good.
4. Hence…
You have no reason to be afraid of keeping red foxes, they can be domesticated and they make very good and interesting pets.
【Read More】