Black Velvet question

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Godins Chinchillas

Godin's Chinchillas
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
1,389
Location
Albany, NY
Do any of the breeders find their black babies born with grey bellies stay grey or as they mature do turn white. I've had 2 black males born recently that had grey bellies but now they look like they are approving. Both of these kits are from really good lines so I half expected them to be born with nicer bellies than what they were. Should I hang onto these boys and see what happens? My last black was born with a nice white belly-maybe I shouldn't base it on her-but that is what I was expecting.

What are your thoughts?

Jessica
 
I've had black kits born with grey bellies (NOT from my eb lines!) improve a bit as they matured, but never get as white as kits born with nice white bellies. Some of the kits with nice white bellies have gone through a phase prior to weaning where they looked like they were getting dirtier, but they grew out of it pretty quickly. I don't have the space to keep males who still look questionable at 4 months, so I can't say how much the grey bellied kits might have brightened after that.

I hope others have more definitive answers! :)
 
I've also had two born this year that I've wondered about. My first was a black velvet v/c female. When she was born, her belly was hideous. Now, it's crystal clear at 4 months old. I have black male that was born back in April that seems to still have a really dirty belly and I have no clue where it's coming from. I checked back 6 generations on one side and 8 generations on the other.. absolutely no ebonies that could be found. His lines are amazing and I hope that he improves as he ages. I plan to keep him at least until he's 6 months just in case. I didn't notice a difference in the v/c's belly until after I had weaned her, so I'm hoping that when I wean this guy his belly will brighten/whiten. If the dam produces another kit with a dirty belly that doesn't improve, she'll be going with another male.
 
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I've had standards that have grey bellies that turn completely white, and some that are born with them completely white. I'd give it some time and see what happens!
 
I had 2 check my bv that were born on Sunday. They both have white bellies and their feet are really white. I would just give them time. I had to look at their older sister that was born 02/08/10 she has a white belly.
 
Blacks' fur changes as they grow out and mature. I don't think you can determine belly color for sure until the chin is 8 or 9 months old.

Often blacks are born without a lot of veiling. As the chin grows veiling can increase a great deal. Occasionally as a black grows it developes brown veiling on its' forehead. The brown veiling normally goes away when the adult fur is grown. I have attached a photo of a TOV white mosaic chin who has the brown veiling forehead triangle that went away as he grew out.

People have regretted selling ugly young chins with poor veiling or fur only to find out that the chin's adult fur was outstanding. Just my thoughts.
 

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I had one black born with a white belly and by about day two it was grey. At four months is was horribly grey and I was set on selling him. I hung onto him for the next show where I planned on selling him. He was about 7 months old and his belly had whitened out a lot. It still wasn't a super crisp white belly but he took class champion. We found that it wasn't grey tipping on the belly, his problem is that the white tip on his belly is not as long as it can be but there is no grey tipping. Six to seven months is a long time to hold onto a chin though...
 
Thanks-that helps out alot. Blacks are my favorite and even though I do not need a black male I think I will hang unto them until show season.

Jessica
 
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