One of the many things that make chinchillas very interesting, is the variety of chinchilla colors. As a pet owner, you have the privilege to choose from more than a dozen of colors. If you have your own pair, you can even breed chinchillas, with full control of what color they will have. With adequate breeding knowledge and chinchilla care, you can have baby chinchillas of your own with its colors exactly as you want them.
The Standard Formula
Standard is the color referred to the original or natural color of chinchillas. Standard chinchillas are generally hard to find, as most types sold in stores have been crossbred in one way or another. Most standard types are already mutated and are therefore produced by mutated parents.
To produce a standard color, breeding is not the answer. There are still stores that sell standard chinchillas. This will require a fair amount of research in your part.
The Ebony Formula
Ebony chinchillas are characterized by grey hues ranging from light gray to solid black. There are two ways to produce them: heterozygous and homozygous. To have heterozygous ebony chinchilla, one parent must bear the ebony gene. The kits will possess a grey hue of coat with a lighter color of its belly.
A homozygous ebony chinchilla can be produced by breeding two ebony chinchillas that are not mutated. As compared to the heterozygous type, the kit's coat will bear the same shade of gray, including its belly.
The Charcoal Formula
Ebony chinchillas are usually mistaken for the charcoal hue. What spells the difference between the ebony and charcoal hues is that the former has matte texture, whereas the latter has a glossy sheen texture. Charcoal chinchillas have a somewhat jagged texture and uneven color tone about its coat.
To produce a charcoal chinchilla, both parents must possess the charcoal gene. Heterozygous chinchillas result from one or two heterozygous charcoal chinchillas, while homozygous chinchillas come from a pair of homozygous charcoal chinchillas.
Charcoal chinchillas can also be bred with other colors to produce chinchillas with black velvet and charbrown color. Black velvet chinchillas have a full coat of charcoal with a clear white belly and shades of blue. Charbrown chinchillas, on the other hand, are a combination of charcoal and brown parents.
The Beige Formula
Another chinchilla color that can be bred both in a heterozygous and homozygous way is the beige color. For a homozygous beige chinchilla, two beige parents that have not been mutated are required. It differs from a heterozygous beige in that it has bright eyes and pink ears. A heterozygous beige chinchilla likewise requires only one beige gene. This type has red eyes and freckled ears. Both beige types have a white belly with blue hues across.
If crossbred with a black velvet chinchilla, a brown velvet type will be produced. Crossbreeding with a violet chinchilla will result in a pearl variety.
There are many other unusual colors-sullivan, tan and pastel, gold bard, blue diamond, white to name a few. If you are just about to begin a hobby of breeding chinchillas, you best start with the basic chinchilla colors.
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