oxes are omnivores (like dogs) therefore a balanced diet for a pet fox includes vitamins, minerals, meat, vegetables,

and other
foods.

Protein for Foxes

In the wild, foxes generally hunt small rodents. From a very early age, they learn their characteristic pounce to quickly and quietly
catch their favorite food. But your pets don't have to hunt in captivity. Instead, you generally should offer a formulated fox food (that
contains taurine) since it has most of what your pet fox needs along with pre-killed mice, small rats, fuzzies, or pinkies depending on
the size of the fox.

Fennec foxes will typically stick with the mice and smaller rodents while red or Siberian foxes can enjoy a rat or even a small rabbit
since they are a little bit larger when compared to a fennec. Regardless of the source of the protein, the majority of your fox's diet
should be protein.

Insects are also a large part of a fox's diet. In the wild, a lot of a fox's day is spent foraging for grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars,
silkworms, beetles, and mealworms in addition to an occasional crustacean (such as a crayfish). Thankfully, in captivity, it is easy to
feed a few dozen mealworms, gut-loaded crickets, or larger insects since these are readily available from pet stores.

Some fox owners also opt to feed their pets raw meat. There are mixed feelings about feeding raw foods to pet foxes, but if you
choose to offer raw meat to your fox, make sure you are feeding whole prey items, meaning entire chicks, mice, rabbits, and
squirrels. Foxes need the organs, skin, and other benefits of the entire animal, not just the muscles as would be provided with a
chicken breast or steak.

The Spruce / Melissa Ling

Fruits and Vegetables for Foxes

Vegetables, such as mixed frozen vegetables, cherry tomatoes, and other bite-sized veggies, should be offered to your fox daily.
For smaller foxes, a few teaspoons of vegetables a day will suffice but offer a few tablespoons for larger foxes. If you notice your
fox's stool has a lot of vegetable matter in it, you are probably feeding too many veggies and should cut back on the amount you are
offering.
Fruits should only be offered as treats (unlike vegetables, which should be part of the daily meal for your fox). Foxes especially like
berries and many fox owners also recommend giving cherries as treats to help with the odor of their urine. Care should be taken to
avoid feeding grapes and raisins due to reports of the kidney damage they can cause.

Jacky Parker Photography / Getty Images

Grains for Foxes

Foxes do not eat grains in the wild; therefore, you should avoid feeding things like wheat, rice, oats, and other grain matter in their
food. Since foxes instead eat small prey such as mice and birds that eat grains, this is how they get some of the carbohydrates they
need. The rest of the carbohydrates they require are found in the fruits and vegetables they consume.

Nick Brundle Photography / Getty Images

Vitamins and Supplements for Foxes

Taurine is essential to pet foxes and is typically found in formulated fox diets or grain-free dog foods (as well as the animal tissues
you feed). If it isn't already listed as an ingredient in the food you are feeding your fox, you can supplement it with taurine capsules.
Smaller foxes typically need about 500 milligrams a day while larger foxes will need more.

Most of the vitamins and minerals that your fox needs will already be in the grain-free food you feed your fox and the rest of what
they need will be in the rodents, insects, and vegetables you offer daily.