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[Leslie]

I have two chinchillas, one is about 4 and the other is just over a year.  I have been noticing how different the two of them are, and I have a feeling that my one year old, TBone, is not very good quality    I don't have a problem with that, he is healthy and I don't plan on breeding him.  But he is quite skinny...I can feel his backbone and it's a bit curved (I don't think he's hunch backed at all, his cage is very big and he's very active).  I can feel his ribs as well.  His fur doesn't seem as "full" as my other guy's.  My 4 year old Ninja looks like a big puffy ball of fur sometimes.  When Ninja sits I can't really see his back feet, his fur covers them.  With TBone, his feet stick out all the time.  He almost looks like a mouse...his nose is a little pointed and his head isn't as round as Ninja's.  Also, TBone's feet and front paws (and genitals  :-[ ) are BIG!  They just seems gigantic compared to the rest of his body.  I got him from a breeder and saw his mom and dad and they are quite small as well.  Should this breeder not have bred chins from small parents?

I am not complaining about TBone, I love him no matter what  like I said he's so cute and happy and loving and gentle he can be as skinny and mousey as he wants...I'm just curious about quality.

[chinclub]

Hi Leslie,
What are you feeding them?  Even with poor quality you shouldn't be able to feel your chinchilla's spine and ribs.  He sounds very underweight.  It could be that you need to feed him a higher quality feed to fatten him up a bit.  Is he more hyper than the other one?

As for quality, a good quality chinchilla should have very thick fur that sticks straight out and doesn't lay down.  The ideal fur would be so thick that if you were to blow into it you wouldn't be able to see your chinchilla's skin.  When you stop blowing it should go right back into place so that you couldn't even see where you blew.

The body should be square.  When you look at your chinchilla from above his hips should be as wide as his shoulders.  He should look like his head was attached right to his shoulders with no or very little narrowing of his neck.   

Breeding two small chinchillas together will give you even smaller babies.  Breeding colors together instead of breeding a color to a standard will typically give you smaller, lesser quality chinchillas. (Breeding one mutation color to another could give you nice babies but those should always be bred back to a standard to get nice babies.  If not the babies will continue to get poorer quality)

With that said, getting a poor quality chinchilla from a breeder doesn't make the breeder bad.  Even the best chinchillas will occasionally have a dud.  We as breeders just have to be sure the the majority of the babies from a pair are what we are looking for and make sure to sell the lesser quality chinchillas as pets.  They are still just as loving even if they aren't always lookers. 

[Leslie]

Hello Jamie

I feed them Oxbow pellets.  It's the same feed I've given to Ninja for years (and he is HUGE, he weighs at least twice what TBone weighs....I must get a scale!).  TBone is ridiculously hyper.  He runs on his wheel about 10 times the amount that Ninja runs on his.  He is never still...when you hold him he is always looking for an escape route (but he loves to be picked up and touched).  His mom didn't produce milk...it was a first time birth for her and TBone and his brother were hand-fed from birth.  Maybe that has something to do with it?

Actually, yes both his parents are beige as well.

I've just pulled him out of the cage and had a look at him from above  and he's quite square, his hips are a wee bit bigger than his shoulders.  His neck sticks out a bit more than Ninja's.   His fur is thick and I can't see his skin, it blows back to it's original position.

I just tried to post a picture and it didn't go so well....if I figure it out, I have a picture that really accentuates his....unique look 

[chinclub]

His hyper lifestyle could be the problem!  I've had chinchillas like that myself.  If he shares a cage you might want to check the food bowl often to be sure it stays full.  Sometimes one will be too busy to eat at feeding time so the other will get more pellets.  I make sure to keep food in my pair cages at al times to be sure everyone can get all the food they need. 

I'm looking forward to the picture. Just click on the Additional Options link as you type your post and you will see the attachment boxes to add pictures.
 

[Leslie]

Here's some pictures of TBone.  Sorry one is kind of x-rated 

He doesn't share a cage...he's all by himself.  They don't get along very well, to say the least.  He gets all the food he can wolf down 

[Leslie]

One more to add....he doesn't always have this funny look but it's a good example of how un-chinchillaish he can appear sometimes.  What's going on with those cheeks? 

[mrchillybeans]

I have a scruffy scrawny chin myself...chilly....full name mrchillybeans.
I HAVE HAD HIM FOR 20 YEARS..........he was born March of 1986.
He has always been skinny (500 grams) and his fur has never been as fluffy as most chins. He seems to live on hay and raisins, and a few pellets!   I have tried to entice him with diff. chin chow but he stubbornly refuses to eat anything other than purina bunny chow.
He also has chewed on his fur from time to time..over the years he has gotten into scrapes with (mostly bigger) chins and he is missing a few fingers and part of one ear.
He will never win any beauty contests, but hey I would rather have had him for 20years
than a more handsome one.
 
What chins look like does not always mean "quality", I have had fluffier plumper chins that haven't lived nearly as long.
good luck with your chin!!!
Scruffy chins unite!!!

[chinclub]

Scruffy chins unite!!!

 

[Jo Ann]

Hi Leslie,

Should this breeder not have bred chins from small parents?
The wording is a bit confusing ... don't know if you mean his parents were small or his grandparents were small, regardless, to breed two small chins together can often lead to major problems, especially for the female.  How?  What if she tries to deliver a full size kit, but is to small to do so?  I do not think it is ever good to breed a small female.

His mom didn't produce milk...it was a first time birth for her and TBone and his brother were hand-fed from birth.  Maybe that has something to do with it?

Yes, it will influence his growth.  When a little one has a bad start {usually} it will affect him most, if not all of the rest of his life.

I make sure to keep food in my pair cages at al times to be sure everyone can get all the food they need. 

  Definitely!

... he doesn't always have this funny look but it's a good example of how un-chinchillaish he can appear sometimes.

You sure that the daddy isn't a chipmonk?? 

He will never win any beauty contests, but hey I would rather have had him for 20years than a more handsome one.

Personality is it!!!  (But he was probably healthy in his day.  As we age, we all fall apart.)

 
Jo Ann [/i]

[Asikovsek]

I have 2 standard greys my male named Bernie is about 3 years old and my new female is a little over 5 months she is already to the breeding weight so by the time she hits 8 months she should be fine for breeding. Both of my chinchillas are pretty big even for her only being 5 months and Bernie he is show quality big around 8 - 9 g.  Do you think I am going to have any problems breeding 2 standards they will be both new at this and when I bought Bell I made sure she was the largest of her litter, because the stories about breeding small chinchillas and birth is something I never want to experience. I have read a lot about breeding and have talked a lot with the breeder I got Bell from but I really haven't found information on what breeds should be bred to better the chinchillas birth.  So I guess basically I am asking if it is safe to breed two standards they are in no way related to eachother and are in great shape?