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lol The short version is that I bought him.
The long version is that I did large reptile rescue and had recently gotten out of it when I met a lady who breeds Geoffroy's Cats. There are only about four private individuals and a handful of zoos breeding the little guys in the United States right now and she wanted me to pick up a trio and breed them as well. They aren't endangered yet but they will be in the next decade or two (and they have a naturally low population count anyway so "endangered" for them is kinda extra scary) and a lot of the people who are trying to get their hands on them don't want to produce more Geoffroy's Cat but instead want to hybridize them with domestic cats (a process which ends very poorly for the domestic cat - Geoffroy's Cats are small but they are exceedingly effective at killing things). I declined because I had zero experience with exotic mammals (outside of the usual: ferrets and rabbits and whatnot) but told her that I would get a more common exotic mammal to see if it was something I was interested in. My husband had wanted a fox when he was a kid so I looked into those and decided on a Fennec because of their small size and their (relative) lack of odor. I got in touch with a breeder through the woman who breeds Geoffroy's Cat and she put me in touch with someone local who had just had an unexpected litter - all males. The local breeder talked to me at length and eventually decided she would be willing to sell me a kit. We've had him for three years now and expect to have him for another decade and change. In all seriousness, even though he's a ton of work and destructive as all get-out I can't imagine not having him around. He wags his tail and rolls over to demand belly scratchin's! Who would have thought that a fox would like to have his tummy rubbed?
Edit: I should probably note that as a general rule, exotic mammals make terrible pets. They are, like I said, very destructive. They also have much more complicated dietary and veterinary needs (for example, dog vaccines will kill a fox) and it is not easy to find a vet who is knowledgeable enough to be trustworthy. Additionally, they will never act like a domestic pet. Even individuals that are the product of several generations of captive breeding are still wild animals at their core so they are much more likely to bite, scratch, etc. with much less notice. And, of course, good luck housebreaking an exotic. The cats, from what I have heard, will use a litter box. But foxes? If anyone tells you they have a litter trained fox they have a very lose definition of the term.
