Chinchilla Blog

White Chinchillas

  

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As many of our readers may already know, the standard chinchilla color is grey. This is the color that chinchillas have in the wild. Through selective breeding, several color variations or mutations have developed. White chinchillas are one of the many color variations that has become common among chinchillas. When buying a pet chinchilla, white chinchillas may be called several different names based on their color pattern White, Silver, mosaic, and reverse mosaic,are common names for a white chinchilla. Though white chinchillas may look very different, with silvers retaining a more grey pattern, they all have the same genetic makeup and for showing purposes are shown as Wilson Whites.

According to www.greenwoodchinchillas.co.uk the first white chinchillas was a male born and recorded to at the ranch of Blythe Wilson in Redding, CA in 1955. Both parents of this white male chinchilla were standard gray.

Albino chinchillas had periodically appeared before this white male,  but they were infertile. This male chinchilla was not an albino--instead of having the lack of pigmentation and pink eyes of a normal albino, he had was a distinctive healthy "mutation chinchilla"  with silky white fur and dark  ears and dark bright eyes. He was truly one of a kind.

When this white chinchilla was paired with standard female chinchillas, he was proven to be fertile and many offspring were produced - some of which were again silky white with dark eyes and ears. These became known as Wilson Whites. They were very rare at that time, and extremely expensive, so it was years before the first white chinchillas reached the general market.

For those interested in breeding, pairings of white chinchillas with standards does not always result in a white chinchilla. The white gene is not completely dominant.  A white male or female paired with a standard grey mate will result in a 50-50 shot at being a white chinchilla. Here is a breeding chart that will help you to better calculate the possibilities when breeding chinchilla.

Often times breeding color mutation with color mutation can result in chins that are below standard size. We recommend breeding color mutation to standard until you are more experienced and can make sure to pair your chinchillas to mates that will equal strengths and weeknessess to produce the healthiest prettiest chinchillas possible.

Even with the 50-50 chance of a white chinchilla being born from a pairing of a standard and white chin, there is a possibility for quite a lot of color variation. Since the genes involved in the creation of a white chinchilla are not totally dominant, the standard gray may show through. This results in several beautiful variations of "white chinchillas." This is why we have so many different varieties of "white chinchillas." The  differing patterns of white and gray fur, result in the subcategories of white chinchillas such as  the silver, mosaic and reverse mosaic.

For those that are more scientific, the  variety of patterning occurs because white genes work as a pigment inhibitor--they do not work by showing themselves in the fur, simply by stopping other genes from showing their colors.   The Wilson white gene is therefore known an incomplete dominant gene. The result of this non dominant white gene causes areas where the pigment  in the fur of the chinchilla is not visible at all.  This can be all over, in patches, or blended through another evenly, resulting in a silver chinchilla like smoke below

As beautiful as white chinchillas may be, it can be dangerous to breed them if you are not careful. White chinchillas have a lethal gene and should NEVER be paired with another white chinchilla. If two white chinchillas are paired together, the fetus will die and be absorbed by the female chinchilla, often killing the pregnant female and any other kits she may be carrying.

A lethal gene refers to the inability of certain genes to exist in the homozygous state. The two lethal genes for color involved in chinchillas are White and Velvet (also referred to as TOV – "Touch of Velvet" – or Black, not to be confused with Violet or Ebony). If a homozygous allele of White + White or Velvet + Velvet results from a breeding, the embryo will never develop but be reabsorbed by the mother. It has been said that this may result in a blocked uterine horn (chinchillas have two horns to their uterus that branch out from the cervix) and can cause illness and even death for the pregnant female. Chinchillas do not abort the fetus, but reabsorb it into their body, which is very hard on their health.If you are unsure if your chinchilla may be white or partially white, you can tell if they are a carrier by looking at their tail. If your chinchilla is a carrier of the white gene a portion of the tail will be white. This could be the whole tail, but may just be the tip

White chinchillas are prided by chinchilla breeders and loved by pet owners, but thankfully they are not of interest to the chinchilla fur trading industry.Their lovely white fur would too easily be mistaken for rabbit fur.