Taluka explores whether foxes make good pets, discussing the gap between wild and domesticated foxes, their behavior, and care needs. The video features a rescued fox named Evie and concludes that keeping foxes as pets is not advisable due to legal and practical challenges.
Welcome to Animal Expert. More and more people want to have a fox as a pet. In fact, videos of these animals have become hugely popular on Instagram, YouTube and other networks. However, is it a good thing to have a fox as a pet? Is it legal? To make this video, we decided to contact Natalia from Taluk Pets. She will tell you about her experience with a rescued fox. Let's go. Hello. Welcome to Animal Expert. Let me introduce myself. I'm Taluka from the Taluka Page channel and I have a pet fox. She is Sidi, a two year old fox, a Bulpez, Bulpes, Silesia. And she was rescued. There are people who have foxes bought from breeders, domestic foxes. But I've for example, is not like that. Evie is a wild fox that we unfortunately found in an ad that they wanted to sell to train hunting dogs or to be stuffed. When she was barely two months old and after a series of circumstances, veterinarians, prana and legal issues, she ended up becoming part of our family. Since foxes are not domesticated, they are not prepared to live with people locked up with constant noises that can become stressful, with a series of pains that can keep them alert at all times. With the presence of people nearby, that means they cannot rest peacefully. And all this can seriously affect their health and emotional state, causing diseases such as depression, anxiety, stress and other behavioral problems. In some places, such as Siberia and Michigan, they carry out a type of domestication of the fox through artificial selection. The silver fox in Siberia and the red fox in the United States. These laboratory crosses block the fox with more docile traits with each other in order to find a generation of domestic foxes. These experiments have been carried out for more than 60 years. But despite selecting docile foxes, they still maintain the characteristics and behaviors of wild foxes. That is, they maintain their instinct. Therefore, the fact that there are domestic fox breeders does not mean that they are domesticated per se, but rather that they have undergone a domestication process. Bear in mind that they have actually been separated from the wild for about 60 years, which is a short time compared to dogs that have been domesticated for thousands of years. Therefore, it is important to know that there are foxes that are currently in the process of domestication and wild foxes. I am going to talk about my experience with Evie, who was domesticated firsthand by us. In other words, she would really be the first generation of domesticated fox. However, we once took care of a fox that came from the Siberian fox breeder. It was a fox that had been domesticated for several generations already, but its behavior was much wilder than that of I've, who, as we have already said, is the first domesticated generation. Evie has gone through a series of quite difficult situations in which she has had to depend on us for a long time, which has created this very special bond that we have. This does not mean that it is not complicated to have her as a pet, no matter how domesticated she has been. This does not mean that her behavior can be similar to that of a dog or a cat. She has her own behavior, and no one can take that away from her. Foxes, unlike dogs, do not have a hierarchy. They do not live in society. They are solitary animals. This means that there is no alpha, there is no one above her. Therefore, when it comes to teaching her, it is quite complicated, because sometimes she will listen to us because she knows that something is right or wrong. But she knows that certain actions have negative or positive consequences. For example, if she does something wrong, she knows that the consequence is negative. And for example, if she does something good, like listening to us when we tell her to sit down, when we tell her to eat dinner, she knows that the reinforcement is positive. There is positive reinforcement, there is a reward. But the fox will really listen when it wants to. She is a free spirit and will not let anyone dominate her. She still has her wild instinct. Pizza as punishment. Let's say what we use is no the finger and a firm, dry tone of voice. And V, for example. Through positive reinforcement, we have managed to teach her to sit, give a high five and come when we call her. Evie lives in the yard where we also have our other two dogs. She was raised with one since she was little, and we introduced the other when she was little. Wild foxes spend most of their time moving around, running, playing and investigating because they are very curious animals. Therefore, pet foxes should have plenty of space to be able to do all these things. One of the most unwanted behaviors of the fox is marking and V, for example, when she finishes eating or even drinking, what she does next is poop or pee at will on her food or drink bowl, even when there is still food or drink left. Another of her characteristics is her extensive vocalization. Foxes can make many types of sounds. Any inexperienced person might not be able to tell the difference between these types of squeaks. But for example, since we have been living with IBI for two years now, we know how to tell the difference between their squeaks. When they are happy, sad, angry, stressed, or playing. They are crepuscular animals, so they will make noise, especially at undesirable times. At times that are very annoying. Another tendency that foxes have is to dig, scratch, bite and hide their food in the wall, in the sofa, in the bed, wherever they can find it. Another tendency is to attack other animals, especially small mammals. So people who have small mammals will have to protect them so that this animal cannot get to them. Since foxes are quite clever and elusive and can climb or get into any area they see. And for example, they have learned to open doors, baskets to sneak into very small places that you would never believe they could get into, and even to jump on dogs to jump even higher. On the Animal Expert website they explain the topic of feeding foxes very well. But I want to emphasize a very important type of food that they need. The ideal food for foxes should be cat food if possible, natural, not dog food. Why is this? Because foxes, like cats, need taurine. It is essential in their diet. Therefore, cat food will be a complement to their diet which should be approximately 90% meat and the rest fruit and vegetables. When owning a fox, it is necessary to go to an exotic veterinarian so that they can give it the necessary vaccinations. Well guys, it has been a pleasure to be on the Animal Expert channel. As I said, I am Taluka and apart from EB, I have 34 other animals. My channel is mainly about animal care and our life with them. And if you want you can stop by and take a look. Thank you very much Animal Expert. Thank you very much to you and see you soon.
We found Ayeve's case very positive as Natalia has made an effort to learn about the species ethogram, essential care and many other important aspects. However, at Animal Expert we do not recommend keeping foxes as pets as they are wild animals that have not been domesticated. If you have any questions in the text box you will find a direct link to our article on foxes as pets or where we will explain what to do if you find an injured fox, important legal aspects to consider and information on their care and feeding. What do you think? Would you have a fox as a pet? What did you think? Ivy, leave us your comments and don't forget to visit the Talyuk Pets Channel. See you in the next video. Until next time, Experts. Bye.
