I know we’re not supposed to encourage the keeping of exotic wildlife, but some people have made rather excellent pets out of Fennec foxes (Vulpes zerda or Fennecus zerda). These are the smallest members of the dog family and are native to North Africa and possibly parts of the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant as well.
If you want one as a pet, do your homework! There is no guarantee that even bottle raised fox will be a tame as this one. They have been kept as pets by the people of the region. They might be better pets than other foxes because they are social foxes living in family groups with a single male and several females. They also lack the foxy odor that red foxes exude from their tail glands. Even if you think one is right for you, it may be illegal for you to have on in your area.
My suggestion, check out the toy breeds of dog– yorkies, chihuahuas, and similar breeds. There are members of those breeds that are actually smaller than the fennec, and they are domesticated. However, even these dogs can have poor temperaments.
The pet fennec might tell us something about how dogs were domesticated. Perhaps some hunter-gatherer human brought home a young wolf and gave it to his children or to his potential mate. Modern wolves cannot be socialized to human after they are 19-21 days old. However, it is possible that the wolves of ancient times had longer socialization periods, and the adults were much more curious animals, rather than the fearful wolves we have today, which do everything to avoid humans. Again, most discussion of dog domestication winds up being speculation because it happened so long ago.
I would love
To buy a fennec fox.. But how and where do i get 1?
You’re in South Africa, and I don’t know the laws for ownership in that part of the world. In the US, it varies by state.