This is my study information that I gathered while raising my pet foxes. I hope you enjoy
GREY FOX PUPS
FREDDY
Freddy is the name that I gave my foxes. I named them all Freddy because well...I can't tell them apart. So while I was raising my foxes I have 7 Freddy's.
DAY 1-pups are full or fear for the most part. Shaking. Two of them are growling. Eat off finger (3 or 4 anyways) never see all but 2 eat at all while watching.
DAY 2- doing well. Eating regularly. One is sticking out to be dominant. Separate the weak from the strong. Weak eat good. All growling. Growl when separated from the pack. Love chicken.
DAY 3- today I separated the feisty ones from the lax ones. There are 3 feisty and 4 lax. There is one that is always growling at me. I can’t seem to find out how to make it tame. I am making an experiment to see if it’s better this way or to see if the ones that are more lax become feisty and the ones that are feisty get worse. I fed them some meat out of the freezer. The lax ones didn’t mess with it a whole lot. It think its Barbados meat. The feisty ones ate the pieces that were closest to them but left the one piece closest to the door alone. I think I will submerge them together again tomorrow after reviewing the results.
DAY 4- I put all the foxes together today. They have seemed to calm down a little. I learned a very valuable lesson today. Always have wire on the bottom so that waste can travel threw it going into a bucket of some sort. The one that is dominate seemed to calm down a little but he still growls at me. The foxes seem to be in good shape but are eating more and more everyday.
DAY 5- the foxes were very hungry when I fed them today. One comes up to me while I’m feeding it and eats while I pour the food. I actually think that that is the only one that is getting use to me. The same foxes are growling at me. I think they are starting to outgrow their cage…they are getting bigger by the day and seem to always have the food eaten. They ate a full size perch last night. I think I should start teaching them how to hunt. But that will take me a long time to get to
DAY 6- the foxes are doing better than I had ever suspected. One of them comes up to me regularly while in the cage. He/she is not afraid at all. The one that growls…still growls but today he only did it one time. I think that they are outgrowing their cage. I need to get a better one soon. They are eating uncooked meat/steak tonight. They have been trying to eat the dry cat food but when they get it in their mouths they drop it and it goes right threw the cage. I need to fix it. I put a heater by the door (opposite side that they usually stay on) and they all laid out against the wall trying to get heat. I think that they were cold from the weather. The window is out and lets wind in. I’m going to clean out the cage tomorrow. Their coats look very clean and very good.
DAY 7- well I cleaned out the cage and put them in the well house. I think that they feel cramped in there. There’s not much space and I have to get really close so I can feed them. They growled a lot. I don’t think that they like being moved all the time. I weighed one today. It was 3.7 lbs.…or I think its pounds. I cleaned them but they keep pilling on top of each other so their coats aren’t drying. I went out and caught some fish (2perch and 1 bass) and so far they have eaten most of one perch and some of one bass. They seem to be getting guess to their new surroundings.
DAY 8- the foxes are growing up so fast. They take so much work now. They’re cramped in their small cage. They’re eating better than ever that’s for sure and I think that they are drinking water also cause the water thing was empty when I went in there. I put a board under the dry dog food feeder and I think that they have been eating some of it dry but they sure do like it blended up lol the same one is growling and the same one is acting tame.
DAY 9- I put the foxes outside in the cage for the rest of the day (when I got back from baseball practice) they seemed to like the view from where they are. I know that they are extremely cramped in that small cage. I need to find another one for them to use. I know that sooner or later that will get bigger and bigger and grow out of their cage and possibly grow out of me. I am trying to wing them right now. They seem to be drinking a lot of water but I never actually see them drinking. I poured their food in a dish and then poured some water in with it. Hopefully they will eat it but we’ll see tomorrow
DAY 10 (APRIL 30) the foxes are still doing well. They’re trying to eat the dry dog food but are still dropping it threw the screen. I am pouring dry food into a bowl and then pouring water in with it and letting it soak and they seem to be eating it all. This is a lot easier for me. It appears that they cleaned themselves today. Their coats look very fluffy.
