Some alleles can actually be useful to have in a single copy even if they are dangerous in double form. There are among humans some dangerous and even fatal genetic conditions with certain double helpings of a specific allele, but those with just a single copy have a benefit such as a markedly reduced chance of contracting some fatal diseases which are or have been common to their areas. I have no idea if there is such a benefit to the KITT or WS ones and can't recall hearing of such, but that doesn't mean that there might not at some point be for one for some variants. -- Ears which require cleaning once a week or more or smell bad may have mites or fungal infection so it would be a good idea to see the vet. BTW, behind and little bit down from the ears are glands which have scent. Ferrets "face-wash" to distribute that over their faces. Many are very private about this but some share the activity with their humans. Some of them will hold their noses to make themselves sneeze hard to help dislodge the scent. We found this very common in a few who were prone to having their scent glands plug so we got to used to dislodging the plugs to help those individuals. Rubbing or a warm water on a wash cloth can help when that happens. The ones who like to hold their noses to make themselves sneeze can very easily be taught to use a handkerchief. Years ago more people looked down on ferrets and at times we'd have someone snooty in the vet's waiting area act that way, so we'd ignore them and pull out a handkerchief, then with concern we'd ask the ferret, "Want to blow your nose?" and the ferret would use the handkerchief. It really shut those people up fast. -- No one really has real figures on this, but there are a lot of reports and things known from other species. My inclination would be to do things like starting the older age twice a year exams and tests at a younger age, and to read up on what others have mentioned that they have encountered, like the jaw malformation some have mentioned and so on. The archives of ferret-genetics at Yahoogroups and those of the FML and the FHL (Complete Archives at sonic-weasel.) are good places to start. It sounds like that ferret may have both alleles leading to pigment reduction over-all and one of the neural crest disorders such as KITT or WS which lead to panda heads, so I'd personally be a bit extra vigilant just to be safest with the individual, I think, in case the combination may have unforeseen results. -- I am curious; has anyone kept records on health and longevity based on size in ferrets? Certainly, there have been breeders who have introduced or used breeders who are unusually large. What numbers do you who breed them have on health aspects and on longevity? -- There was a small, private breeder with a marked white line who was running into marvelous results for the first generation on longevity and health, but i lost track of who that is. Are you here? If so, what are the health and longevity numbers looking like now? I know that you wanted to track 3 generations. How is it going? [Posted in FML issue 4065]