Laboratory studies suggest that Fennecus can survive without free water for an indefinite period of time. Plants are also an important part of their diet since they may be an important source of water. Some food is apparently obtained by digging, as evidenced by the pronounced scratching and raking habit of captive fennec fox.
Females normally give birth once a year, in late winter or early spring.
Gestation is 50 to 52 days with 2 to 5 young in a litter. Fennec Fox is the smallest canid, but has the relatively largest ears. Their feet have hairy soles, enabling the animal to run in loose sand and shield from the heat of the burning desert. Nocturnal and quite agile. Males mark territories with urine.