Good morning!

Yay it's a bank holiday and I actually have it off work!

Today has thus far been quite fun; I got to sleep in which was soooo nice and as I woke up before my other half I got some sneaky photos of where Freyja sleeps.

Freyja unlike Valla is not a very well trained little fox that knows when the snuggle safe heat pas goes in the crate that it is bed time, oh no she is Daddy's little girl so she sleeps here:

Yep that would be her in bed! Sadly the flash woke both her and her Daddy up oops!

I am so glad that her new diet is taking effect and she is smelling a little better, I still would not choose for her to be sleeping in bed with me though hehe.

My little princess sleeps in her crate right next to my bed and wakes up when I wake her which is very nice as she wags her tail like a happy little puppy and screams with delight as she stretches then walks to me to give me kisses. She still does not seem to understand that kisses on the cheek are okay, on the lips not so much! Oh well she is happy and I wash my face right after.

Once Valla is awake I let her get onto the bed to play with Freyja and Sprite. They are so cute together! They play so well, By the time we descend the stairs the three of them are already too tired to do anything!

Last night before bed I filmed Sprite and Freyja playing on the sofa. I do not know why but Sprite will only play with the kit's on soft things such as the bed or sofa. I think it is as she knows they are delicate.

I also took some photos, enjoy!

Sprite warn out after playing with the kits:

Freyja the. . . Silver fox?!

The other day I checked with the Arctic fox conservation group to be sure of what I was thinking more and more to be true and indeed Freyja is NOT an arctic fox, she is a silver fox. (Well they did not know what she was just that she was not an Arctic fox).
Normally I can tell the difference between the two from the get go but as Freyja was sold to me as an arctic the thought did not cross my mind that she was not. (Bar that I thought the white bits were odd and the ears were a bit big, I just figured she was. . . Strange.)
To be sure I asked various friends (you know who you are ) who are as fox obsessed as me and we all agree that Freyja is a silver.

I think one of the reasons she was so stinky was the diet she was on as she is smelling a little better now. I shall still be moving her outside though, we never planned on having a red fox at all let alone inside (giggle) .

The guy I got her from also had no idea, I felt a little bad for him as he must have sold some of the others to other people and I wonder if they will take the news so well as I did. . .

When the man I got her from told the guy he got them from the person at first still told him they were arctic's but then suddenly told him they were 'Siberian silvers' which sounded like he was trying to make silver sound very posh indeed  .

We are keeping her of coarse, she is a lovely little fox. She will be moving outside though as we never planned on having a red fox, let alone a red fox INSIDE!

We are due to collect an ARCTIC (she says crossing her fingers) in 3 weeks time, I shall be on guard this time. I must admit when you spend so much you do generally expect to get what you are after. . . I fear I will be paranoid now when I buy anything and I do not just mean critters .

The main thing is that Freyja is where she belongs:

With her little sister Valla. I am quite sure if I ever parted them I would never hear the end of it from Valla hehe!

You would never guess they were being naughty before they fell to sleep would you?

On a side note my baby girl Valla has been home for a whole month now! Gosh I honestly love her more and more each day, she really is such a special little fox!

Tummy rubs!

Today when I got home from work before even taking my jacket off I went to see the kits. Valla came running to greet me as always so I picked her up and cuddled her and while holding her close I went to see the fennecs and the adult corsacs. When everyone had said hello I went to see where Freyja was and upon hearing the sounds of 'Rome' the T.V. show emitting from my office I found my answer!

And I just had to play with her!

She is so silly!
Here are a couple of photos of my tiny princess Valla.

Well I think that's all for now!

Baby photos!

What kind of mother would I be if I did not spam you all with baby. . . Well kit photos?!

On the 24th I gave the kits a shower, Freyja as she smells. . . Like an Arctic hehe and Valla as hugging an Arctic seems to make you smell of one!

Here is a soggy Valla:

And a very doggy looking Freyja:

I was quite amazed the first time I bathed Freyja how much she looks like a little dog.
Here are some from today:

Valla having a nap with her big sister Sprite. (Excuse the dress, it was a gift and Sprite has become quite fond of it.)

I have found it very hard to take photos of Freyja, I have no idea why but often you can see no detail on her in the photos hence there are so few.

Freyja with crazy eyes hugs Sprite hehe.

Sprite looks over sleeping Valla.

Valla relaxing on me.

Valla and Pig.

