How to Train Red Foxes to Use Litter Boxes

While red foxes, like most wild animals, do not usually make very good pets, it's legal in some states to breed and sell them. A sick or injured red fox may have to be kept in captivity until well enough to be released in the wild. Because of their wild instincts, there are some differences between foxes and cats so you need to set up the litter box a little differently, according to Carolyn Fell, a federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Michigan. To train a red fox to use a litter box, you need to understand the fox's wild habits.

Things You'll Need

  • Litter box
  • Cat litter or soil
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Instructions

    • 1

      Put the litter box as far away as possible from the fox's eating area.

    • 2

      Put a very small amount of soil or litter in the litter box. Foxes do not naturally bury their feces and if you fill a litter box your fox will want to play or dig in it or bury her food.

    • 3

      Move the fox's feces into the litter box every time she goes. Do this as promptly as possible--foxes learn by repetition and the more frequently your fox sees her poop in a litter box, the quicker she will get the idea that is where she's supposed to potty.

    • 4

      Leave the feces in the litter box for at least 24 hours, even if there is an accumulation. This helps the fox understand this is where she's supposed to go.

    • 5

      Use odor-neutralizing pet stain cleaner to clean up urine or feces that your fox has deposited away from the litter box to deter her from using the same place again.