Chinchilla Genetics questions

Hi Everyone!

I am a newbie and a new chin owner. I have a real passion for genetics and I am very keen to learn about chin colour genetics.

That said, I am very confused as to what Felix (my chinnie) is...

His mom is a Brown Velvet (I think). She is from www.chinchillas.com, They say that she is het tower beige and het gunning black velvet and that she can make pink whites.

His dad is a VERY dark Ebony, I am assuming he is homozygous.

I ran an offspring projection thing (Silverfall's one)...but I am a bit confused about the result, firstly, there is no "het white" or white carrier option.

Anywho...the chances of my boy being just a beige (what I bought him as) are like 1.03% or something. Added to this, he does not have a white belly...it is grey... I just read on another website that sometimes het ebony's have grey bellies... His belly is the same colour as his lower sides, he gets progressively darker as you get closer to the top of his back. I would describe his colour as grey rather than brown or beige...

I know I should wait until he has his adult colours but heck, I am impatient! lol I love him so much, I would really like to know what he is. lol

Speculate away guys!!! :hilarious:

A beige and a black velvet cannot create a white, nor can it "carry" white. White is not a recessive, as far as I know, except in one specific strain and they are aptly named "recessive whites." As far as the belly, that's because the dad is an eb. It's referred to as a dirty belly. It just means the ebony is showing through and the belly isn't crisp white. It's why many people prefer to keep their ebs with ebs, so as to not ruin the bellies.

Your guy is a brown velvet. I've seen his pictures and he's a cutie.

Yep, Tunes seemed to have covered it! No way they can produce a white.

The .com say can produce pink white because she is beige. That means if you breed her to a mosaic she can produce pink white not that she carries it. They say that with a lot of the mutation colors, but you have to pair it with the other mutation to get it. It is the same thing as me saying she can produce tans. She can, but she has to be paired with a ebony.

Yes Bethany
If you pair your brown velvet with a mosaic or a pink white, you can get a pink white offspring.
White is a dominent genotype. Therefore, white does not "carry" like a recessive would.

Now, about the dark belly. As Tunes stated, it just shows ebony in the heritage. Ebony DOES carry, so you can breed a "wrap" if you'd like. Keep in mind, the dirty belly is not usually a desired trait unless it's specifically bred for a wrap.

Enjoy your new chin!

If he was sold to you as a brown velvet, you could also have a TOV tan. That would account for the belly being the same as the sides!
Take him by a window to see if there's a "brown tinge" in the sunlight, as sometimes indoor lighting can throw you off.

Chinniechantel said:

Yep, Tunes seemed to have covered it! No way they can produce a white.

Click to expand...

Unless, of course, you breed her with a white.

minrex said:

Unless, of course, you breed her with a white.

Click to expand...

See, yes, true, but it is just silly to explain it that way, IMO. Yes, it can produce anything it is paired with that is dominant, but that could easily be confusing to new breeders.

chinchilla.com advertise it like that. That way if they had a standard violet carrier they would say something like use to produce highly desirable violets, violet wrap, white violets or TOV violets and it isn't as plain sounding as standard v/c.

It is confusing to new owners, but if you want to breed then you should have at least a basic understanding of color genetics. I understand the OP wanting to know the color genetics as color genetics fascinate me as well, but that website will not help you learn them.

He was sold to me as a Beige that was possibly TOV... I think he is...and he still looks more grey to me than brown.... but I will have a look at him in natural light. lol

Thanks everyone! I am really enjoying learning!! lol

I understand what you mean by "she could produce pink whites"... makes sense to me.

Well, I hauled him out of his hammock (I had to clean his cage anyway) and had a good look at him in natural light.

He doesn't have a brown tinge that I can see, he's grey. lol And his belly is light grey but if you move the hairs apart, the hair is darker (just a bit) closer to his skin. lol

If they said she is a beige, she should be a beige, I would hope! I do see a lot of people that think their beige is a standard, and mistake the beige for grey, but I don't think we can be sure without pictures ;-)

http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6139

There are some pics of the cutie in that thread. He's adorable!

He's beige Meg. Unless his tummy is the same color going all the way around his back (which would make him a tan), he's a beige.

I don't know why, but I was thinking the mom was him when you showed me her picture in chat. Senility is just terrible in one so young............

Yup, definitely a beige. Super adorable! I know right now he appears to be a grayish color, but there is a big difference between beige and standard...

Here is a heterozygous beige at birth...


And here she is a few months later...


This is my Male Beige...he is Homozygous...(excuse the glowing eyes...haha)


Now compare the beiges to my standard and you can see the clear difference


I'm thinking Felix will probably change a bit in color as he grows...just keep watching him and take a monthly picture to see if there is any change. You might not notice it seeing as you see him daily.

Chinniechantel said:

See, yes, true, but it is just silly to explain it that way, IMO. Yes, it can produce anything it is paired with that is dominant, but that could easily be confusing to new breeders.

Click to expand...

Personally, I don't think it makes sense to say that there is absolutely no way an animal can produce a certain color when clearly there IS a way they can. (I don't think someone should advertise, say, a standard as a "white carrier" or something, just because if bred to a white it can produce whites, but saying that there is no way at all that a standard can produce whites is equally silly, in my opinion.) If someone is confused by a statement, they should look into it further and try to learn why that statement was made. I don't like dumbing things down to the point where statements are made which are just not true.