Pig, Valla and Sprite; The play pals.

I also made a video of Valla and Freyja playing:

Exotic Pet Awareness Day July 17th

An fun educational day for the whole family. Come & get up close & personal with Raccoons, Skunks, Prairie Dogs, Foxes & many more unusual pets/animals. Plenty of fun things to do for the kids & LOADS of animals to meet/feed that live at the Ark.. All money raised goes towards the running & upkeep of the Ark Animal Sanctuary. The Ark Animal Sanctuary is situated within the grounds of Evesham Country Park, shopping & garden centre, with other family attractions on site. www.eveshamcountrypark.co.uk/

This event is aimed at showing the array of exotic animals currently kept as pets in the UK with the emphasis on education about the correct care & husbandry required. It is also a fundraising day for the Ark Animal Sanctuary while letting the whole family have the chance to meet & stroke a variety of animals not usually seen so close up. There will also be a bouncy castle, ferret racing,cake sales, raffle & if you fancy your hand at being an artist, why not try out the pottery shed!!

10.30am till 4.30pm. Adults: £4.50 Child: £4.00 (over two years of age) Senior citizens: £3.50 Family: £14.50 (Two adults + two children) FREE car parking 01386 443 348

The Ark Animal Sanctuary, Evesham Country Park, Evesham, WR11 4TP Worcestershire WR11 4TP

Come and meet us everyone! Harry, Elspeth, Rudi and Baby Valla the Corsac foxes, Inari and Kitsune the Fennec foxes and Freyja the Arctic fox will all be there allong with loads of other animals and cannot wait to meet you all!

Freyja and Valla- Best of friends

Gosh Valla has grown so much since my last entry, it is amazing!

She is known in our home as my shadow as she follows me everywhere from the moment I wake up, even into the shower!

I cannot believe how attached I have become to this little tyke in such a short amount of time but to be fair I was the same with all of my fur kids. With Valla though it is a little different in that she knows she relies on me and she always seems to grateful. She learns so fast! Not only can she now run up the stairs in our house but she can come down just as fast. She has worked out that the fridge is where her milk and food comes from so when I open the door she does a little dance and runs to the bottle steriliser as she knows that is my next stop. She also will come from the other end of the house if I call her name faster then any of the dogs and then she rolls around on the floor as though she is SO happy to see me and when I bend to pick her up she will give me kisses on the lips hehe. Not something I intended as I taught her to kiss on the cheek but I suppose she has seen Audrey kiss me on the lips and thought that was the thing to do.

I also love how if she wants to take a nap when I am home she will call for me so she can snuggle on me as she knows she is safe with me.

My partner was feeling a little unloved as I have a little fox shadow and yet he did not. Valla does not need him how she needs me even when I am not home she would prefer to sleep down the back of the sofa then with him and so my partner decided he wanted his own little fox but as corsacs are my 'thing' he chose an Arctic.

On May 18th we went to collect his bundle of joy; a little 8 week old bottle raised blue arctic fox. When we went to get her we were in fox heaven as there were quite a few little kits there all so very adorable we had quite a job choosing one. The one we chose stuck out to me though as the only white bit or her whole body is the tip of her tail and the undersides of her paw pads. Thank you Lorna and Dave for a lovely few hours and our new fur baby.

Now the reason it has taken us so long to let you all know about Freyja the arctic fox is as we could not agree on a name. I liked Freyja which is the name of a viking Goddess but my partner though this name made her sound like she should be a member of Abba hehe. We looked at allot of Inuit names but I had no idea how to pronounce any of them so in the end Freyja stuck.


Upon arriving home I was greeted by Valla charging at me as she had been spending the day with her human granddad and thus was loose in the house. She was all excited to see me which always makes me so happy. At the time I was holding Freyja who wanted to get down and meet Valla so very much so I let her. Within minuets the two of them were running around like the very best of friends! Valla showed her the litter tray, her crate, the dogs, her toys and even that she has her very own steps to get up to my knee when I am at my desk. Valla seems very happy to have this new friend.


The whole evening the girls were so happy to play with each other until they were warn out. Valla came over to me and climbed onto my knee, Freyja followed, Valla was NOT impressed! It would seem that I am Valla's Mummy and though it is fine to share toys, litter trays and dogs it is NOT fine to share me. I found this to be so amusing as every time Freyja wanted a cuddle Valla would charge at her shouting making her retreat. I suppose this is one way to assure my partner that he gets to have Freyja as HIS fox.


