Information
The chinchilla originates from South America and live in the Andes
mountains.
The male chinchilla is known as a buck and the female as a doe - the offspring can be known as kits.
The male chinchilla is known as a buck and the female as a doe - the offspring can be known as kits.
Biological Data
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Health Check
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Breeding
The gestation period lasts around 111 days and is generally to the date.
Because this length is very long the kits are fully furred, their eyes open and
can be running around within the hour after being born. A good weight at birth
is around 50grammes although sometimes more and sometimes less. The average
number of kits is around 1-3 although it has been known for this to increase to
5 or so but in this case the kits would need to be supplemented as the mother
would not have enough milk to feed this many.
Generally you should not breed from the female until she is at least 8-9 months as any younger would mean that she would be at risk from the pregnancy. Saying this the sexual maturity of the chinchilla can be from as little as 3-4 months so it is best to separate mixed litters at this time to stop the female from becoming pregnant at this age and also to stop inbreeding.
When selecting which chinchillas to pair for breeding you have to be careful. The best combination for breeding of mutations is to breed them to a very good standard chinchilla. This means that you have a much better chance of getting healthier offspring. Obviously this means that the mutation colour when being violet or sapphire wont make any of offspring of the same colour as both of these are recessive genes and as such the offspring will be a violet carrier (as shown in fig b1.1). To then get the violet colour back you could breed to another violet or breed to a violet carrier (as shown in fig b1.2).
fig b1.1
fig b1.2
fig b1.3
Generally you should not breed from the female until she is at least 8-9 months as any younger would mean that she would be at risk from the pregnancy. Saying this the sexual maturity of the chinchilla can be from as little as 3-4 months so it is best to separate mixed litters at this time to stop the female from becoming pregnant at this age and also to stop inbreeding.
When selecting which chinchillas to pair for breeding you have to be careful. The best combination for breeding of mutations is to breed them to a very good standard chinchilla. This means that you have a much better chance of getting healthier offspring. Obviously this means that the mutation colour when being violet or sapphire wont make any of offspring of the same colour as both of these are recessive genes and as such the offspring will be a violet carrier (as shown in fig b1.1). To then get the violet colour back you could breed to another violet or breed to a violet carrier (as shown in fig b1.2).
fig b1.1
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fig b1.2
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fig b1.3
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