# Anyone know about Grey Foxes?



## LucasJ (Aug 30, 2011)

Hey Everyone,

Me and my girlfriend have been doing a little research into keeping foxes as pets, we have some other exotic pets and this is beginning to appeal to us.

Obviously this is very early days, and we wouldn't be serious about it for a few years now. But we've had an immediate issue: It seems like fennec foxes are fairly common in the UK, but grey foxes are not. 

From some research, we've learnt that you can import grey foxes, with a quarantine period, but this isn't ideal. Does anyone know of any breeders of grey foxes in this country? Or any way around the quarantine period (from what we've read, it can cause issues with socialisation, and is also very pricey).

Any other important information we should know?

Thanks!


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## Elina (Jul 22, 2009)

No, there are no breeders of Grey foxes in the UK there is also no way around the quarantine period as exotics cannot get pet passports. 

If you like grey foxes you might like corsacs, they are a little smaller and if interacted with from an early age can be really loving. Corsacs are easy to litter train and smell less then most other species. 

For a fox to be pet like you really need to spend allot of time with them, a couple of hours a week will not cut it. If you do not interact with them allot when they are young they will 'wild up' so if you just want a pet you can watch that's fine but if you want to bond with your fox after 4 months quarantine your chance is gone. 

-Elina


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## LucasJ (Aug 30, 2011)

Thanks for the quick response!

Ok, well it looks like if we're still serious about this later on, quarantine it is.

I wouldn't want to get the animal without being able to devote time to it, and would ideally want it to be 'pet like', but of course I still respect it as a wild animal.

The bottom line for me, is that I wouldn't be able to get the animal, if I wasn't more than 100% that I could care for it well.


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## Elina (Jul 22, 2009)

The thing is the 'few hours' I was referring to is the time you would spend with the fox while in quarantine. If you are lucky a zoo quarantine will be near you but failing that you would have to commute to one. Quarantines for domestics have all pretty much closed due to the new pet passport laws so they will not be able to get a variation to take the fox/es. 

When a fox has not had much time spent with it when it is young, so the age it would be in quarantine they revert to being wild and this is not an easy thing to fix. 

If you brought in a pair and then bred them and had one of their kits as your pet that would work but would you want to do that in order to get a young kit so that it bonds with you? 

I love grey foxes and I am not trying to put you off, I just want you to be aware that taming up a fox that has had very little human interaction is no easy task. A tamed up older fox will never be as tame as a kit that has been interacted with from early on. 

-Elina


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## LucasJ (Aug 30, 2011)

Sorry I was being stupid, I thought that quarantine meant a complete separation, so that the owners aren't able to have any contact with the pet (or anyone else for that matter).

If that's not the case, what is the purpose of the quarantine? And I live near quite a few zoo's at the moment, which I could get in contact with. But it's not something I can try to predict right now because I really wont be able to do it for at least 2 years.

I know this site boasts a huge wealth of information, and thought it best that I get some knowledge now before I talk myself into this idea.

Also for the record, If I could spend time with the fox during quarantine, that would be amazing, and definitely not a hinderence as far as I'm concerned. You said that quarantine's last around 4 months, I was under the impression they were shorter than that (30 days or so), is there any way to tell? Am I just misinformed?

Thanks again!


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## George_Millett (Feb 26, 2009)

LucasJ said:


> Sorry I was being stupid, I thought that quarantine meant a complete separation, so that the owners aren't able to have any contact with the pet (or anyone else for that matter).
> 
> If that's not the case, what is the purpose of the quarantine? And I live near quite a few zoo's at the moment, which I could get in contact with. But it's not something I can try to predict right now because I really wont be able to do it for at least 2 years.


Same as everything else, risk management. You need to have some contact with these animals if nothing else some one needs to go in to clean up the crap and feed the animal. But it needs to be done in an easily controlled manner and in such a way that if the animal is found to be carrying something nasty it can be dealt with swiftly and efficiently with as little risk to the general public as possible. 

Outside the bat population we are rabies free and work hard to stay that way.



> I know this site boasts a huge wealth of information, and thought it best that I get some knowledge now before I talk myself into this idea.
> 
> Also for the record, If I could spend time with the fox during quarantine, that would be amazing, and definitely not a hinderence as far as I'm concerned. You said that quarantine's last around 4 months, I was under the impression they were shorter than that (30 days or so), is there any way to tell? Am I just misinformed?
> 
> Thanks again!


Defra's blurb on Quarantine is here but it looks geared towards domestic pets like cats and dogs not foxes.


AS for visitation rites that would be between you and the owners of the facility to arrange between you, but from what Elina was saying whilst you may be able to visit your future pet you won't be able to spend enough time with it to properly bond with it. 

Have a read through of Elina's thread especially the bits that deal with her Fennecs. When she first got them we got a lot of updates and pictures of them right up until when they gave birth to the kits. 

At that point Elina stepped back from the socializing that she had done with them to give them enough space and time to properly raise the litter and unfortunately during that time it appears that all the hard work she and her partner had put in was undone and they have reverted back to being a more wild fox unlike the rest of her furry clan so get left alone apart from 'routine maintenance'. 

This is what you might be confronted with when your future pet comes out of quarantine as you are unlikely to be able to personally put in all the hours necessary and paying the facility managers to do it would be expensive and potentially counter productive as the fox might exclusively bond to them not you.

As to the length of Quarantine it does appear that as of 01/01/2012 it has been reduced from 6 months down to 3 months from the date the blood test was taken which is a further 30 days after the Rabies vaccination was administered. Total time from the animal entering the UK to you picking it up from quarantine is the 4 months that Elina mentioned presuming nothing happens to increase the quarantine period and it is vaccinated immediately on entry to the country. 

Unfortunately that does mean that it is very likely that any of the good work the breeder has put in during the 8-12 weeks that they have had the fox before shipping it out is very likely to be completely wasted and you would have to start again with an animal that is likely to be terrified of you.

Sorry for the long post that appears to put a downer on your ambitions. But all of us on the forum put the animal and its well being as the highest priority and any considerations of the future owner lower down on the scale. 

I hope you continue with your researches and if you decide you are able look after one correctly you do eventually get a fox.


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## LucasJ (Aug 30, 2011)

Thanks for all the information, it's really helpful, and gives me a lot of food for thought.

We'll definately need to be in a better position down the line, but if it is possible, then it seems like a very rewarding experience.

For us, like you, the animal is the highest priority, and so it's not something we're going to rush into, without being as close to experts as possible.

Thanks again to both of you.


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