One of the most interesting things we have found is how much arctic foxes smell. Now Corsacs smell like. . . Well nothing. Fennecs have a slight smell to them but arctic's really, really smell! They truly stink to high heavens!

I was ready for this as I have read allot about them.

Some people find they do not smell but after talking to some other 'fox people' it seems that woman can smell it allot more then most men can. I tried out this theory and my partners Dad who has been trained so smell what various chemicals smell of could not smell the smell where as his Mum had to leave the room for fear of vomiting. Freyja went to the range with my partner last night and none of the guys could smell the horrid smell. There are many studies pertaining to pigs (specifically a hormone smell called boar taint) that show that different people do smell certain pheromones and odours differently. Females are more prone to being offended by these types of smells. This could account for why some people don't think foxes stink while others do.. . Very odd

I bathed Freyja the day she came home but even during the time she was drying the smell came back. I do not think that if I bathe her very often this will help as like humans with oily hair the more they wash the worse the hair gets so I shall only bathe Freyja once every two weeks, maybe less often. I hope her new diet will help the smell too so shall keep you all updated.


It is quite striking how much larger then Valla Freyja is. She is about twice her size! I am glad they are both so gentle when they play with each other though I would never let them play without a human watching. Something that I found interesting from the first time they play fought was that if Valla shouts Freyja will let her go and step back so Valla can stand up, the same happens the other way around. It is as though they have a safe word.

The two of them are quite the little thieves. On the second day Freyja was here both Freyja and Valla each stole one of my partner socks. Little did my partner expect to see either sock again let alone both socks and both foxes in one place (behind the sofa hehe)!

So I have a video of them paying but I have not sorted it out yet on my PC as I am not at home right now, I shall sort that out as soon as I can.

I think that is you all up to date. . . I probably missed something. . . We shall see!

Playtime for Valla, Sprite and Piglet.

So since last time Valla has been doing great! I am so happy that her face is healing well I think it might be down to all the beauty sleep:

She has also been playing with the dogs allot and I now know the bigger dogs are 100% okay with Valla and her wandering around with them which is so great!
Sprite seems to have decided that she Valla's personal body guard and always watches her. She has also been teaching her how to play, they are so cute!

I told one of my friends that Valentine (one of our dogs) lets Valla bite his tail and he said he would believe it when he saw it SO here we go! Valla playing with Sprite and Valentine.

Valla has a favorite hiding place; under the sofa. It probably smells to her like other corsac foxes as that is where Harry and Elspeth like to hang out. As she often vanishes under there and her being so small and it being so dark we had to find a collar for her with a bell so we would not panic so much. This is what we found:

It is from a chocolate Easter egg that my other half got me. I think we tried every collar in pets at home and none of them fit her but the one on my chocolate rabbit was the perfect size. I only put it on her when she is playing on the floor as I do not want her to catch her paw in it or anything like that when she sleeps.

The past few days Valla has started to grow fur on her paw pads like the adult corsacs which means she slids as though on ice across the wood flooring. She also now comes running when I call her name 75% of the time which is very good but she will not come if anyone but me calls her, I am sure she will in time though. I am so impressed with my tiny fox.

BREAKING NEWS!

I had to edit this as Valla has in the time I was typing learnt to climb stairs! Look out world, here she comes!!!

Accidents will happen.

Today I woke up at 6am, and rolled over to let Valla out of her crate.

Valla has been sleeping in a crate for the past few nights as now she is more steady on her legs she is always getting herself into trouble so I did not want her to get herself into bother while I sleep. She still falls to sleep with me in bed but as soon as she nods off I put her in her crate with her toys.

Well this morning I petted her and then picked her up to put her into bed with me for a few mins and when I went to give her a kiss I noticed a chunk of her lip was missing! (Okay chunk is over statement, it is more of a cut but being her Mummy I am allowed to panic.)

I took her to the bathroom and cleaned the wound, there was no blood and she did not squirm, squeak or anything like that so I was calling her my brave little girl when I was being pitiful with tears streaming down my face. I then put her in bed with my other half, called the vet and made an appointment I then went to look in her crate to see what she could have hurt herself on and could find nothing. I also looked all over the floor but there was nothing there and Sprite had been in bed all night so I knew it was not her as I wake up when she moves even an inch. I removed all of her harder toys just in case though I doubt it was them.

