What are the precautions during the fox whelping period?

Most foxes give birth at night and in the early morning, and the whole birthing process usually takes 2-3 hours. After giving birth, most mother foxes eat the afterbirth and lick the mucus off the cubs' bodies. A few first-time mothers do not know how to care for their young and often do not eat the afterbirth.

Fox cubs can nurse immediately after birth, and the lactation period is 55-60 days. Under normal nutritional conditions, most mother foxes care for their cubs attentively, but a few first-time mothers, those with no milk or insufficient milk, or those that have not finished giving birth (including stillborn cubs), or mother foxes with diseases, will fail to care for their cubs.

After whelping, keepers must promptly check the birthing situation, including whether the mother fox has removed the afterbirth, whether the umbilical cord has been bitten off, and whether the umbilical cord is wrapped around the body.

For mother foxes that do not care for or abandon their cubs, as well as those with no milk, or mother foxes with large litters, the method of finding a foster mother fox should be adopted. The foster mother should be chosen for her strong maternal instincts and small litter size, with cubs roughly the same size as the fostered cubs. To ensure successful fostering, wipe the fostered cubs with grass or feces and urine from the foster mother's den, and thoroughly mix the two litters of cubs together. If the fox group is small and no foster mother can be found for the surplus cubs, suitable mother raccoon dogs, dogs, cats, etc., can also be used for fostering. If there is truly no other way, artificial nursing can also be used. Use a 10 ml syringe as the nursing tool, fitted with a rubber tube used for valve cores, and feed pasteurized cow or goat milk kept at 40-42 degrees, 4-6 times a day. For cubs that have not been able to nurse because the mother fox does not care for them, artificial forced nursing should be carried out, that is, one person forcibly holds the mother fox while another person holds the cub by hand and makes the cub nurse by force.

For first-time mother foxes during the whelping period, use semi-enclosed birthing rooms or whelping boxes that do not interfere with each other, and strengthen care at the same time, and the cub survival rate will be higher. For experienced mother foxes, let nature take its course and interfere as little as possible; there will be no major problems with whelping.