hello all,

i wonder if there are any angora ferret-owned out there who might be
able to give me some info, since there's precious little available on
the 'net, and they are a bit different than the usual ferts in several
ways.

my darling little angora, phoebe von plume that i got from denver dumb
friends league (hi sara!) last year, is is less than 2 years old, and
for one, she seems to be somewhat of a runt. i say 'runt' because
she's less than 2 lbs, where i'd understood that angoras are generally
*huge*, even the females. she's a true angora; cleft-y nose with a
little fur on it and all.

but more to the point, i'm wondering about her body type and some other
anomalous things (compared to usual ferts).

as of recently, i'm noticing she seems to be 'skinny' in her upper
body, as in, i can feel her ribs fairly easily, but conversely she has
a large round, firm pudgy belly, rendering her rather 'pear-shaped'.
considering angoras lack the dense undercoat of typical ferrets and has
only the extra-long guard hairs so there's not as much 'fur'/bulk
between her body and my hand, so also her body-temp also seems a lot
warmer than a usual ferret, almost like a balding adrenal ferret, in
that they seem warmer since there's not so much fur to insulate when
you hold them. she also has lost some of the hairs on her tail and it's
a bit 'ratty' by comparison to the others, but again, there are only
the extra-long guard-hairs. i don't know if any of this is cause for
concern...is she actually 'skinny' or is this normal?

otherwise, behavior-wise, she's fine...eating/drinking/pooping/peeing,
hyper, spazzy, adventurous, pushy about getting treats, all that.
she's high-speed and high-energy about *everything*.

so, does anyone have any insight? is her body-type and all this
what-not 'normal'?

*sigh* am i just over-worrying?

thanks for any insight/reassurance/info...

~sherrie, aka daoine the ferret queen
and burleigh, pandora, ashby, emma-wheee, sebastien, and phoebe von
plume, the fluffiest ferret in the mountains

missing all those over the bridge: felix, pixie-doodle, shay-shay
mcweasel, max, sascha-beanhead, monty-boo, razzle, jezebel, loki,
sylvi, natasha the stranger, and dweezil, my first, my one small
star...

[Posted in FML 7250]