1.0 Fennec Fox

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Originally Posted by oppie2005

Silver Fox. Not a fennec fox, but a fox nonetheless, and they are domesticated. i personally thought it was interesting to read about their domestication process.

http://www.sibfox.com/


there was also a tv special on this. i cant for the life of me remember the name or the channel of the show. but it was pretty cool.

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:tears: Look at those horrible little cages those guys are living in!

I don't know what any tv special might have said about these, but calling them "domesticated" is a HUGE stretch. "Tame"....maybe. I have my doubts about even that. But an animal like that is a looong way from being domesticated.

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Originally Posted by JLC

:tears: Look at those horrible little cages those guys are living in!

I don't know what any tv special might have said about these, but calling them "domesticated" is a HUGE stretch. "Tame"....maybe. I have my doubts about even that. But an animal like that is a looong way from being domesticated.

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I'm not sure what "little cages" you saw. I don't see anything that shows the size of their cages at all.

They did have some "domesticated" foxes. They bred the tamest of the tamest for several generations and ended up with foxes that acted very domesticated and their ears tended to be more floppy. All domestication process is, is breeding for tameness. If they act completely domesticated, then what stops them from getting the label of domesticated species? Not just training, they bred specifically for tameness, instead of for color or coat. Just tameness and handleability. There was a couple papers on them at some point years ago, but I haven't seen anything new in years about it.

That fox is so cute! Is the biting just being playful, being aggressive or is it something they get over as they become more tame/get to know you better? And you said he plays with your cat? Does that go well? How long did it take them to get acclimated to each other?

The silver fox project is REALLY cool in my opinion. Seeing the process of domestication and HOW IT CHANGES THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE of the animal is fascinating to me. There was a great article about domestication of wild animals in Nat Geo that talked about this experiment.

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Does he have to get vaccines?

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My breeder said to be very careful with those. Some people have let their vets give vaccines to their fennecs and it killed them. If he needs a vaccine she should be contacted first to make sure it is safe.

It's the same thing with certain tick killing solutions. One kind that is safe for dogs will kill a fennec.

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Potentially dangerous species include the following orders: Primates; Carnivora (nondomestic dogs and cats, bears);
New Jersey

Doesn't a fox qualify as a Carnivora-nondomestic? Just wondering.

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The "potentially dangeorous" is what I looked at, since no one could construe a fennec fox as being dangerous or life-threatening. They don't get over three pounds. It is best to contact the officials in your state to make sure though.

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As far as training, you can train just about anything with precise operant conditioning. You just have to be patient and very precise about when you reward. Once you get the first steps down of establishing the reward cue, you can easily start shaping behavior and even extinguish unwanted behaviors via "off cue" extinguishing. That way there's no negative conditioning but you get the results you want.

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Interesting... not sure I have the patience to train him as he's very energetic and doesn't focus. I can't get him to sit for a treat because he's too busy climbing the walls! :o

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Silver Fox. Not a fennec fox, but a fox nonetheless, and they are domesticated. i personally thought it was interesting to read about their domestication process.

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Oh yeah I heard about that. I also read a couple of scientific papers in one of my college biology courses regarding how they were domesticated.

They are very expensive too...

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That fox is so cute! Is the biting just being playful, being aggressive or is it something they get over as they become more tame/get to know you better? And you said he plays with your cat? Does that go well? How long did it take them to get acclimated to each other?

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Most of the time he is just nipping. You can barely feel it. However sometimes he does have abrupt mood shifts and will snarl and bite down hard. It's hard to gauge when he will do that, but I'm getting a better feel for it.

I'm also getting faster in moving my limbs away. (He doesn't just bite hands. He has bitten down hard on my forearm before)

As for the fox and the cat, she was fine with him when they were playing at my aunt's house, which is where they were introduced. After we went back to my house (where she had established herself for about three months - I adopted her), she was less fond of him. She doesn't hurt him though, and never has. He sometimes bites her tail or charges her and barks and she will hiss and swipe at him but he always comes back for more, so she can't be hitting too hard. Sometimes she chases him though. She's had plenty of opportunities (from what I've seen) to seriously hurt him and she hasn't.

Where do you live...I may want to come by and nab him :D

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Originally Posted by Miscreantpc

Where do you live...I may want to come by and nab him :D

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Haha! That's a secret.
Not even my friends get to see him. Family and very close friends only ;D

Congrats! Hes so beautiful! I've always wanted one but I've heard theyre illegal here in Az... :tears:

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Originally Posted by Slashmaster

Haha! That's a secret.
Not even my friends get to see him. Family and very close friends only ;D

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Can I sign some sort of binding legal document in order to see him?

Interesting idea, but you're rather far away ;D

http://i56.tinypic.com/33453qs.jpg
Half parrot, half fox? He spends so much of his time on my shoulder.