# I want a pet fox **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799 "2013-04-04T03:05:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/1 "2013-04-04T03:05:55Z")
Just look: [![](https://i.imgur.com/zaGDQ.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/zaGDQ.jpg) EEEEEEEEEEEEEE…I would give her such an epic snuggle! Don’t get me wrong…I KNOW wild foxes aren’t tame, they love to tear up the joint, and they SMELL BAD. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/2 "2013-04-04T03:21:30Z")
Google “fennec” and watch your head explode. AFAIK they’re not the product of a puppy and a kitten mating. Puts your red fox to shame, and legal in some states. Or, want something bigger, and have $8900 lying around? A Russian guy spent decades [domesticating foxes](http://www.domesticfox.com/) through selective breeding, ultimately getting a fox that looks different and lacks the smell and timidity or aggressiveness of wild foxes. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/3 "2013-04-04T03:29:55Z")
Fennecs can be a tad [noisy.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Su3ovMsFXMg) And full of [energy.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UekrxczjScs) And real cute when [sleepy.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsgEtNeJ-Ps) ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/4 "2013-04-04T03:31:48Z")
I can’t find the cite, but I read an article from like a year and a half ago about a family that “adopted” a bobcat as a pet. They’d found a cub under their house and rasied it. It was, AIR, quite tame though they’d raised it alongside their small children. It was kind of a nice story actually. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/5 "2013-04-04T03:50:20Z")
D’awww. Note that the guy is wearing a fox shirt as he is cuddling his fox. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/6 "2013-04-04T04:12:35Z")
The Russians will sell you one: > **[Want A Pet Fox? | ScienceBlogs](https://scienceblogs.com/thoughtfulanimal/2010/06/24/want-a-domesticated-fox)** > > You can have a pet domesticated fox of your very own - from the Russian fox farm I've previously written about - for the low low price of just $5,950. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/7 "2013-04-04T05:25:44Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Google “fennec” and watch your head explode. AFAIK they’re not the product of a puppy and a kitten mating. Puts your red fox to shame, and legal in some states. Okay, that just took the place of sugar gliders as the pet I must have. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/8 "2013-04-04T05:41:19Z")
[Chuckles](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n7Xm8jfqyw) the red fox would probably appreciate a good cuddle. She has neuro problems, but she wuvs people. I keep expecting fennec foxes to take flight. They can certainly zoom fast enough. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/9 "2013-04-04T05:44:33Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > A Russian guy spent decades [domesticating foxes](http://www.domesticfox.com/) through selective breeding, ultimately getting a fox that looks different and lacks the smell and timidity or aggressiveness of wild foxes. One interesting note is that this originally started as an experiment in breeding. So while the scientists have been breeding generations of foxes to become more domestic they have also been running a parallel program where they’ve bred foxes to become anti-domestic. And that experiment turned out as successfully as the better-known domestication program. They now have a pack of foxes that are hyper-aggressive and will attack people on sight. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/10 "2013-04-04T05:46:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > They now have a pack of foxes that are hyper-aggressive and will attack people on sight. Do NOT let the SyFy Channel find out about this.😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/11 "2013-04-04T07:35:39Z")
OK. I have syringes. I have fast acting insulin. So, I present to you…FENNEC FOX [BABIES!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7BFQB84O0w&feature=endscreen&NR=1) ---
**Author:** ![madrabbitwoman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c37758/32.png) [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/12 "2013-04-04T09:26:07Z")
Nah I want this pair of cuties [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAOESs2AB3o) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/13 "2013-04-04T12:39:18Z")
Not the most practical pet, but they’re sooo cute! RonRon the fox pouncing - [Foxie in dah straaaw - happy Fall - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6M4zXV556Y) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/14 "2013-04-04T12:50:57Z")
I sat up on a frost heave at Prudhoe for several hours one summer day and watched five or six [Arctic Fox pups](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=arctic+fox+pups&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1347&bih=845&tbm=isch&tbnid=f0U7HHU7DRI9cM:&imgrefurl=http://www.migrationresearch.org/research/arctic/fox.html&docid=VaeAEMceYVpy8M&imgurl=http://www.migrationresearch.org/images/arctic%252520fox%252520pups.jpg&w=331&h=244&ei=a3ddUfDONqLe2AX94IGQBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=746&vpy=158&dur=1078&hovh=193&hovw=262&tx=166&ty=113&page=1&tbnh=132&tbnw=168&start=0&ndsp=29&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:149) play a few feet below me near their den entrance. Way cool. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/15 "2013-04-04T23:44:04Z")
I’ve heard that the “domesticated” foxes from the Russian experiments are quite tame, and can make good pets, but they’re expensive, and yes, they still stink. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/16 "2013-04-05T08:27:40Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > I can’t find the cite, but I read an article from like a year and a half ago about a family that “adopted” a bobcat as a pet. They’d found a cub under their house and rasied it. It was, AIR, quite tame though they’d raised it alongside their small children. It was kind of a nice story actually. Not that I in any way condone having wild animals as pets, but aren’t lynxes generally way too shy and withdrawn to want to be around people? ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/17 "2013-04-05T08:53:57Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > A Russian guy spent decades [domesticating foxes](http://www.domesticfox.com/) through selective breeding, ultimately getting a fox that looks different and lacks the smell and timidity or aggressiveness of wild foxes. Dang! Beat me to it, that project was the first thing I thought of when I clicked on this thread. I think it is possible to buy progeny from Russia. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/18 "2013-04-05T14:29:08Z")
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFSd_FqX_3A) ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/19 "2013-04-05T17:14:33Z")
> [@madrabbitwoman](#): > > Nah I want this pair of cuties [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAOESs2AB3o](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAOESs2AB3o) What would happen if I were to **boop** their noses? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2013, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799/20 "2013-04-05T17:39:33Z")
I have grey foxes, or at least one grey fox, that visits my backyard fairly often for the last couple of years. It was out there last night, maybe an hour after sundown. It’s extremely shy, can climb a 6ft wood fence like a cat, and eats bugs in the summer. I feed it some scraps if I can get the back door open without scaring it off, my closest neighbors like to sit on their back porch in the dark and watch it come and go. He put out a pan of food one night and got up in the middle of the night to take a look. 2 cats, the fox, and a possum all eating at the same pan. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-pet-fox/654799.md?page=2)