breeding information.

[colleenschinchillas]

i am thinking of being a chinchilla breeder when i am older. so i would like to start learning about it now. what i know so far is that you can not breed sertain colors together becuase the baby would not survive, but i dont know which colors. also that you need to make sure the chinchillas you are breeding have pedigrees so you dont get any baby chinchillas with bad traits. you need breeding cages with small bars so the babys cant escape and no shelves so the mom cant jump down on them. it could take the two chinchillas that will breed a long time to like each other, and sometimes two chinchillas will never mate. and somtimes you need to wake up in th middle of the night to feed the baby chinchillas if you need to. and that you need to have the money for the vet incase of any problems happen. any advice and information will be greatly appreciated.

[DiamondBarChins]

The biggest question you need to ask yourself is this... "What am I going to contribute to the chinchilla industry by adding another breeder to the community?". I am not against new breeders at all so let me say that right off. I am against breeders that breed because they want cute little babies.. Its not all roses and sunshine. Yes the babies are fun but its not so much fun when one is born with its side ripped open and lives just long enough for you to get attached to it. Its also no fun when you find a mom dead with a baby stuck in her. You have to be ready to accept the good with the bad and realize its not all fun and fluffy babies. On the other hand I love breeding and wouldnt give it up. You just have to have the mentality going in to it.

The other thing to ask is "What is my goal in becoming a breeder?" I firmly believe you need to have a goal in mind before you start. Find a color to focus on. Dont just buy a bunch of random colors and start with a rainbow. DONT PICK A HARD MUTATION!!!! To many people say ohhhh I really like violets and sapphires.. They are the hardest color to work with right now and take a lot of patience and a lot of knowledge to play in. yes I have both of those colors that I breed but I also was taken under the wings of some of the top mutation breeders in the nation.

Find a rancher to mentor you... I cant say enough for the ranchers I had and still have mentoring me. I would not be where I am in my breeding if it wasnt for them..

DO NOT BREED FOR PETS!!! There is several UNWANTED pets now. and those of us that take breeding very seriously end up with pets from some of our top animals. You dont get all show stoppers from your best animals..
Learn as much as you can.. BE A SPONGE!!!! Ask a ton of qustions til you are blue in the face and then ask some more... Go to shows and see what the best in the business is producing and what the industry is looking for...

[DiamondBarChins]

I hope I have been able to answer some questions and not come across as a complete jerk... please dont hesitate to ask me any questions and if I dont know the answer I will be more than happy to point you in the right direction... Also use this website http://www.silverfallchinchilla.com/genetics/ChinCrossCalculator.aspx
it is the most valuable tool for learning colors....

GOOD LUCK

[colleenschinchillas]

wow, thats alot to think about. thank you very much. i dont know what to do now. but i think i should try to breed one in a while to try. with two standard greys. is that a good idea or not?

[DiamondBarChins]

Standards are a great place to start and the foundation of any good breeding herd. Make sure your chins are pedigreed. Make sure you really chew over the idea of breeding before you jump into it.. you also have to think about what you are going to do with the babies once they start being born...

[colleenschinchillas]

i decided to just wait.

[colleenschinchillas]

thank you very much. i have concidered everything you said and you are very helpful.

[DiamondBarChins]

You are very welcome.. I think you are a very smart girl and have a good head on your shoulders... Good luck to you in the future....

[colleenschinchillas]

thank you very much. it is nice talking to you. and it is very nice meeting you.

[Leonard A. lucenti]

Kathleen, I am twice your age, so I've been around the block a few times.

Yes, you can become a "sponge"...nothing wrong with that. But I can attend all the shows in the world and gain practically nothing without physically doing it (What do they say, you can't learn how to swim by reading, eventually it's "sink or swim" time).

Over many years, I experienced bad births and good ones. I am getting very healthy results lately, and that could be due to good nutrition from top quality pellets I buy. God knows, I spend enough for quality feed lately.

I wouldn't discourge the young person showing a desire to want to see chinchillas reproduce and gain familiarity with a marvel of nature in action. (I've witnessed many births right before me going on, and it still amazes me how caring these creatures are for their young).

Just imagine me placing my quality animals into solid homes that can also do what I did with them, and make them live on. The problem is, we are too mobilized as a society, and can't establish strong roots anywhere.

So, more than likely, people will try out a few animals and then give it up.

With me, it's an ongoing thing...I just need to get a few of my standards "out there".

People will be satisfied with them, and who knows, maybe one day a chinchilla will be recognized for it's original color.

(Not to criticize the new colors, but I remember distinctly the rage over the violets when they made the news.)

[DiamondBarChins]

My point on this thread was she is young and there is alot of things people do not consider when they get it to breeding. I dont discourage people on breeding. I point out the hard facts that they need to think of prior to starting. The problem is there is so many people out there that just want cute fluffy babies and dont consider the consequence for their actions.

Correct me if I am wrong but do you believe that since you are so much older than me that I am unexpierenced with chinchillas and that my information is null... It seem that you also dont like that my main focus is Violet. Yes a mutation that I am doing very well with...

[Leonard A. lucenti]

Kathleen, don't get me wrong! I believe you are doing way better than me, because you are in the right place. I just did this part time, and never took it seriously...until I realized that the foundation stock I have can be built upon since they show excellent health and reproduce nicely.

Breeding for the sake of breeding is not wise.

Breeding violets are what the world is looking for, if we can understand that there is a solid trend that focuses on rare types of animals (or the perception of them being rare).

Illustration: Local Pet shops are doing fine with African Grey Parrots and Macaws. They sell for a little over a thousand bucks, all the way up to several thousand bucks...apiece.

Mutation chinchillas fetch several hundred dollars or better, especially those that have proven breeding from people like you...who take the time and attend shows and win some prizes.

This is where I find myself incapacitated. The expense and the time consumption of travel negates the possibility of reward. Plus, I have a full time job. Surely, I would love the world beating a path to my door.

No, don't missunderstand me...you seem to be doing okay just where you are and what you are doing with nice looking mutations.

I just need to get one or two mutations and try my best to incorporate them into my herd...and hope to see a varied birth instead of true greys...and slight differences in darkness...here and there.

Then maybe, just maybe...I will go somewhere with my endeavor.

Thank you Kathleen for your patience with me.

[KCchins]

Unless you have hundreds of chins there is no profit in breeding them. Usually you are lucky to break even. While the market for mutation chins is OK the fur market does not value them at this time. It is almost impossible to match enough pelts to produce a coat.

The fur market values standard grey and blacks at this time.

[CipTrerb]

Hey Val, is this the same Andrew Cooper that posts on ozshow? Maybe we should ask him his secret recipe for making money from breeding. Sandy