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[Jo Ann]

I dont know all the technichal names for them yet     but i do like them!

  I saw the above quote in a topic I was reading ... it reminded me:   After we've been in the 'Chinchilla  World' for a while ... we forget ... what we did not know, in the beginning ... when you look a word up in the dictionary, it will often give you a very different meaning than the one it means in the chinchilla world. 

Let's start a dictionary of terms! 

Jamie, is there a way we could award points?

chinchilla -{from the dictionary - ' a small South American rodent raised for it's silvery gray fur'} ...  an exotic animal in the rodent family, native to the Andes Mountains, origionally prized/hunted for it's fur, a relatively new pet to the pet world, has softest fur known to man and is the cutest, sweetest critter I know. 

kit - {from the dictionary - 'a set of tools or materials for a specific purpose'} ... a baby chinchilla!

black - {from the dictionary - 'lacking hue and brightness; opposite to white'} ... a Gunning Black or Black Velvet

white - {from the dictionary - 'lacking color; opposite to black'} ... a "white", in reference to a chinchilla, is one that has white fur (other than just on the belly)

breeding situation - {from the dictionary - breed ~ to produce offspring & situation - state of affairs; circumstances} ... any time you put a male chinchilla, 10+ weeks old or older, with a female chinchilla 4+ months old or older (regardless of relationship) ~ this can = kits and/or a pregnant dead female chinchilla (because she is to young and to small) and/or incest and/or the death of a male if another male is in the same cage/area when the female is in season.

breedback - {from the dictionary - breed ~ to produce offstring & back - at or toward the original starting place or condition} ... allowing a female chinchilla to become pregnant while still nursing the original litter ... straining the resources of the female and the kits being nursed and trying to form within her ... caused by allowing the male to remain in the cage after the female gives birth to the kits.


Regardless of how we may think 'everyone knows that' ... not all do ... remember ... it is much easier to learn, if we understand the terms being used.  Please post more to this thread!

 
Jo Ann

[chinclub]

Jamie, is there a way we could award points?

Sure!! Just let me know how many you want to give per definition. 

[Jo Ann]

That's up to you ... main thing is a reference for the terms and also to correct any "term" that is being used where it is wrong or confusing.

Maybe you could get one started on myths and truths!  That would be an interesting learning topic, too.

 
Jo Ann

PS Jamie, I think they are waiting to see how many points they can win.   

[ChinchillAZ]

Just to start kicking things off...

Herd - {from the dictionary - 'a number of animals kept, feeding, or traveling together; drove; flock'} ... a group of chinchillas
TOV - Acronym meaning "Touch of Velvet"; a chinchilla color term that means the animal shows Black Velvet traits (dark mask and veiling) without being a Black Velvet
Wrap - A chinchilla color term that means the animal has an Ebony gene that causes the color of the belly to match (or very closely match) the color of the back
Malocclusion - {from the dictionary - 'irregular contact of opposing teeth in the upper and lower jaws'} ... Pet owners generally use this term to indicate a condition of abnormal overgrowth of the teeth

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Grotzen - I couldn't find it in the dictionary, but it's the veiling on the back of the chinchilla.

[Jo Ann]

Grotzen - I couldn't find it in the dictionary, but it's the veiling on the back of the chinchilla.

 Debbie, you've just used another word some of the newbies may not understand ... can you also give us the meaning of "veiling"?


whelping cage{from the dictionary - to give birth & cage - an enclosure made of wire} - a chin momma needs to be in a whelping cage when she gives birth to her kits and they need to stay there until they can safely maneuver a regular cage.  Kits are born fully furred and eyes open and are playing within the hour.  Within the first 12 hours most kits will climb to the top of the cage, turn loose and drop to the bottom ... they can climb up, but not down ... they fall down.  Whelping cages should be no taller than 15 inches and have plenty of bedding in the bottom to soften the fall.

wean - {from the dictionary - to accustom a young one to food other than mother's milk} weaning a kit usually begins about 4 weeks of age (some earlier) and is usually finished by 6 weeks of age (then there are those who will nurse as long as mom's patients will last - one of mine was still nursing a kit at 4 months of age). Momma chin will take care of the weaning, she knows best.

guard hairs - {from the dictionary - guard - to keep safe from harm or danger & hairs - fine filaments growing from the skin of a mammal} for chinchillas ... the thicker, taller "hairs" that grow all over a chin's body and help to hold the fur in place, in addition to this they will often give a very unique look to the overall appearance of the chin.  IE the silver or dark guard hairs on a white mosaic often give the effect or look of a thin layer of silver over the white fur.



We need more to add words to our dictionary  OR  to ask the meaning of a word!

 
Jo Ann

[Debbie.nl.ca]

Good catch Jo Ann, I didn't even think of that one. LOL
Veiling,- dictionary- to cover.
chinchilla- the fur that runs down the back, from the nose to the tail, easily seen in the velvets as a strip of black or brown. See tov above.
The condition of which is considered in all colors for judging.

[chinclub]

OK How about 5 points a definition. I'll give points for the ones above now.

[Jo Ann]

Let's not be shy ...
How about if I list some words we use and you look up the meaning and post it?

Please post the corresponding number to each word! 
  We will try to remove the words as they are answered ... Thanks!

(2) mosaic        (3) ebony               (4) beige            (5) tan     
(6) pink white        (7) standard gray    (8 )violet            (9) sapphire       (10) black velvet
(13) dust bath sand (14) lava stone     (15) pumice stone
(16) chew blocks   (17) bedding            (18) genetics      (19) lethal factor (20) colony breeding
(21) fiber              (23) diabetes          (24) seizures       (25) hypocalcemia
(27) reserve          (28) color division    (29) fur density    (30) breeding card
(31) cage card      (32) pedigree           (33) after birth     (34) oestrum        (35) heart murmur
(36) heat stroke    (37) chinchiller stone (38) ranch run      (39) mutation      (40) grand champion         
(41) hereditary      (42) pair breeding     (43) supplements   (44) cage mate    (45) dominate genes
(47) recessive genes    (49) carrier        (50) Swish, Swish, Tail Dance
   

 Pick out one or more & earn some points!

 
Jo Ann

[Debbie.nl.ca]

(1) gestation   

the inter-uterine period in the development of the mammalian embryo.
104-120 days for a chinchilla.     

[Debbie.nl.ca]

(48) heterozygous
impure- a chin with one dominant and one recessive gene for a particular trait.


{46} homozygous
Purebred- the chin inherits the same gene from both parents.

[Stacy]

11. dust bath - A container used by a chinchilla to take it's bath in.

12. dust bath dust - Volcanic ash chinchillas take their bath in to remove the excess oils in the fur and keep it clean.

[Stacy]

26. chin is short for chinchilla