Caring for tame foxes

Foxes are very adaptable and intelligent. To make your pet comfortable, you will need the following: 

Housing: 

Foxes can live outside or inside.They need shade from excessive heat and rain.  A bed or blanket is nice, but optional. 

If the fox lives outside, the cage should have a bottom or the walls of the cage should be dug in deep enough so that the fox cannot dig a hole and escape.

Inside your house, they will snuggle on a bed like a cat.

During the adaptation period a medium or large dog crate would also be helpful.

Food:

At the farm, foxes consume a specially designed diet consisting of meat, fish, vegetables, and vitamins, but canned food for medium-size dogs serves all their nutritional needs.

Grown foxes should consume approximately 1–1.5 pounds of food per day.  Vegetables such as cabbage or carrots help the digestive process.  Potatoes and tomatoes are not recommended.  Food should not contain too much fat or bone.  Overfeeding is not recommended, and water should always be available.

The quality of a diet can be determined from the condition of the fox’s fur.  Foxes with a good diet will have silky, shiny fur.  In addition, the fox will be energetic and playful.

Veterinary Care:

It is recommended to take a fox to a veterinarian periodically.  Veterinarians will help adjust the diet to meet individual nutritional needs.  You will get an immunization schedule to follow.

*FYI - Veterinary care at the farm:

Foxes are immunized for plague, adenoviral hepatitis, and salmonellosis.  All foxes are dewormed and treated for ear ticks.  Gastritis is a common symptom among foxes, which is the result of a bad diet.  Pneumonia is rarely seen among foxes.

At 3 months, foxes have been given all shots that are required for exporting-importing purposes and are ready for a new home.  One to two months is an optimal age for adapting to a new home, but animals cannot be exposed to a new environment before they have been vaccinated according to the schedule.

Pups live with their mother for 45 days, and then the mother is moved to a separate cage.  Siblings stay together until they are 2.5 to 3 months old.  Starting at 3 months, each fox lives in its own cage.

Vaccination calendar:

1.      OKZ1 against salmonella, klebsiella and proteus infections at 2.5 months

2.      OKZ2 – 10-14 days after OKZ1

3.      Multikan-6 Combination vaccine - against plague, adenovirus infections, parvovirus and coronovirus enteritis, leptospirosis (dog’s) - 14 days after OKZ2

4.      Multican-4 Combination vaccine (Multican-6 without leptospirosis) –21 days after Multican-6

5.      Rabbies – 21 days after Multikan-4

6.      Thrity day quarantine begins: testing for helminthes ( deworming if needed) and tuberculosis – after Rabbies is received

7.      After the quarantine puppies are ready for rehoming.

Daily Habits:

You can walk your fox on a leash. Foxes can also be trained to use a litter box.  Generally, foxes get along well with dogs and cats and often learn their habits.

During the molting period (over the summer), the fox should have its hair brushed regularly.