10/15/2026
Hermes and Athena are the cutest couple, don't you all agree?
Did you know that Red Foxes, like other canids make wonderful and attentive parents?
In the wild, Red Foxes typically will breed and begin to prepare for their first litter of kits when they are still less than a year old themselves. While they may be young, that does not put them at much of a disadvantage! Their innate abilities and instincts guide them.
Red Foxes mate in the winter, typically in January or February in North America. They “gestate” (are pregnant) for around 52 days, before they give birth in early spring, starting around mid March. Red Foxes have the shortest documented gestation period out of any other canine!
Roughly 2 weeks before giving birth, the vixen will begin to produce milk, and her mammary glands will become more visible. She will begin searching for the perfect place to raise her kits at this time as well, she will find a den or dig her own. This “den” may end up being your very own shed or back deck, if you’re lucky enough to share space with a thriving ecosystem.
While the vixen is preparing her den, her mate will likely be very attentive to her needs. He will instinctually begin bringing her excess food that he hunts, to help feed her before the kits are even born.
On average, a vixen needs to increase her calorie intake by 1000 to produce milk for the pups. This equals out to about 20 additional mice a day, or less with larger prey. The dog fox knows his job, and he knows it well. A vixen with a mate who is a skilled hunter will raise a litter that thrives. Even with a skilled partner, often vixens lose up to 30% of her body mass through the course of raising their kits.
Red Foxes are considered to be mostly monogamous, like coyotes. However, on rare occasions, foxes will co-raise litters together with a third non-breeding fox, another pair, or even share a single mate. Litters raised by two sets or a trio of parents are often documented to be more successful than a traditional pair of parents.
On average litters consist of 4-6 kits, however there have been confirmed litters with as many as 13 kits! Female foxes typically have 8 “mammae” or “nipples” but have been documented to have anywhere between 6-10.
Like other mammals, fox milk is “liquid gold”, when it comes to nutrition. In early weeks it is thick and rich, to sustain all the calorific and nutritional needs of the kits. As the kits age, the milk composition changes. It becomes thinner and less rich as they incorporate whole prey, insects, and plant matter into their diets. Fox mothers will typically nurse their kits until about 10 weeks old.
At birth, fox kits are blind and deaf, and unable to care for themselves. The mother won’t leave them often at first.
Newborn kits are not able to “thermoregulate” to keep themselves warm, and rely on huddling close with their mother and siblings to stay warm. Vixens exclusively nurse their kits during the first few weeks of their life, and they must be fed every couple of hours in early weeks to thrive.
At around 2 weeks old the kits eyes and ears will open up, and their coat color will begin to change. True Red foxes are born brown, but by six weeks old they are typically already wearing their vibrant red, which will become more rich as they mature.
At about 3 weeks old, fox parents will begin offering regurgitated food, that is already partially chewed and easier for the kits to handle. By 4 weeks old, the parents will introduce solid food. Initially the kits will mostly play with the food and strengthen their jaws, but by 6 weeks they will readily be eating small prey.
Kits leave the den for the first time around 8 or 9 weeks old. The vixen begins weaning them around this same time, and they will typically be fully weaned by 10-12 weeks old. They will begin learning to hunt and survive on their own right away, but their parents will typically continue to bring them food until around 4 months old.
By fall, most foxes are now around 6 months old and are typically fully independent from their parents.
By 10 months old they are now fully mature, and ready to find their own mate in the coming winter and begin the cycle all over again…
📸Russell WT
📝Reanna M
