Colours/Mutations.
(Original images provided by Briennensis Chinchillas and Chinchillas.com)
Contents :
The following descriptions will show that colour is not restricted to the Standard or grey colour. Numerous mutations are available, though it should be noted that it is not wise to breed mutations together as this leads to a weakening of the offspring in terms of size, fur quality and colour. Mutations should always be bred back to a Standard, or a Standard carrying the mutation.
The original colour chinchilla as seen in the wild. This is the foundation of all good breeders herds. Each mutation must be crossed back to a Standard to retain fur strength, conformation of the animal, and size. Never breed mutation to mutation, always back to Standard or to a carrier for that particular mutation.
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Breeding a beige to an ebony produces to tan. This mutation will get stronger each generation the offspring are bred back to another unrelated ebony.
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This
is the result of breeding a beige charcoal cross. Please note that ebony and
charcoal are two different, separate mutations (charcoal is a recessive gene
and ebony is a dominant gene) that should not be crossed at any time. In
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A dominant mutation where the colour gets darker with each generation if the animals are bred to an unrelated ebony chinchilla. The colour should be what could be called a black black, with each fur being a shinny black colour. Colours range from Light, Medium, Dark and Extra Dark Ebony depending on the number of Ebony genes carried by the chinchilla, the more they carry, the darker the chinchilla.
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Unfortunately a very weak mutation, prone to birth defects and a high mortality due to other possible genetic defects linked to this colour.The colour itself is not the cause of the weakness. The high degree of inbreeding required to produce these colours when they first started to appear has had far reaching affects. The colour is a blue/grey, with a white belly. The eyes are dark in colour, sometimes commented on as being blue.
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Royal Blue (homozygous sapphire with heterozygous black velvet)
A sapphire chinchilla carrying the black velvet mutation. Note the dark paw spats on the front legs, and the darker fur covering the face, neck, shoulders, and back all the way down the tail. The darker fur extends down the sides of the chinchilla, fading as it nears the belly. The belly itself should be white.
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From light cream to dark beige in colour, with pink/red
eyes. Sometimes known as
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Very light cream colour, verging on having a pink tinge. The eyes are pale pink in colour and the iris appears white, faintly. Also known as Blonde.
Note the dark ears and black eyes. May have greater or lesser coverage of black guard hairs to the animal shown below. Depending on the coverage, sometimes referred to as Mosaic or Silver.
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Note the differences between the Wilson White above, and the Pink White. The pink white has pink eyes, and the ears are pink. Beige patches of colouration often seen.
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A recessive mutation, producing a purple/grey colour with a white belly and dark colouration to the ears. Carriers for this recessive gene show no violet colouration.
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The result of crossing violet lines with ebony. The ebony mutation enables the violet colour to wrap around the entire body of the chinchilla. Unfortunately to produce this colour involves crossing two mutations, this can result in a smaller animal with weaker fur quality and poor body shape or conformation.
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Ultraviolet (homozygous violet and heterozygous black velvet)
The velvet gene produces darker fur over the face, neck, shoulders and back as you would see in a black velvet. The chinchilla will also have the characteristic paw spats on it's front legs.
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This is a rather novel twist to the violet mutation. The carrier for the violet gene in this case is a beige. The chins have a strange beige/violet colour coat that seems to change colour depending on the lighting and the angle the chinchilla is viewed. The fur is often very soft in texture.
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Black Velvet (Standard/ Black Velvet)
Also known as Touch of Velvet (TOV). The black covers the face, neck, shoulders and back all the way to the tip of the tail. It pales over the sides producing a white belly. The fur should be black it's entire length to be classified as mutant fur, not just a dark Standard. Note the black fur spats, these will be visible in all colours carrying this mutation.
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Brown Velvet (Beige/ Black Velvet)
This is a beige black velvet, with the fur across the face, neck, back and shoulders being a darker brown than the rest of the body fur. Once again paw spats are visible as with all chinchillas carrying the velvet mutation.
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