Chinchillas that were brought from the wild back to America had a medium to dark grey fur; this is the natural, original color of these animals. Over the many years since chinchillas were first brought here, many new colors have come about. These additional hues were created by breeders breeding in different mutant colored chinchillas to acquire specific colored coats. Now, chinchillas’ can be found in many different colors as well as the original grays.

If you are looking for a chinchilla as a pet only, you may not care much about what color it is; any color will do as long as the chinchilla is healthy and even tempered. Remember, the animal itself does not know nor care about the color of it’s fur; what is most important for your pet is a good, healthy, loving life and home. Be sure to learn everything about them and their needs as you can.

A chinchilla of the original grey hue has dark grey along the back, with the sides having a lighter color grey. Now, you can also find chinchillas with fur of beige, and beige with red tints on the body and ears. This color will sometimes have pink on its ears, and the eyes are often a bright red color; this is the form of a near albino chinchilla. A true albino will have no pigmentation (color) whatsoever and the result will be a completely “snow-white” fur along with bright red eyes.

Another color that is even more sought after than the beautiful albino, is the black or black-velvet. There is also a chinchilla that is called violet colored, but it is not purple at all. It is called violet because it is so deeply black that it has a purple tint to it in certain light; this violet color is also more apparent in direct sunlight and is the rarest color of all. A deep blue or a sapphire chinchilla is also a highly in-demand hue seen more in today’s times.

These different colors all came from the continued trial and error on the part of breeders. There are yet still other beautiful colors found in chinchillas. Many years of breeding specific colors to other colors resulted in the mutant hues observed today. Be that as it may, there are only 6 original/accepted colors for a chinchilla.

1. Standard (the original color)
2. White
3. Ebony
4. Beige
5. Sapphire
6. Violet

You can find a listing of many of the “sub-colors” now available at: www.fortheloveofchinchillas.com/mutations