the ferretorium

heretic-paladin:

ferretorium:

Every time I see a ferret with “unusual” markings (white head, spots, stripes) they’re usually Waardenburgs and that means they’re badly bred. And it just makes me sad. :/ I’d rather have a normal-looking ferret than a “special”-looking one if it means they’ve got a non-defective-bloodline.  

Don’t some ferrets sometimes have unusual markings because they have a polecat ancestor/s?

Yeah, but not the white markings like from Waardenburg syndrome. They usually are dark sables with no mask, just a bit of creamy color on their snout. Breeding ferrets with polecats just adds to their good health. Mass-breeders like FFF, Marshalls, and True Canadian just produce produce produce and make ferrets with awful bloodlines. Mycoplasma at age 3, spinal cancer at age 1, heart problems at age 3, adrenal disease at age 2, juvenile onset lymphoma. So horrible. 

Some private breeders will mix ferrets with polecats to keep genes strong. They’re usually only like 1/8 polecat or even less.