Have you ever heard of chinchillas? A Chinchilla is a social radiant that prefers to live in a colony. Moreover, they live in caves and don’t want predators to see them. Two types of chinchilla exist in the world: the long-tailed chinchilla and the short-tailed chinchilla. If we talk about diet of this specific creature, it eats edibles containing high amounts of fiber, like grass and plant roots. In this write-up, we will discuss the colors and characteristics of the chinchilla. We will also answer the frequently asked questions by people who want to pet it.
A Little About Chinchilla
A chinchilla is a social rodent with a round shape that looks like a mouse, having large ears, short legs, and long tails. Their coat is thin and has fur. When it comes to their hue, it is is gray, but that does not mean they are only one color.
They are easy to spot in many colors worldwide. Chinchillas eat foods containing high fiber and cannot eat edibles containing high sugar. Like all animals, they love to live out of predators’ sight because they are not powerful enough to defend against their mighty predators.
If we talk about the characteristics, the people who want to have different traits from these small animals, crossbreeds them with other breeds. Most of the time, they get the desired results. People with pet chinchillas should know about the food they need to live a healthy life. Also, they should learn about the environment a chinchilla finds suitable to live in. In addition, their responsibility is to know about the chinchilla bedding environment because these rabbits can sleep well on soft surfaces.
Chinchilla Colors and Traits
Like other pets, chinchillas also have different colors. People consider grey as a standard Chinchilla color, but it is not the same as they think. The following are a few different chinchilla colors and their traits.
1. Standard Gray
Undoubtedly, it is the one of the most common chinchilla colors. Such animals have white hairs under their bellies and dark gray or black fur on their bodies. Most of these chinchillas have a dark gray thin coat.
Likewise, you can see some chinchillas with dark gray skin. Some people visit vets due to gray chinchilla dental problems. They are worried about the orange color of chinchilla’s teeth. For them, the orange color of chinchilla teeth is standard, but the pale color indicates a calcium deficiency.
2. White chinchilla
Albinos are not white chinchillas. Their ears frequently have a deeper tone than the rest of body. Under the sun, the fur of this color variant also appears silvery. You can quickly locate these chinchillas at numerous chinchilla breeders because of their wide distribution. Selective breeding has produced mutations in white chinchillas, including ebony white and white sapphire. These two are separate morphs that both derive from the color white.
READ More About: Lifespan of Chinchilla
3. Black Chinchilla
Black chinchillas possess the TOV (Touch of Velvet) gene, which gives them a velvety appearance and feel. They can be charcoal or black, but it may take them a few years to develop their dark-colored veil.
The thick, velvet-like fur of black chinchillas is lustrous and black. Some chinchillas have black stripes around their paws, and white hair covers their cheeks. Contrarily, chinchillas with homozygous blackness have no white underbelly and are all black.
4. Gold Bar Chinchilla
It is rarest color of chinchilla worldwide. As their name represent they are golden in hue. This color makes them unique, as this color of animals is challenging to find. Uniqueness in their hue color makes them a great demand among the breeders. Their size and lifespan do not differ from other species.
5. Chinchilla Beige
There are two types of beige chinchillas; heterozygotes and homozygotes. The eyes of Homo beige are bright red, and they are lighter in color. With dark ruby eyes, the hetero-beige is typically darker. Both beige dogs can get freckles on their ears, paws, and nose.
Beige chinchillas have pink ears and are odor-free, quiet, and appealing. They’ve been domesticated for their thick, dense fur and have a lifespan of 10 to 20 years. They make better pets for adults and older kids because of their quiet nature.
6. Chocolate Chinchilla
One should crossbreed ebony and beige chinchilla for generations to get a coat that is chocolate in color. The babies’ fur gets darker and darker with each age, eventually taking on the appearance of chocolate. Both chinchilla species seem to be in threat on the IUCN Red List of Species due to a global population decline of an estimated 90% over the previous 15 years.
Human chinchilla hunting is to blame for the dramatic population reduction. Without a means of escape, the chinchilla might bite the danger. This biting frequently occurs when the pet owner tries to grab the chinchilla unexpectedly. The front teeth of chinchillas are unusually long and sharp.
7. Chinchilla Sapphire
The sapphire color is one of the most popular chinchilla colors. Also, these chinchillas are unusual and distinctive due to their silver-gray fur. These chinchillas are in high demand because of their unique appearance. This species is distinct from chinchillas because its hair does not have black tips.
They have black eyes, and the sunlight casts a blue hue across their coats. This one is a variation of the standard grey chinchilla. Several generations of careful breeding have thinned its fur. When a chinchilla’s parents share a recessive gene, breeders can create a unique sapphire animal.
8. Violet Chinchilla
The purple or violet chinchilla colors are a scarce breed. A handful of the color variations on these chins range from pure purple to dark grey. There are several chins with violet skin that are patterned. The fur of these chins does not have black tips and a white underbelly, and their name derives from the purple color of their hair.
In addition, violet chinchillas have grey ears, black noses, and dark eyes. Two chinchillas have a crossbreed to create pure violet offspring. The outcome is a chin with a dark grey underbelly and an entirely purple fur coat. There is no interbreeding of violet chins together since this could lead to the formation of harmful genes.
9. Pink White Chinchilla
A mixture of beige and white is called pink-white. With a few exceptions, all beige have red eyes, including tans and brown velvets. Dark ruby red to jelly-bean pink are some color options (for homo beige). People with albinism do not have pink-eyed children, yet they are sometimes confused about them.
Different chins have different eye colors. Many pink and white has dark red eyes, making it challenging to determine whether they are red or not in person. I’ve seen pink whites with blazing red eyes that never faded and others with medium-toned eyes.
FAQs
Most of the time, people petting the chinchilla leave their queries on different platforms. Their often-asked questions and answers are below.
Can a chinchilla eat bananas?
There are a lot of foods a chinchilla is allowed to consume. Likewise, a large number of foods are hazardous to chinchillas. Banana is also one of them because it contains a lot of sugar. Swallowing a massive quantity of sugar can be fatal to chinchillas.
What are the favorite foods of a chinchilla?
A chinchilla likes to eat fresh fruits and vegetables. The vegetables this organism eats are carrots, kale, collard greens, etc. It wants to eat all the fruits. Some are suitable for their health, and the rest are not.
Can a chinchilla eat apples?
You cannot feed apples to your chinchilla in a massive amounts. Instead, you should give two small pieces once a week. If not, kids can experience digestive system issues. The combination of the apple’s acidity and sweetness frequently causes digestive problems.
What happens if you get a chinchilla wet?
The dense fur of chinchillas makes it very effective at retaining moisture if it gets wet. As a result, it takes a long time for the hair to dry, and if the humidity is left there for an extended period, fungi may start to grow and infect the skin.
Also Read What You Should Know If You’re Allergic to Chinchillas
Final thoughts
Two types of chinchillas are there, but they are available in various colors. They mostly share the characteristics. A few traits may not resemble each other, but mostly they are the same. Chinchillas are rare in violet, so if you purchase one, it will cost a lot. Breeders should be aware of the diet and bedding environment of the chinchilla because they need a particular protocol to sleep and eat.
