It's not just a question on buying from a private breeder. It is also,
as Joan stated, buying from a breeder that has tried to breed correctly
for the health of their ferrets and not just for color or looks that
win in a show ring. It's a vicious cycle, a breeder comes up with a
type or/and color that wins, others see this and then want the same
thing, breeders keep inbreeding for that look as that is what sells. In
my humble opinion, it is not just genetics (I was extremely interested
in the comment from the author of the stated genetics book) but also
what lineage a breeder keeps adding into their stock. If a known defect
becomes apparent and the breeder, and others with those lines, keep
adding the same lines back into their stock just to get that special,
blue ribbon look, then that is wrong. ** Breeding closely with proven
healthy lines is not a problem. Breeding ferrets correctly can be
extremely difficult at times due to the limited genetic pool especially
in the US. So, when thinking of buying a privately bred ferret research
the lines. Ask for the pedigree, look at how many ferrets appear
repeatedly and how close. Think about the color, is it something that
is a natural color or pattern that has been around for say 20 years or
is it something that has been produced in the last ten years by many
generations of inbreeding to get it. Go to public forums and ask
questions about the breeders lines and others experiences. A quality
breeder will be more than willing to spend time answering your
questions and providing information. Some will say the only healthy
ferret is a sable (not a black) and I disagree with that. While sables
are the natural color (as well as albino) other colors can be healthy
as long as the generations of the offspring have been proven as such
and the cross breeding has been done correctly.

Nancy Park
FerrettownUSA.com
Ferretown.com

"There is no objective truth, only the truth that's established by
power' Michael Crichton

[Posted in FML 7431]