At the vets 2 hours later he said that it will heal, it just looks less then perfect at the moment and to just keep it clean. As I took her in the crate that she sleeps in the vet also had a look and could see nothing that it could have been cause by other then maybe she scratched her face in her sleep but it is a VERY deep cut for that. I have filed her nails down just in case it was them.

Due to my job I should have known that it would be fine and what not but Valla is so young and loving I just worry so much with my fur kids and that combined with Audrey having her tonsils out this week and me having a gum infection so not sleeping all the worry from that I think I was just warn and could not step back and think about it. The vet said he did not blame me for worrying as she is such a beautiful little kit and at her age even a tiny bump can be worrying.

On the way home my other half stopped to get Valla some gifts including a snuggle safe heat pad as she loves my hot water bottle and a pop up cat tent which Valla is sleeping in right now.

SO that was a bit long winded but yes Valla had a horrid scratch on her right lip which looks gruesome and I have no idea how it happened but it will get better and she will be as beautiful as her big sister Elspeth in no time!

On a lighter note this evening Valla spent meeting our bigger dogs who she loves which is great! They were treating her like a delicate little puppy and following her everywhere like her body guards. I wonder if she will grow up thinking she is a dog where Sprite grew up thinking she was a fox. . .

So much changes in a week

Valla has now been home for one week and I already see so many changes in her.

We will start with how she plays. When Valla first came home she just did not understand it. She had no idea what to do with her toys and looked plain confused when I would wave them in her face but now she adores her toys!:

Sunday:

Wednesday:

You can see how even in a few short days she managed to totally get the hang of how to play. Yes she is rough with her toys but all foxes are. I love that she likes to play now as I can play with her for 30 mins and then she will sleep for an hour or more which I adore as it means I get to cuddle her!



On Monday Valla bit the top off her first bottle of the day so I thought that we should try solids. I had just gotten some more ingredients in for Gizmo Burgers and I always buy a little too much turkey mince so I gave her a table spoon of that. She was unsure at first but once she realized you could eat it she was so happy! She was eating it so fast that I had to keep taking it away so she would not make herself sick. I then tried to give her milk in a bowl which did not go so well. She saw the milk in the bowl, gave it a sniff and then put her nose in and kept it under the milk until she blew out through it and she worried herself with the bubbles that then formed in the milk. After about 10 mins of Sprite the Papillon showing her how to drink using ones tongue Valla gave it another try which went well so now Valla eats and drinks like a big fox, I am so proud hehe!

As you will have noticed from above Sprite has been allowed to meet Valla. Well they have known each other from day one. There was no way around that as Sprite sleeps in my bed with me, she has a chair of her own next to my desk at home and she cries when I am not with her. In the beginning Sprite did not know what to do with Valla, the first time she went to sniff her she accidently flipped Valla over which made Valla hate her when all Sprite really wanted to do was make friends. Now Sprite and Valla are getting one quite well and to be honest Valla's hatred of Sprite is why she can walk so well now as she liked to run after Sprite which looked quite amusing. Now she likes to walk with Sprite around my bed and Sprite has been teaching her how to play with others. Valla is not sure why others get to have HER toy in their mouths for a few seconds during play but she will get there in the end.

Language wise we are not doing so well, 'I want my Mummy' is the fennec mating call. . . My partner says it drives the fennecs mad when I am out.



Yesterday she got to meet Harry, Elspeth and Rudi for a moment. She was sat on my lap in their bedroom. She was quite excited and wanted to go and play with them but Elspeth was terrified of her. When Elspeth came to sniff her Valla moved to sniff her back and Elspeth looked like she had just seen a ghost! Harry looked quite Happy when she sniffed him and Rudi watched from a distance. I shall not let her play with them until she is at least 6 months of age as I want her to be big enough to run away if she needs to, not that I think she will need to but you never know.



Today Valla had her first ever shower. I put her in with me as she was calling for me from my room and then from the bathroom floor so it was all I could do to calm her down. She found this to be a odd experience and spent the whole time sitting next to my feet looking up at me. When I shampooed her she looked quite confused but not upset by it, I think that is because she just saw me do the same and I survived. After I towelled her off and put her in a pocket of my robe where she fell to sleep.



I think that you all up to date for the time being, the big foxies are doing great as are the fennecs and Valla is getting bigger by the second!