# California Chinchillas



## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

When I discovered some chinchillas a few weeks ago, several of you expressed interest in them. To keep everyone updated, here's this topic!

First up are Anna and Charles, named after a couple of my favorite werewolves! Anna will have a permanent home with me, I saw her through the pet glass window and instantly fell in love. I used to dislike long-haired because it looked so messy and unkempt.... and then I met Charles, who has the best teddy bear face! No one wanted to really show their faces this morning, so I couldn't get a shot of his teddy bear look. These are true chinchillas, with the white belly. They've been together for a couple weeks now, so hopefully Anna is pregnant. She's not showing yet, but I hope!


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Next are 2 does I've been calling Marry and Poppins! You can't see it, but Poppins has a white banded tail, and Mary had a solid tail, which is how I tell them apart. I'll probably be putting one or both of these girls to Charles some time this week, depending on how many other litters I have and how chaotic it gets... in the process of building an outdoor shed for my meece!


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

Very cool looking mice! Are you going to select for pied or selves?


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

I picked up this girl the weekend, so she's still in quarantine. I don't have a name for her yet, I'm open for suggestions!


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Lastly is Tiny, who is in with Marlowe, the English-type agouti with her, in an attempt to insert some type into them. I know Marlowe has his sides sucked in, it was cold when I put him down and he didn't like it! :lol: I call this girl tiny because when I first got her she was the smallest of the 4 I picked up, but she's doubled in size since then. So far she doesn't look pregnant, but Marlowe is a very young buck.


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Umm, they're all selves, but I wouldn't say no if they carry some pied in them. I just barely picked up this variety 3 weeks ago, so I haven't quite defined my goals yet.


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

Second photo from the top shows a blazed face; one of those is piebald. They all look lovely, and I wish you the best of luck on getting oodles more.


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

oh yeah, I didn't even think of Anna's blaze! :lol: I'll think about it!


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## sys15 (Nov 26, 2011)

beautiful. here's hoping for pregnancies sooner rather than later!


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

They are so pretty! Did you find them all in one place?


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

I found.... Mary and Poppins at a store somewhere between LA and San Diego... I was returning from a meeting 3 weeks ago and saw the pet sign from the freeway, so I got off and went to look see. But I have no idea where... If it wasn't for my GPS, I'd still be looking for home! Two days later I found Tiny, Anna and Charles at my local store. Just a couple days ago, I found my new girl, also in my local store.

My local store also had an angora chinchilla buck that looks like Charles' brother... Given all the interest in the chins, I might go back tomorrow and see if he's still there! :lol:


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

For those interested in chinchillas, this morning I took Anna and Tiny out from their boyfriends and them in a bin with the other chin girls, and put Poppins with Charles this morning... Here's hoping for many chin babies! Well, actually only Anna and Charles are chinchilla, the others are silver agouti, but it's the same gene, so I call them all chins! :nar

Since I'm very new to this type, can anyone tell me what standards I should be working toward? I already know about type, I mean the specific standards for the chin/silver agouti color...


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Well, I don't know if you'll think it relevent, but these are the NMC standards:

Silver agouti: Eye Black. This variety is like the normal or Golden Agouti except the golden brown pigment is replaced by silvery grey. Colour to be bright silvery grey evenly ticked with black. Undercolour deep slate. Belly to be silvery grey, as close as possible to the top. Feet to match top.
Certificate 1969: B Makin
(Just as an interesting point, silver agoutis are shown in the agouti class, unless "golden agouti" is specified.)

Chinchilla: Eye black. The mouse shall be as near as possible to the colour of a Chinchilla with slate-blue undercolour and intermediate shade of pearl grey. Hairs to be evenly tipped with black. Colour of feet on inside white, with remainder of foot the same colour as body - as in the standard for Tans. Belly white.
Certificate 1933: Dr J N Pickard

You are aiming for a really clear metallic effect with no hint of brown in it at all. As with all agoutis, there is the umbrous dorsal stripe to steer clear of, you want the ticking to be completely even all over.

Congratulations on your find!


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Cool thanks for the standards!


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Rejoice! One of the does is pregnant, earliest due date is 3/3. Unfortunately, 2 of the silver agouti does have come down with ear infection/mites, which I'm in the process of treating. They have been set aside in quarantine, but I have 3 other silver agouti does that are still health and viable for breeding. Tomorrow I'll put one with Charles, and keep going from there!


















Hmm... I didn't notice that bald patch on her shoulder when I was taking the pictures I think it's just the way she was holding herself, but I'll be treating everyone, don't worry!

