I will try to answer ( or at least partly answer two posts here as they
are similar.
 
1/Snubnoses ( and other breeding issues)
 
>I am curious, though.  What is the special reason for not breeding with
>any forshortening of the facial bones, or changes in skull shape which I
>guess would be done to make a snub-nosed ferret?
 
Snub-nosed animals suffer from a variety of problems, such as respiratory
problems,difficulty breathing, dry mouth, jaws too small for all their
teeth to fit in, bad eyesight, bad eyes, eyes which do not fit in the
sockets correctly and can often be "popped" out during a fall, or injury,
or in some cases even a bad sneeze, difficulty eating, jawbones which
dislocate easily etc etc etc I can go on and on.... but I think you get
the point..and they are only the "surface" issues, in order to create
such deformities, the line is usually inbred and has a host of other
problems as well.
 
2/ Angoras
 
The Angora ferret was a freak mishap, and a fluke of nature... or if
you like a spontaneous mutation (note: in a SINGLE ferret family),
unfortunately to continue and enhance this genetic fluke the ferrets
would have had to have been inbred with ferrets of the same line in order
to perpetuate the gene responsible..  leading to associated problems
which are always created by inbreeding.... at this point in time there
seems to be enough stock, to reintroduce other ferret lines into the
angora line, in order to strengthen the line and remove any other
problems the line may have (I understand there is a big push on to do
this..)
 
see http://www.ferret-universe.com/angora/index.asp as a starter, but I
am sure someone can point you to a site which lists the problems more
thoroughly
 
Darrin
[Posted in FML issue 4680]