DAY 11 (MAY 1)- I am extremely worried about my three feisty foxes. They seem to be making no progress whatsoever. I don’t want to get rid of them but I think I might have to do so. All they ever do is growl at me as if I was their worst anemy. The other foxes just look up from under the fox pile as if they wish they would shut up. I am still feeding them dry cat food mixed with water. I’m still not sure what their response is. They don’t seem to wolf it down like the blended food but when I come back it is always empty. As long as they’re eating and are learning then that’s great
DAY 15 (MAY 5)- the foxes are doing great, better than ever. I think that hey actually think of me as their mother now. They come to me when the door is open they know that I am feeding them and watering them. I actually saw them lapping water today for the first time. Today I found 4 baby mice and one big mouse. I put them in the cage alive and the response was immediate. They ate the babies first and then moved to the bigger mouse. They were quite rowdy enough with it because it got away 3 times before the devoured it but their attention was mostly on the younger ones at the time also.
MAY 7- Well I no longer think of the foxes as pups but more as adolesnce. They have all grown fond of me and I have grown fond of them also. I still think it would be better if I didn’t name them seeing that I’ll let them go one of these days. When I put my hand in the cage now they all come up. They think of me as their mother. I have gotten them trained so that when I whistle a surtain tune then know who I am and they instantly calm down.
MAY 12- well I put the fox pups into a new cage today and a cold front is moving in. they seem to like their space now. They were so cramped in their old one. This cage is about 7 feet by 3 or 4 feet and about 2 feet high. I put a wooden box in there for them to stay in and I made them a toy out of rope and I put a board across slanted so that they could climb on it. I put some sticks and some hay in there and they chewed on the sticks and ate the hay. I put a blanket in their new home to keep warm and I put a tarp over it so they don’t get wet. I think that that will do just fine.
MAY 13- well I haven’t had much time with the foxes today or yesterday for that matter. When I approached their cage this morning and tonight (it was late due to a band concert) they growled at me even after I whistled the tune. I hope that I am not loosing their domestic side of them. I would hate to start all over again but I think that sooner or later they’ll come around. I put two big pieces of meat in their cage 3-4lbs worth and they’re eating on it now.
MAY 14- I fear that I don’t feed the foxes enough. They have dry cat food but don’t really touch it that much. I gave them those two big pieces of meat and they had a big slab of it left over which they ate today. When I stick my fingers in the cage they lick them and start to eat them lol and I know it’s not cause they want to eat me. Today was better...they didn’t growl at me near as much and all but one came out of hiding. I think that they will enjoy they new home a lot.
MAY 18- today I took one of the foxes to liv’s house by it’s self. It whined a lot while in the cage but after a while it settled down. It ate and it drank and had a mouse that one of their cat’s had killed that mourning. I think that the foxes could actually make it in the wild right now on their own but I would still like to keep at least one as a pet. I put some hay in their cage today. A whole block of it. I’ve never seen them so excited lol they jumped and played in it all day long. They’re doing great and love their new home…they’re very clean.
MAY 23- the foxes are growing up faster and faster. I know that I’m going to have to let them go pretty soon. When I open the door to the cage 2 of them always try to get out. I wonder if I’m not feeding them enough. I think I am because there is always food left over. Maybe they don’t like but they’ve been eating it since they were little. You can deffinatly look at them now and tell that they are foxes. Even there movements show that they are truly foxes. I cherish the time that I have had raising “my kids” and I am mature enough to know that I will have to release them into the wild one of these days.
JUNE 16- I have let my foxes go. I just opened the door and they came out. They are running all over the place but still allow us to come up to most of them. They are hunting which is good. Grasshoppers seem to be their main choice. By fall they will have left here to go find their new home. I only hope that I have raised them good enough to live in the wild. I feel as if I am a parent and I am having to let go. This is certianly something I will never forget for the rest of my life.