I'll probably keep only one or two of the boys from this litter, once they're born. I have so many does, I plan to have lots of litters for those who want the chinchilla gene!


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## sys15 (Nov 26, 2011)

autumn, thanks for the update. i'm keeping my fingers crossed.


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

No problem, another doe put with the buck today!


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

New babies are here! 13 of them, 5g, 8b. I culled 3 boys so now we have 5g 5b. Interestingly, 3 of the babies are PE! You can see them on the left. What could cause that? Both parents are silver agouti/chinchilla. Would cch/c still look like chin/SilAg but pass on PEW? Or maybe they're p/p? What would a pink-eye chin/SilAg look like?


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## Shadowrunner (Sep 26, 2011)

*squee* 
Cute little babies. Can't wait to see how they progress.<3


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## Laigaie (Mar 7, 2011)

So many babies! One hopes you'll get all the mice you're wanting, with that many babies!


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Well, got a mixed bag of news, good and bad. On the bad side, the mom of the first litter (shown as pinks above) died when they were 19 days old. Their eyes were open and they were eating solid food, so I had hope. I fed them oatmeal, KMR and peanut butter as supplements, but after a couple days it was obvious they weren't doing too good. I split up the litter and managed to foster them all with moms that had babies a few days older or younger than them. Most perked up right away, but the pink eyed boy is half the size of the others... I'll probably have to cull him.

But the three silver agouti girls (one is long haired) and the 2 silver agouti boys (one longhair) are all doing well. There is also a long haired black tan girl and a white pink eyed girl (but not a pew... I'm thinking maybe himalayan, and her points just haven't come in yet?) that are also doing well.

Another silver agouti doe gave birth, she was with the chinchilla buck, but unfortunately several of her babies were born dead, and ants swarmed her cage. I did manage to save 1 girl from that litter, which I fostered with another mom who had just given birth. Being pinkies, there's no way to tell which girl is the one from the silver agouti, but I won't cull any girls until they become fuzzies. By then it will be very easy to tell, as the foster mom is satin agouti bred to satin chocolate, so there will be only one grey standard girl.

Three of the first silver agouti does I brought home all came down with a severe ear infection. I tried treating with antibiotics, tried treating with ivermectin in case it was a mite problem, but nothing helped. All of the does had red, seeping sores in their ears, one doe's ear was completely sealed off with swelling, and one doe's ear started to gangrene along the edge. At that point I felt the mice were suffering too much and beyond any treatment I could offer, and I culled them. The odd thing about the ear infection or whatever the problem was is that the chinchilla buck and two of the other does were exposed to the sick ones, but never showed any symptoms whatsoever, and to this day remain perfectly healthy. Maybe it was some kind of allergy, and all the does that came down with it were from the same line?

I picked up another short furred silver agouti buck for breeding, and 3-4 more silver agouti does, as well as one chinchilla doe, so at least with having bad luck with the infections, my numbers have stayed up. Also, I found what I think is a chinchillated chocolate buck and two girls of the same color, as well as several chocolate foxes. I'll be breeding them as well, so if anyone wants chinchillated chocolate instead of silver agouti/ chinchilla, just let me know.

Also, it looks like one of my bucks also carries the chinchilla gene. He is a satin cinnamon, but when bred to a store chocolate, he produced 2 cinnamons and 3 greyish-brown. They don't have the clear color of the chinchillated chocolates I found in the store, but it wouldn't surprise me if they're bad agouti burmese of some sort. There are 2 girls and 1 boy, they are chocolate based and carry satin if anyone wants them.


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## windyhill (Jan 19, 2010)

Lovley!
The one with white on her tail may carry broken/pied as well


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## Frizzle (Oct 6, 2011)

Wow, sorry to hear about all your troubles, but am glad to hear you're not giving up! Idk if you remember, but one of the other users had a problem with ants swarming their tanks to strip the silicon. They had to get an exterminator, as the ants moved right down the rows of tanks, and even stripped the windows in the house. Do you think it was a similar reason, or was it the lure of the easy prey?


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

I remember that post about the ants eating the silicone... My cages are all RUBs made with hot glue, mesh and zipties, and there was no evidence that the cage had been attacked. I think it was just easy prey, the ants are getting into my dog food all the time too. Like I said, several of the babies were already born dead, grey and not pink at all, so the ants didn't kill them. I think that mom just had a hard time or something. Maybe she had a breech birth, or the ants stressed her, I don't know.


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