Waardenburg head vs regular head

[Deleted]

Was there a thread at one point that had pictures of Waardenburg heads to compare to regular heads? Or can we start one? Post a picture of a waardenburg head and describe what makes it different then a regular ferret head. I'm trying to 'get the picture' but despite people describing it to me, I need pictures that are specific. Thank you!

[abcdevonn]

It's funny that you asked this because I was just looking through a thread on the old HF proboard about Waardenburg ferts. Here is the link: www.holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talking&action=display&thread=6082&page
I am not sure if there is a thread on the new forum or not.

[abcdevonn]

Oops sorry, here is the correct link: www.holisticferret.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talking&action=display&thread=6082&page=1

[Deleted]

Good luck spotting the difference. Some on this forum are really good at spotting a Waardy head, but I myself have never really mastered it ;D

However, there ARE some Waardies who have the "look" where it's SO obvious that even I can easily tell! ;D But some are more subtle and I can't tell for sure. I'm glad some people on the forum are good at distinguishing!

[Deleted]

I have a waardy chart on my website but it does not have comparisons. that is a good idea though!
Ferretspatternu.ucoz.com
copy and paste and go to the bottom of the page when you get there. it shows signs

[Deleted]

Thanks! So if anyone has a good pic of a waardie, please post it. It can help us learn to have a lot of examples.

[Deleted]

i actually JUST edited my page(put in pictures of my non waardy babies) but it's a little messy. i have to make it look more even.
I will try to find some of my pictures of him. there is a good chart on the website i gave you but i do like having it on here maybe once it is finished we can sticky it.

[Deleted]

Well, I'm not sure if my Chelly is a wardie but I think she is. She's either deaf or nearly deaf, super super human friendly/cuddly, not very good with the rest of the business, in some ways she's kind of slow. She's a panda with a blaze. And her head, it's wider than every other ferret's except for Murder's because he has a large frame. And it just seems "weird". She also has the sweet face thing people have mentioned, lol.

Decide for yourself:







And because we all love it

[sherik]

This is Shady... I'm sure she is a wardy

[Deleted]

To my still somewhat untrained eye I think both Chelly and Shady look like Waardies.

What about this guy, does he look like a Waardy? I am never sure whether he is or not, because he has the white neural crest marking (partial blaze) and he IS deaf. Just not sure if he's a Waardy. Maybe a more mild case of it?


P1010389 by walkerstop, on Flickr


DSC_0178 by walkerstop, on Flickr


DSC_0162 by walkerstop, on Flickr

[Sherry]

It would help if there was one of him looking directly at the camera.

[Heather]

Note the flattened skull, the eye position, the markings....they're the signs you're looking for. Colour is not always a key but the markings are. Yes, those photos are of possible Waardenburg or neural crest ferrets. Sometimes, it's easy to spot:




It's not the width of the ferret's head that is your key, otherwise you will mistake a bulldog head for a Waardie and that's incorrect but the shape, where the eyes are positioned on the head, how the ears are placed. Sometimes, it's subtle, sometimes it shows itself as a behavioural issue. It's a genetic abnormality, it's in almost all the farm ferrets and maybe even some of the breeder's stock too. The problem is the breeding for fancy colours, dilutes and markings like the panda, blaze, milk toes, bibs. Almost all the mutts will be Waardies. Unfortunately, as you will note...Thor the second pic is a breeder's ferret and a classic Waardie, with all the physical attributes (almost dwarf stature too but you can't see that in the photo) except his colouring. He was a dark sable or poley. The only tell tale colouring was the electic flash on his chest.
ciao

[Deleted]

All of the above ferrets look Waardy to me. Like Heather said, it's not the width of the head, but the flatness of the skull, shape and location of the eyes, and position of the ears on the head. they also are known to have a really sweet face or look like a kit(short face).
This is Handsome Rob, he was my waardy baby
He was deaf as a post, had a kit face, short body and tail, dot on the end of the tail, large head in comparison to body, and he was a Panda(at one point his head was completely white, but we think that he used to be a light blaze)


Here you can see the flatness of his head

White tipped tail

Panda head(or otherwise white markings on the head)

You can see that his ears are not as in line with his eyes as some more normal ferrets

This one shows his waardy face pretty well. he was so sick he didn't look happy in those last pictures. the ones of him in the box are all between day 1 and 4 of him being sick. before PTS [img src="http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h352/JW_2012/Emoticons/T_T.png"].png[/IMG]

They sleep in odd positions, often with their heads hanging or on their backs




I have always wondered if Stiv was waardy. he shows some classic signs but he's not deaf, he stands up on command and is one of my smarter ferrets.
Either way, here are pictures. he's adorable!


Milk toes, white chest lock, wide face. AND adorable

[nancyl]

Hoss. Definite Waardensburg. Odd shaped head, strange eye & ear set, panda, irregular splotchy markings on the belly, extremely short tail. He was NOT deaf, but was truly dumb as a post. He had probable neurogenic bladder. He never knew when he was peeing or when he wasn't so he'd just wander off while still urinating and so had a constant wet belly. He got lots of partial baths. He was a Real Canadian ferret and was a big boy, almost 4 lbs.

[Sherry]

Definitely WS, but adorable.