color question

Question
Hi,

I am confused as to the difference between a silver mitt, silver, and a dark eyed white. One of my ferrets, Einstein, is mostly white with black eyes, but also has several silver hairs, mainly on his shoulders and on his tail. Is there such a thing as a silver dark eyed white?  Im not sure whether to call him silver or white since he is not purely either. I got him as a rescue so im not certain of his age- my guess would be about 2-3. Hard to tell with out a picture im sure, but if you could help me out here Id appreciate it. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Sarah:

You've given me a pretty good description of Einstein's markings.  I can give you the general descriptions of each just for your reference, then I'll tell you what I think Einstein is.....

A silver mitt is basically silver on the body, the "mitt" means they have white paws - even one white paws qualifies as being a 'mitt', whatever the other coloring is. There are silver mitts, sable (very dark brown) mitts, chocolate (light brown) mitts...you get the idea.

In white ferrets, there are 'albinos', which are pure white and have red eyes; and there are 'dark eyed whites' that are exactly that :-)

Within the "white" groupings, there are some ferrets (I have one too) that have just a very little bit of some color in their white. These are called "marked whites".

Einstein in a 'marked white'.

Now, for the interesting part....ferrets will often change markings when they change their coats over the seasons.  My now "marked white" USED TO BE a beautiful little dark silver mitt!!  Each and every coat change *can* bring a change in color.  This happens mostly with ferrets who have white on them.  Usually once a sable, always a sable, etc. But those little silvers and marked whites give mom a scare every now and then when you open the cage and think "whose ferret is THAT?"  LOL

There's a great book called FERRETS FOR DUMMIES that has a ton of information for both old and new ferret owners - I consider it a 'necessity' for anyone who has a ferret and I hope you'll consider having a look at it - if not purchasing it, then at the library.   

There is also a ton of ferret information at http://www.ferretcentral.org .   Thanks so much for your question - happy holidays to you and yours!

sincerely,
jacquie rodgers