Minecraft Guide to Foxes: Taming, breeding and more

Foxes are amongst the latest mobs to leap their way into Minecraft and have already captured the attention of many players with their furry tails and adorable day-time naps. Having been present on the Java Edition of Minecraft for a while, foxes have officially made the jump to the Bedrock Edition with the latest beta, meaning it's time to go over what foxes do, and how you can become best friends with them.

What are foxes in Minecraft?

Joining the prestigious ranks of tamable mobs with wolves, ocelots, and cats, foxes seek to take the crown for most adorable Minecraft animal. And they may very well succeed. Foxes are a passive mob with some unique behaviors that make them an exciting addition to the game's bewilderingly expansive collection of wildlife.

Depending on your luck, foxes may be a tad challenging to track down in-game. They can only be found in taiga biomes (cold forests populated by spruce trees), and they won't be as common as mobs like pigs or cows. However, foxes do typically spawn in groups of 3-4, which offsets their rarity.

There are two different kinds of foxes that can be found in the game. In taiga biomes devoid of snow and ice, the foxes that spawn there will be red and white. However, foxes that spawn in taiga biomes that do have an abundance of snow will generate with white and grey fur, much like arctic foxes. This, of course, makes them the best thing in Minecraft.

If you have a desire to maximize your chances of finding a fox in-game, they also enjoy hanging out around villages. Minecraft foxes are just as mischievous as their real-life counterparts, leading to some amusing fuzzy capers when nighttime comes around.

Overall, foxes are quite small (bigger than a cat but smaller than a wolf) and have large amounts of energy when they're active. Large heads and big, fluffy tails complete their look. There are also baby foxes, although those are rarer in the wild.

How do foxes behave in Minecraft?

It seems now that every subsequent mob Mojang adds to Minecraft has to be more lively and personal than any other added before it. With all the many behaviors foxes exhibit, and the bees that will be added later on, Mojang is making cows, pigs and chickens dreadfully dull. That said, there's a lot to cover, so let's jump into it.

• Foxes are nocturnal. The most noticeable fox-behavior will be their sleeping schedule. Foxes actively avoid being awake during the day, seeking out shady spots to curl up until night falls. If you disturb a sleeping fox, or if the lighting above it changes, the fox will search for another place to snatch some Z's.
• Foxes prefer to be in groups. Finding a solo fox isn't impossible, but they tend to hang around other foxes, even sleeping next to each other at times.
• Foxes are carnivores. Foxes love munching on chickens, rabbits, most of the fish in the game, and even baby turtles if they're on land. Red foxes will primarily go after land critters, while arctic foxes prefer a quick swim with their meal.
• Foxes target villages. Whenever night arrives, foxes become far more active. Foxes will target villages specifically to steal items from villagers and eat their chickens.
• Foxes will carry items around. Interestingly, foxes will pick up and carry various items around in their mouths. They can pick up anything that the player can. If a fox is killed while it is holding an item, it will drop the item immediately for the player to pick up. Then again, why would you ever kill one?
• Foxes can use their carried items. Even more interesting, foxes can use whatever items they pick up! Foxes prefer to carry food (and will eventually eat it), but foxes can also pick up weapons and use those weapons when attacking.
• Foxes are incredibly good jumpers. Foxes in Minecraft don't jump, they leap. And they leap far. A fox that's about to jump will crouch down and ready themselves, then launch themselves through the air. They can easily clear fences and walls, and can jump 4 or 5 blocks high at points! It's time to rebuild your chicken coops.Fun fact: if an arctic fox jumps and lands in a pile of high snow, they'll become stuck momentarily. There's a little animation and everything.
• Foxes can move very fast. The speed of a running fox is pretty similar to that of an ocelot, so these little guys are quite challenging to keep up with.
• Foxes love sweet berry bushes. Sweet berry bushes are among the more annoying fauna you can accidentally bump into in Minecraft, but that doesn't apply to foxes. Not only do they love eating them, but foxes also take no damage and take no hit in speed when moving through sweet berry pushes. Talk about a sweet perk.
• Wolves and polar bears hate foxes. Whenever a wolf or polar bear is close to a fox, they'll immediately attack. Polar bears are a little more sneaky, but wolves will just go for it.
• Foxes distrust players. Foxes will generally avoid any players. There's a way around this, however, since foxes will let you approach if you sneak while moving towards them.

How to tame and breed foxes in Minecraft

Now that you know more about foxes, it's more important than ever to learn how to become friends with them. As mentioned before, foxes are tamable as well as breedable, so you're able to have your own pack of them. That way, they can sleep all day and ignore you. Of course, foxes just had to go and be different from other mobs, so you can't just tame a couple then start breeding them. It actually happens in the reverse order.

1. Procure some sweet berries and a lead. The sweet berries can be harvested off of bushes found in the same biomes foxes are located in. The lead you can either create yourself or nab from a villager/trader.
2. Find a group of foxes. One fox won't do, which is why it's fortunate that they usually spawn in groups. You can also try searching at night for a higher chance of finding them if you're willing to brave the scary mobs.
3. Approach the group quietly. You must sneak when approaching any wild fox, as it'll immediately flee if you don't.
4. Feed two of the foxes sweet berries. Take your pick and feed each fox one sweet berry. Much like other mobs, it'll start spewing a load of hearts to indicate it's ready to make some babies.
5. Once the foxes have made a baby, immediately attach a lead to it. The adult foxes are not tamable in the wild, but any babies that you help create will be born trusting you. However, baby foxes are still prone to following any nearby adult foxes, so attaching a lead is how you prevent that from happening.
6. Once the baby reaches adulthood, it'll fully trust you. Do this one more time, and you have your own duo of trusted adult foxes to create your family. You can do this with both red and arctic foxes.

The end of a furry tale

That's all you need to know about the new foxes in Minecraft! If you play on the Java Edition, you've probably had these guys for a few months now, but for everyone playing on the Bedrock Edition, there's yet another new thing to go out and find. I, for one, fully intend to fill my entire house with nothing but foxes.

What do you think about the new foxes? Are you going to create a foxy army? Let us know below!