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[KShook]

I was browsing around online and found this site that said you CANNOT breed white with white, brown with brown or black with black...Per the website it said there could be some "SERIOUS" issue's if you do this it could cause a lethal gene?

I've tried looking MORE into this and unfortunately cannot find any info on it. I was hoping someone here could help me shed some sight on this?

Thanks!!

[GrayRodent]

I remember doing some research on this myself and coming to some conclusions. As you know the different mutation colors are caused because the parents carry genes that are different from the natural grey (agouti) color pattern of a wild chinchilla. When all of the genes are properly copied there are no changes but sometimes things go wrong and you get a gene (that is passed on) that is unusual and can be exploited by breeders. Mutations usually have a non-effect or a detrimental effect on mammals and their effects may go beyond color and reach other biochemical processes within each cell that you don't see.

Some mutated genes don't cause any harm when they are inherited (the white or black gene, for instance) from one side but result in the failure of the embryo to develop into a viable chinchilla when they are inherited from both sides. These genes are said to have "lethal factors". In other animals certain mutations when bred together can result in a high prevalence of birth defects or even lethal factors so it's good to know what you're doing before you try to breed domestic animals of any kind.

Certain colors result from breeding chinchillas with these genes that have lethal factors to get the desired result so you should know what the chinchilla's lineage is before you breed. Although there is some debate on whether or not harm is caused to the pregnant female if the lethal factors are combined, it is considered bad practice especially since you lower or even eliminate your potential to get a pregnancy. The worst case is you get a miscarriage or a partially developed embryo. This can cause several morbid complications including an infection from the dead fetus decaying in the womb which is fatal, or solidification of the fetus in a uterine horn that in and of itself is not dangerous but could lead to other complications later.

It is also important to note that the lethal factor for white is different than that of black. So you can breed a black to a white but not a black to a black or a white to a white. Other genes such as beige can be bred together but it is common to breed a beige to a white so again best practice is breed chinchillas with pedigrees so you know what is in the line.

Hope this helps.

[KShook]

That's VERY interesting! Glad I looked more into this. You can never learn to much or to little about things! I appreciate you going more into detail on this!! I will def. look/read more into this!

Thanks,
~K

I remember doing some research on this myself and coming to some conclusions. As you know the different mutation colors are caused because the parents carry genes that are different from the natural grey (agouti) color pattern of a wild chinchilla. When all of the genes are properly copied there are no changes but sometimes things go wrong and you get a gene (that is passed on) that is unusual and can be exploited by breeders. Mutations usually have a non-effect or a detrimental effect on mammals and their effects may go beyond color and reach other biochemical processes within each cell that you don't see.

Some mutated genes don't cause any harm when they are inherited (the white or black gene, for instance) from one side but result in the failure of the embryo to develop into a viable chinchilla when they are inherited from both sides. These genes are said to have "lethal factors". In other animals certain mutations when bred together can result in a high prevalence of birth defects or even lethal factors so it's good to know what you're doing before you try to breed domestic animals of any kind.

Certain colors result from breeding chinchillas with these genes that have lethal factors to get the desired result so you should know what the chinchilla's lineage is before you breed. Although there is some debate on whether or not harm is caused to the pregnant female if the lethal factors are combined, it is considered bad practice especially since you lower or even eliminate your potential to get a pregnancy. The worst case is you get a miscarriage or a partially developed embryo. This can cause several morbid complications including an infection from the dead fetus decaying in the womb which is fatal, or solidification of the fetus in a uterine horn that in and of itself is not dangerous but could lead to other complications later.

It is also important to note that the lethal factor for white is different than that of black. So you can breed a black to a white but not a black to a black or a white to a white. Other genes such as beige can be bred together but it is common to breed a beige to a white so again best practice is breed chinchillas with pedigrees so you know what is in the line.

Hope this helps.

[ob]

I hadn't seen anything about the black to black lethal factor before reading this  would the black be homo ebony or is there a different black that I'm not aware of? I currently have ebonies, violets & a black velvet so I'm a little worried now that I didn't do enough research before picking my pairs & such...

[GrayRodent]

Ebony is not the same as black. Ebonies can be bred together to get a cumulative effect. It also appears that chinchillas that have ebony may not always manifest the gene so you can have an ebony carrier down the line and not know it which makes record keeping very important. Just don't breed a black velvet with a black velvet and you should be fine.

(Added: See two posts down for more details. There are more details to this.)

[ob]

Ok good. I have one boy who should be an ebony carrier since all of his siblings are ebonies but he turned out to be more of a violet & his fur keeps getting more white in it with age, which I think is a sign of some rare mutation  I haven't looked into the different mutations in a long time since I only have one pair that's actually producing at the moment.

[chinclub]

Its really not a black gene, it in the TOV gene.  (Touch of Velvet)  People have called it the black lethal factor for years because Black Velvet was known as Black and it wasn't a common practice to mix colors like we have in the last 20 years.  So the lethal factor can include Black Velvet, Brown Velvet, Violet Velvet, ect.  Basically anything that Contains Velvet or TOV in the name can not be bred to another one with the Velvet (TOV) gene.  Or, if you don't know the color name of your chinchilla, it will have stripes on the front paws and will be darker on the back and face with the color slowly fading down the sides to the belly.

Now this gene is dominate so a chinchilla will either have it or not.  It can't be carried unseen, so if you get a standard from a Black Velvet parent you don't have to worry about breeding it to a Black Velvet.  The ONLY time it could be unseen is if you bred TOV to a White or an Ebony.  The solid Ebony gene or the solid white gene could mask the Black Velvet gene if the baby received both. On those kits I would assume the lethal factor when breeding, just to be safe.