Opinions on coloring of my new baby boy?

bacidolci8 · Mar 28, 2013

I just got home with this new baby boy. I have been looking for a male under a year old for a few months now, was unsure if I wanted another (yes, I have researched the pros and cons of trying to introduce 2 chins as cage mates and the fact that it is normally discouraged and sometimes unsuccessful) but I decided I really wanted another even if it meant getting another cage. I decided I definitely wanted a boy because I do not want to breed and I thought it would be nice to get a color other than grey but I didn't really care as long as he was healthy. I was open to adopting rescues, or breeders... but after searching and searching I realized my options were very limited for chinchillas in my area, never mind finding a young, male, mutations... Everything I kept finding was female. FINALLY I found one on craigslist, in New Hampshire (2 hours away). A 3 month old boy.

The first picture is the one posted on craigslist in the add, the second is him on the counter when I went to pick him up, and the 3rd are his parents I thankfully got to meet and take a picture of. Before picking him up I emailed with the person selling him and after asking some info I found out they are a small "mom & pop" petstore, and I asked what color his parents were because he looks very light and they told me his dad was white and his mom was grey, I was confused because in the pic the baby did not look white nor grey and that is the only options of the parents that were described to me...so I wasn't sure what he actually was and chalked it up to possible lighting from the camera phone.

After getting to the pet store I was pretty excited to see what I'm sure you can see in the picture in that the mom if definitely not a standard grey. The parents were the only 2 chins they had besides my little one. They said they just got the dad (white) recently and have had the mom for approx. 2 years.

I'm not very savvy on mutations, but enough to know that the mom is not a standard grey. Anyone with more wisdom willing to share any opinions or info based on my pictures I would highly appreciate it.

bacidolci8 · Mar 28, 2013

Maybe I over-explained things, sorry, I tend to do that lol

Basket_of_Chinchillas · Mar 28, 2013

Mom looks tan or beige based on the ear freckling....not great with identifying mutations based on pics though so I'm sure someone else can provide a better answer

halfstache · Mar 28, 2013

The white male that is the father is a pink white. The mother looks like a tan from what I can see in the pictures since the belly appears to be dark, although it is possible that she is a beige and the white isn't showing well due to lighting issues with the picture. Either way, the baby is hard to tell for sure because I can't see his whole body in the picture, but I think he might be a mosaic with either beige or tan, unless I'm seeing it wrong. When I look really close it looks like there is some white on his face, but again that could just be lighting. Could we get another picture? That'd really help.

Kylelemler · Mar 28, 2013

Looks like a beige or a tan (beige wrap) to me. Congrats on your new chinchilla!

bacidolci8 · Mar 28, 2013

The first photo is right after I gave him a dust bath to he is kind of antiqued looking haha, I'm going to attach a few more in another post... its hard because he is so fidgety.

bacidolci8 · Mar 28, 2013

It's hard because the lighting appears different in all the pictures but I tried my best. The last pic is the only other one I got of his mother.

bacidolci8 · Mar 28, 2013

This is Louie my other chin. He is a doll, my favorite it the first one of him sleeping in his hammock... he ALWAYS does it with his head hanging off like that.

bacidolci8 · Mar 28, 2013

Also from what I saw from the mom she didn't appear to have a white belly, she looked like the same color as her top (she stood up and barked at me when I picked up her kit). It was very dim lighting in the room they were in though as you might be able to gather from the pics.

bacidolci8 · Mar 28, 2013

The last picture is the only other one I got of his mother.

halfstache · Mar 28, 2013

well that makes the mother a tan for sure, and the baby is definitely either a beige or a tan. if the belly is white then it is a beige, and if the belly is the same color as the back and sides, then its a tan.