This information is based on my experience raising a
Swift fox. I do not want anyone to be under the
impression that I have raised several foxes, I have
2. One is a Swift fox named Bella and the other is a
Marble named Barrett. This information is my
personal experience and opinions. Some facts are
from Google like size and weight of a Swift fox,
other info is mine.
SIZE and
DESCRIPTION:
The Swift Fox (Vulpes velox) is a small light
orange-tan fox around the size of a domestic cat (5
to 7 LBS) found in the western grasslands of North
America. They have a dark, grayish, tan coloration
that extends to a yellowish tan color across its
sides and legs. The throat, chest, and belly range
from pale yellow to white in color. Its tail is
black-tipped, and it has black patches on its
muzzle. Its ears are noticeably large. It is about
12 inches (30 cm) in height, and 31 inches (79 cm)
long, measuring from the head to the tip of the
tail, or about the size of a domestic cat. Males and
females are similar in appearance, although males
are slightly larger. (WIKIPEDIA)
DIET OF A CAPTIVE
SWIFT FOX:
Bella eats a high protein dog food as her main
source of food. She also enjoys fruits and veggies
(Cantaloupe, Onions, Cucumbers). She loves eggs
(Chicken) and she prefers them raw; shell and all.
She is not a big meat eater unless it is cooked
chicken or raw deer meat. She will at times eat
hamburger cooked or raw and times will like to have
raw chicken but she has to be in the mood. She will
never turn down cooked chicken though. She also has
her favorites of "junk" food including marshmallows,
cool whip, ice cream and milk. She gets these in
moderation. You will need to experiment with
different foods to see what your fox will like. See
the "Pet Food" topic for more info on what you
should not feed your fox.
LITTER TRAINING:
Bella was very easy to litter train. For the first
few days it was tough as she did not like the litter
I was using (Feline Pine). Once I got a litter she
approved of, it was a cake walk. She likes just
regular cat litter, nothing special just the non
clumping kind. We use a regular cat box for her with
no lid. A small box works for her because she is
small and does not need a huge box. We only fill the
box about 1/3 of the way full as foxes do not bury
their waste. When she had an accident, we just
picked up the waste and put it in the box and showed
her that we put it there. (We did this as instructed
by our breeder Dinnka/Mandy) Whenever she used the
box for the first several weeks, we verbally praised
her several times and made a big deal out of it. I
personally think this encouraged her to continue to
use it. Actually as of today often we praise her
when she uses the box so she continues to know that
she is doing a good job.
BEHAVIOR OF A CAPTIVE SWIFT
FOX (BELLA):
Now it is important to note that all foxes have
their own personality and traits so what Bella does,
others may or may not do.
Bella is a very selfish, persistent, greedy swift
fox. She likes to please herself unlike a dog that
wants to please you. She honestly only cares about
what makes her happy. Once she has her mind set on
something, she WILL get it; she will not stop until
she does. She does not respond to "discipline" the
only way to get her to stop doing something you
don't want her to do is either give in or remove the
object.
She likes to dig at the carpet/couch and once she
starts on a spot, she will dig through unless you
put something over the spot she is digging at to
prevent her from doing it. By nature foxes are
diggers and you will not be able to break this habit
I do not think as I have recently came to realize.
When I say she is greedy I mean just that. If you
have something and she wants it, she WILL get it by
whether you give it to her or she will just wait
until the timing is right and steal it.
When she steals items she will go right away and
bury it either in her litter box (most popular place
to look if something is missing), the bed, a pile of
clothing on the floor of she will even attempt to
dig the corner of the carpet up to bury it there.
99.9 percent of the time when she steals something,
she will take it and hide it like mentioned and will
poop on it. ANYTHING Bella wants to claim as "hers"
she will poop and depending on how much she wants it
will also pee on it as well. We often find turds
around the house where something is laying that she
likes that she pooped on. You will need to be
prepared for this, its not always pleasant to find
poop in the bed, on the counter or on the floor.
Another thing she does is hide food. Foxes tend to
do this in the wild as they do not know when their
next meal will be. It is not uncommon to find all
sorts of food in the bed, hidden in the couch, in
the litter box (that is why you do not want to use
clumping litter. If they eat the food that has the
litter on it, it could clump in their stomach) or
other random hiding spots.
Bella is a very social fox. She loves to meet new
people and other small animals. She is afraid of big
animals with the exception of Barrett. She will
approach just about anyone but will not always let
them touch her. She remains cautious but will still
go up to strangers. She is very vocal and makes a
lot of different noises for different situations.
You will learn what certain noises mean and at times
she will get VERY loud.
Most times she is pretty chill and relaxed however
she can get very hyper and rambunctious. It is very
important to have lots for her to do because she
gets bored easily. Pat the owner of this web site
(Sybil's Den) has said
"A bored
animal is a bad animal" and I fully agree with
this. You need lots of time to give to your fox and
provide it with lots of activities to do.
Some of Bella's favorite past times are
running around like she is on crack, throwing her
toys into the air and playing with them, digging of
course, and loves her "cat cube". She likes tug of
war, loves loves loves to be chased and likes to
pounce on things. You should try different things to
see what they like. Anything that makes noise is
usually popular. It is important to know that you
can not be attached to your belongings as they may
get ruined. Shoes, clothing, wallets, hair ties,
plastic items and several other things have been
destroyed by Bella.
BELLA AND THE
OUTDOORS:
Bella grew up in the house and does not have any
outside cage other than a crate we will put her in
where she can dig at the ground. She will go into
Barrett's cage to play with him. She really does not
like to be outside much. She does not like her feet
wet and actually prefers to be carried when we go on
walks. When she is on a leash, she is on a harness
because she slips everything else. She does not lead
well, she is not like a dog at all. In my opinion,
outside is not "required" for Swifts or at least
Bella. Actually there have been times that she has
ran out the door and turned around and ran back into
the house. Barrett is not as happy in the house like
Bella is.
VETERINARIAN CARE:
I am not going to elaborate much on this as I am not
very experienced with this. However, Bella sees a
Vet about an hour away from us. It is very hard to
find a Vet that is willing to treat "exotics" so you
will need to do your research before getting your
fox. She gets her rabies shot and a series of DAPP
vaccine. Her normal vet bill runs around $75 and to
get her fixed was $245. This may be high I do not
know or care as this is one of the only vets within
a 2 hour drive that will see her and they are
awesome there. Bella seems to have some issues with
her eyes being sensitive and things bother them
easily. I do not know if it is a "Swift fox" thing
or just her. Nothing major just once she needed an
antibiotic cream and she had some lipid deposits on
her lens but they cleared up.
SMELL:
Bella does not smell at all. She self cleans and
really does not require a bath unless she gets into
something nasty. She does not like baths. Her urine
smells just slightly skunky/musky but it's faint.
Her poop smells like that too when she first goes
but the smell don't last long. When she is scared or
mad she lets out this smell that is just horrible
here we refer to it as "hideous smell". It just has
it own smell and you will know it when it happens.
There is no sign that it is going to happen, just
all of a sudden you smell it and run.
Overall Swift foxes make good pets out of most
foxes. They do not smell, they are small, shed
lightly and are very social. You really just have to
have time, money and patience to give to them. You
can not be attached to your material things and have
to be understanding.
I hope this information helps future Swift fox
owners.
If you need more information, please look at Sybil's Message
Board.
Once you join, you will see all the pictures, and
you will be able to post.
Main
Care sheet