You asked about breeding in other areas besides the U.S..  I recall a
discussion last year in which problems with color-depleted mates at one
breeder in Australia resulted in much (Think it was most.) of the litter
dying before adulthood.  Cause was never found but multiple vets were
inclined to think it had a strong chance of being a genetic problem.  The
person with whom I was discussing it was not the breeder with the ferrets
(who is not on the FML), but was another (and responsible) breeder who was
trying to get the first to cull that line by neutering to become loved
household ferrets and avoid further suffering.  There was a history of
the same thing happening with different mates in the past at a different
location.  Fancies seem more often to have problems that call for special
considerations.
 
BTW, last I heard, MF, as with any breeder, can wind up with spontaneous
and non-planned fancies but MF had actually chosen to follow the route of
NOT breeding specifically for fancies.  Some other breeders, large and
small, have actually tried for fancies, though.  Most fancies are fine,
of course, and we do and have shared our lives with a number, but it's
a probability thing with the potential for increased risk rates, and
certainly some have additional burdens like deafness which can cause them
problems with the wrong person.
 
We used to have a sweet little girl here who was a problem child for the
first half of her life, then her behavior worked out.  She lived to 6
which was well beyond what was expected for her.  The breeders were
trying for short-faced and long-haired kits.  They got ones with multiple
deformities of both soft and hard tissues, and in Ruffle's case she also
had a marked intellectual handicap.  That did manage to get the short
faces with the luxuriously long and fine, thick fur, though, but at such
a sad cost.  Her breeder was a large one other than MF which has since
changed hands.
 
I recall a very responsible breeder with an absolutely beautiful and
even tempered line who had to take the measure of culling the line with
neutering because heart defects were present in large numbers in the line.
She did the right thing.  Also recall one who didn't do the right thing
who had a line which all got early cataracts.  Both of these were small
breeders.
 
There are private breeders in the States who have European breeding stock,
and I think some with stock from Australia or New Zealand but could be
wrong on that.
[Posted in FML issue 3114]