The Chinchilla Villa *Genetics 101*

By now everyone has seen the standard gray chinchillas for sale at local pet stores nationwide. Standard grays are well… standard. Chances are that you’ve also seen a wide array of colors of chinchillas. If you have stopped and wondered, "How do you make those?" then you are in the right place! The first step is to learn as much as you can about genetics. It is crucial that you are informed about genetics before you begin breeding chinchillas (or any type of animal). It will save you a great deal of time, money, and in some cases, your chin’s life! This page is a tutorial on how to determine what will happen when you breed certain colors of chinchillas together.

* BASE COLORS *

Standard Gray

Beige (Hetero)
[Beige + Standard]

Homo Beige
[Beige + Beige]

White*

TOV (Touch of Velvet)

Ebony

Violet

Sapphire

Charcoal

Unlike other species, a majority of chinchilla colors can be passed on in one generation. For instance, if you breed a Beige (Hetero) to a standard gray, statistically half the babies born will be Beige and the other half will be standard gray. The Beige gene offers an extra feature that the other colors don’t. When you breed two Beiges together, not only will you produce Beige babies, you also have a 25% chance of producing a super bright beige chinchilla – a Homo Beige. {Note: You also have a 25% chance of producing a standard gray.}

When a Homo Beige is bred to a standard gray all the babies will be Beige. If you breed a Homo Beige to a Beige statistically half the babies will be Beige and the other half will be Homo Beige! AND, if you breed two Homo Beiges together, ALL of the babies will be Homo Beige!!

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The color White and the pattern/color mutation Black Velvet, also called TOV (touch of velvet) can also be passed on in one generation too. However, if you breed a White to a White or a TOV to a TOV, there's a 25% chance that you'll get the homozygous version of these genes and they’re lethal. The baby will die before birth, and that could kill the mother.

DON'T BREED a WHITE TO A WHITE or a TOV TO A TOV!!

An interesting thing about the White gene is that it can express itself (when combined with the standard gray) as White Mosaic or as White Silver. While it is the same gene, the expression of White Mosaic and White Silver are very distinguishable. With the Mosaic the gray areas are distinct while the Silver is more uniform and spread evenly over the whole body. Two genes for the price of one!

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Now Ebony is a different story. It's still unclear as to how exactly this gene is passed on, but it does show up in the first generation. The Ebony gene darkens the color of the chinchilla. The more you breed the Ebony gene to a chinchilla family that has the Ebony gene present, the darker the offspring can get. It also makes other colors darker when mixed together, like Beige. With this gene it's a mystery as to how dark the babies can get, but with the right roll of the genetics dice, you can end up with a really cool looking baby chinny!

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Violet, Sapphire, and Charcoal are recessive genes. For instance, if you wanted to get Violets in your first generation, you'd have to breed two Violets together and all the babies will be Violet. However, if you breed a Violet to a standard gray, all of the babies will be standard gray but they will CARRY the gene for Violet. Violet carriers when bred together will have a 25% chance of producing a Violet. Also, if you breed a Violet Carrier to a Violet, statistically half the babies will be Violet and the other half will just be Violet Carriers (standard gray).

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Now you know all the base color and pattern mutations chinchillas can have and how they're passed along. It takes a certain amount of brainpower to keep it all straight! Just keeping track of one gene can be confusing enough without knowing how and why genes work. Crossing them can be downright mind-numbing when trying to figure out all the possible outcomes and percentages when you breed a TOV Beige Ebony to a Pink White. There are multiplication tables that some sites offer to show you what happens, but they still don't teach how or why.

We will be offering a great online tutorial called "Advanced Chinchilla Genetics" soon! It's an easy to follow, step-by-step guide showing you how to determine what your chinchilla is and what it can produce when bred to any color chinchilla. You can even find out why you have blue eyes and your brother has brown eyes, or what color eyes your children will have! By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to figure out all by yourself exactly what will happen if you breed a TOV Beige Ebony to a Pink White, and plan your breeding projects accordingly (so you know what you should and shouldn't buy).