FYI: I do not breed ferrets. There seemed to be an assumption that I do since I discussed being careful about genetic problems. Instead, I have an educational background with a large amount of classical genetics, and Steve and I have a history of taking in ferrets with malformations. BTW, a fun place to learn about some genetic considerations for ferrets is <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ferret-Genetics/> Everyone should read about possible common health problems BEFORE they occur when possible, and if a ferret has neural crest genetic variant markings then it should be realized that there are increased RATES of certain illnesses (cardiomyopathy, esp. the harder to find hypertrophic type, malignancies, deafness, mandibular malformations, innervation problems esp. of the intestine, etc.) with some of the causes of neural crest variants in mammals and some other things are under study because they too may be affected, including several urinary tract conditions. So, for blazes, panda heads, ferrets with incomplete, non-bilateral, or unevenly margined mitts or bibs, or extraneous white body spotting do save more for medical care and start the older age 6 month exams and testing at a younger age. (There may be melanistic (extraneous dark spotting) in some overly bred mustelids -- going from what one European farm had on a website -- but that is very rare at this poiint.) Hope that I made enough sense; I appear to be finishing up a bug with high fevers so I am not necessarily saying things well at all. If questions remain, please, DO go to the F-G site mentioned above. -- Sukie (not a vet) Ferret Health List co-moderator http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth FHL Archives fan http://ferrethealth.org/archive/ replacing http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org International Ferret Congress advisor http://www.ferretcongress.org [Posted in FML issue 5127]