Exotic Pet Wonderland

Arctic Foxes

Content Image
A photo of an artic fox standing on leaves and dirt
A photo of a white arctic fox standing on a wooden platform inside an arctic fox enclosure at an animal sanctuary in tennessee
Arctic Fox  Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Vulpes
Species: Lagopus
Scientific Name

Vulpes lagopus

Conservation status

Least Concern

LIFE SPAN

3-4 years in the wild

12 years in captivity

Body size

6-16 lbs
10-12 inches at the shoulder

Native habitat

Arctic Foxes live in the Arctic Tundra biome and are found in Northern Europe, Northern Asia, and Northern North America. Arctic Foxes are the only land mammal native to Iceland.

Diet

Arctic foxes generally eat small animal they can find, including lemmings, voles, hares, birds, eggs, fish, and carrion. They’ll also eat berries and seaweed when it’s available, but they are mainly a bird egg predator, consuming eggs of most bird species. 

Foxy Fun Facts!

Arctic foxes don’t get cold and shiver until -94 degrees Fahrenheit

Arctic foxes changes colors according to the season in order to better camouflage. 

Arctic foxes mate for life

Some Arctic fox dens are as old as 300 years!

Arctic foxes are built to handle the extreme cold!

Due to living in some of the coldest regions in the world, arctic foxes are built to handle extreme cold with their thick coats and compact body shape, having a short muzzle, legs, and short thick ears.  Arctic foxes are also the only canid whose foot pads are covered in fur.  Arctic Foxes come in two distinct coat colors in the wild, white and blue. White arctic foxes change seasonally to be camouflaged to their environment, being white in the winter and changing to brown with light gray along their abdomen in the summer. The blue arctic fox is often dark blue in summer and slightly lighter blue or gray in winter.  

 

Arctic foxes generally eat any small animal they can find, including lemmings, voles, hares, birds, eggs, fish, and carrion. They’ll also eat berries and seaweed when it’s available, but they are mainly a bird egg predator, consuming eggs of most bird species.  They don’t hibernate, but they’ll build up fat reserves in autumn, sometimes increasing their weight by  50%, and because of the harsh winters in their environment, when food is overabundant they are known to cache a surplus of food as a reserve.

 

Arctic Foxes are found in Northern Europe, Northern Asia, North America, and are the only land mammal native to Iceland. Since Arctic foxes mainly live in areas where food is harder to find, they have been known to make trips within their home range that usually last around three days and can happen a few times a month. Arctic foxes can travel up to as much as ninety-six miles in one day. Because of this, Arctic foxes are at more of a risk to be seen or attacked by predators, so their mortality rate is much higher than foxes who stay in one area.  Sadly, in the wild arctic foxes normally don’t live past their first year.

 

Our Arctic Foxes

A photo of a rescued pet arctic fox that is turning from black to white for the winterinside a quarantine enclosure
Cooper
a photo of a blue star color morph arctic fox standing in the hay inside an arctic fox enclosure at an arctic fox rescue in tennessee
Atreyu
An arctic fox in its black summer coat sitting up against a white structure inside a quarantine enclosure at an exotic pet rescue in tennessee
Ivy
a photo of a hybrid between a red fox and an arctic fox standing on a wooden platform in a fox enclosure at an animal sanctuary in tennessee
Everest
A photo of a young blue color morph arctic fox inside an enclosure at a rescue for arctic foxes in tennessee
Phineas
A photo of a polar color morph arctic fox leaping playfully inside an arctic fox enclosure at an exotic pet sanctuary in tennessee
Ferb
A photo of a pet arctic fox standing in an enclosure at an exotic pet sanctuary in tennessee
Azul
A photo of a white arctic fox laying in a fox enclosure at an animal sanctuary in tennessee
Marshie