Chinchilla colors

There are so many mutations (colors) of chinchillas. I see a lot of people get confused when it comes to colors, here I am going to attempt to cover all or at least most varieties.

Some terminology to know first

*Standard is the natural color, all other varieties are mutations.

Carriers

TOV -Touch of velvet

SC -Sapphire carrier

VC -Violet carrier

EC/ EBC -Ebony carrier

LRWC/ GBC -Lowe recessive white carrier/ Goldbar carrier (I added both since some breeders will use one term or the other but they are the same mutation)

BDC -Blue diamond carrier

Standard

Standard greys are the most common pet chin I've seen. They vary with shades of gray from light to almost black on top but they will always have white bellies.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Light

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Medium

Photo credit: VB chinchillas

Photo credit: VB chinchillas

Dark

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: VB chinchillas

Extra dark

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Beige

Beiges come in 2 forms, Heterozygous (hetero, requires 1 beige gene) and Homozygous (homo, requires 2 beige genes). Heteros are a dark shade of brown where as homos are light. Both will have white bellies. Their ears should be pink sometimes with freckles.

Heterozygous

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Homozygous

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Tan

Tans look similar to beiges but they do not have a white belly, they are one solid color. They come in various shades from light to dark.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

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Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Black velvet

(TOV standard)

Black extends down their back and sides, which fades to a grey then to their white belly. Their veiling takes time to come in, so sometimes they look like dark standards until their veiling comes in. When a Black Velvet is in combination with another mutation it is referred to as TOV.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Brown velvet

(TOV beige)

Similar to black velvet. Instead of black they are brown which extends down their back and sides then fades to their white belly. They can be either heterozygous or homozygous. They will have deep ruby eyes and pink ears which can have freckles.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Ebony

Ebonies can vary from a dark grey to black. They will be one solid color all around. They will have black eyes and grey/black ears.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Light

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Medium-Dark

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Extra dark (homo ebony)

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Whites

There are several varieties of whites. They can be pure white or dark almost black. You need to know the genetics to be sure on color. Their color can change with age and usually patterns are random.

Mosaic

(Mosaics are a cross with standard so they will be gray/white)

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Light

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Medium-Dark

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Dark-Extra dark (extreme)

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Ebony white/white ebony

(Carries and expresses the ebony gene, they look similar to the mosaic but carry the ebony gene. Can produce the same patterns as the mosaics)

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Light

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Medium-Dark

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Dark- Extra dark

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Pink white

(Pink whites are white chinchillas who carry the beige gene. They have pink ears, red eyes, and mainly white fur. Some pink whites are pure white. Others have beige markings and freckles. They can change colors as they age). Also called a beige white.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: VB chinchillas

Tan white

(Tan White Chinchillas express both the ebony and beige genes at the same time giving them tan markings. Some do not show markings at all and some will change color as they age.)

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit:

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

White violet

(White Violets are homozygous for violet and heterozygous for white and like mosaics they can be pure white or heavily marked.)

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Violet

Ideally they will be a violet color with a white belly. They can range from light to dark.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Violet wrap

Will be a solid color. This is combining the violet and ebony genes.

Sapphire

This color is best seen under lighting. Similar to violets. There shouldn't be any black on the sapphire. Their belly should be white and pink/grey ears.

Newborn- few weeks old

( the standards in this photo are possible sapphire carriers )

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Sapphire wrap

Will be a solid color. This is combining the sapphire and ebony genes.

Black pearl

This is a newer color. They look similar to black velvets but breed true when bred together and won't produce the lethal factor.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit:

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Goldbar (Lowe recessive white)

Goldbar's have a creamy beige hue and breed true if bred together.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit:

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

Blue diamond

Blue diamonds are a cross expressing both violet and sapphire which gives them the blue fur. They will have a white belly.

Newborn- few weeks old

Photo credit:

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Photo credit: Mark Miller's chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

TOV

TOV is any mutation with the velvet gene. Each mutation expresses it differently and sometimes you can't tell unless you test breed.

TOV beige

(TOV beige is called brown velvet.)

TOV standard

(TOV standards are called black velvet.)

TOV homo beige

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

TOV pink white

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

TOV violet

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

TOV sapphire

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

TOV tan

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

TOV tan white

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

TOV ebony

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

TOV ebony white

Photo credit: East Tennessee chinchillas

TOV mosaic

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

Photo credit: Tiffany's chinchillas

TOV blue diamond

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Photo credit: Sunset chinchillas

Carriers

Generally looks like another mutation but has a 'hidden' gene that will produce

babies of whatever color that is being carried when bred to another chinchilla or 'carrier' of the same 'hidden' gene.

SC -Sapphire carrier

VC -Violet carrier

EC/ EBC -Ebony carrier

LRWC/ GBC -Lowe recessive white carrier/ Goldbar carrier (I added both since some breeders will use one term or the other but they are the same mutation)

BDC -Blue diamond carrier