Fennec fox doesn't sound too good a pet. Aren't they wild?? How adapted are they to a human environment?
that's cuuute.. but if i got one of those..i'd teach it to hunt..like point at some animal[human being once it gets bigger], snap my fingers and have it sink its teeth in their neck..THAT'D be awesome..
Ferrets, yes, although they haven't quite become an ecological nightmare anywhere...yet. I think they generally won't run off if they're treated well by their humans. They've been trained to run cables through conduits, apparently they're fairly docile. Cats have wrought havoc on the native wildlife in New Zealand. But humans have been introducing invasive plant and animal species for centuries. Rabbits practically ruined the Australian ecosystem, taking over wombat burrows. The house sparrow (European birds turned loose in Central Park 125 years ago by a homesick Englishman) have displaced dozens of native species throughout the entire Western Hemisphere. Where we live in northwestern California, lumber companies planted Himalayan blackberries because they quickly grip hillside soil loosened by logging. Now the native blackberries, which have tastier and more abundant fruit, are practically extinct. How about the kudzu vines in the American South? Or the snakehead fish that are taking over the eastern rivers? Yeah, but there are lots of them. Veterinarians have to know how to treat them. Ours has photos of his clients' ferrets up on his bulletin board. There are many species of fox and they're all different. You don't dare generalize the behavior of one species to another. As I said, you can't predict the behavior of a fennec from the more common silver fox. It's not certain that they are even the same genus, they are definitely not the same species. However, Wikipedia says that fennecs form strong lifelong social bonds. When your son goes off to college, you'd better make certain they allow pets in the student residences.
I recommend a cockatiel. (Small bird in the parrot family but larger than a parakeet.), but only if your are retired and have no ceiling fans AND are willing to keep windows open less than 2 cm for fresh air. (I don't think any bird should have its wings clipped - during the day it should be free to fly inside your home.) You need to have it free near you several hours each day when it is young so it will bond with you. Mine is nearly three years with me now; She always chirps to tell me where it is when I call her name and normally will fly to my shoulder if I call her to and she can see where I am. She is smarter (or at least as smart) as any dog I have owned. She knows that landing on window ledges, sinks, chair backs with plastic covers or frames of picture with glass covers is allowed but not else where. She has at least four distinct chirps that I know the meaning of such as ("Thank you." or "That was nice."), "Come and let me out of the cage." (She is confined only at night or when no one is home.), "No, I don't want that - leave me alone." (If emphatic, it will be open mouth hissing, instead of a polite but definite distinct chirp.),"I need attention," but often this is expressed non-verbally as a request for head petting always is. She also imitates sounds. For example, even before we turn the food blender on, but just get it out for use, she will imitate its sound.
So when things go terribly wrong with this pet fox what are you going to do with it? Throw it in the river? because according to you, that's a legitimate way to get rid of unwanted pets. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Perhaps it's not a status symbol but a "novelty" for sure. I think anything that encourages animals to be purchased as "novelties" (including purchasing one oneself) should be discouraged. It encourages capture, import and breeding processes often rife with cruelty as the primary concern is to make a fast and easy buck off a trend. Perhaps for your son, the novelty may last, but for many others, it won't. In the meantime, many animals will suffer, sooner or later, because they were unfortunate enough to be "cute."
Labiiiib Labiiibbb! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! the symbol of ecology and envirement care and cleaning in my country Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
. ha, to hunt what? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! you want meat, go buy, you want to hunt, get a hunting dog Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
. are you kidding? a lion would be aloot better, lions are cats too after all, right? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Fraggle - you are right even if my purpose is to change the OP's mind that was a bit too general for a scientific forum. http://www.foxes.org/urbanfox/part3.html