Are Foxes Good Pets?

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Foxes are relatively tamable, and humans have been inadvertently taming them for many years. That has led to the belief that the critter makes a good pet. We are sure that there are many happy fox-pet owners out there, and there certainly seem to be enough social media accounts to suggest that these creatures would make great domesticated pets.



Cats domesticated themselves. Lured in by rats, humans certainly appreciated the rodent control, and many of them just let cats hang around to sort out the problem. It was a mutually beneficial situation.

Dogs, on the other hand, were domesticated by humans. This is not a process that would have happened in a few years. It takes decades, and maybe even centuries, to domesticate an animal so that it can safely live alongside humans. In some species, that wild biological trait just can’t be removed entirely, therefore, making them unpredictable and unsafe to have as household pets.

Foxes can carry a number of diseases and parasites, so you would need to make sure that any fox you consider inviting into your home isn’t containing any of those. This requires a trip to the vet, and many vets will not treat a fox.

If you can get your fox treated and you have made sure that it has been vaccinated and protected against everything that it needs to be, you then have the worry of how you’re going to take care of the fox. This is an animal that needs plenty of room to grow, roam, dig, play, and generally do foxy stuff. Foxes also have a bit of a stink about them. If you smell a space that a fox has inhabited, it has a rather distinctive and musty odor. You will have that in your home if you have a pet fox, much in the same way that you can usually tell that a home has a dog in it almost right away.

Foxes create chaos and wreak havoc. That's what they do. If they are in the home, that part of them that isn’t yet tame will run riot, destroying shoes, towels, sofa cushions, and anything else that they can sink their teeth into.

They’ll play a little too rough with your children. They might even play a little too rough with your other pets, if you have any. Serious injuries could result as the fox not knowing how far to take the game, because it is still a wild animal. Even a baby fox that has been rescued from an early age will have original, biological wild traits and will display them at times, despite your best efforts to eradicate them.

Maybe the fox will make a great pet one day, but today isn't that day. It’s still a wild animal, and it will BE wild in your home.

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