Variability and Inheritance of Ferret Hair Color
Ferrets belong to the family of Mustelidae and to a genus of ferrets (Mustela). In fur farming, ferrets created by crossing of a wild black ferret and domesticated furo are bred. It inherited the coloring of the hairline like the black ferret had and calm temper and good maternal qualities like the furo. In the early years, both furo and hybrid ferrets were used for cage-keeping breeding. At the present time, furo are practically not diluted due to a pronounced yellow tint of color. In the herd of any farm that breeds ferrets, you can find individuals with hair color ranging from light cream to bright orange with gradual transitions. To evaluate the overall color, animals with orange underfur of varying intensity were referred to golden type and animals with a light cream with an ash-gray undertone of underfur were referred to the pearl group. The overall color of pastel ferrets varies from light brown to brown (chocolate). White ferrets are typical albinos with a white or yellow-white hair. As a result of research, it has been established that ferrets of the pearly and golden types of coloring have one main coloring genotype, and the severity of pearl and golden hues is due to polygenes. The gene causing pastel coloration is the allele of the white gene and it dominates white gene, but the dominance is incomplete: homozygous pastel ferrets significantly differ from heterozygous in darker hair color. The silver color of ferrets is due to polygenes. Ferrets with high spotting are dominant homozygotes, and with low spotting they are heterozygotes.