Dwarf Chinchillas?????

[EBB]

I have recently been hearing alot about dwarf chinchillas and was wondering if this is actually a mutation or breed of chinchilla that I just happen to know nothing about. As I was thinking about it I figured a dwarf chinchilla could also just be a really small chinchilla that people were trying to pass off under a cute name. Honestly what sounds better,"This is my chinchilla that is too small to be responsibly bred and wouldn't do well on a show table," or " This is my dwarf chinchilla"?

Are there dwarf chinchillas or are'nt there? and if there actually are dwarf chinchillas then can someone give me a luittle info on them or point me in the right direction?

Thanks

[alpayton]

There are actually dwarf chinchillas. Kindra (Kmammone) breeds them and actually has some for sale currently. Check the classified section for her ad. You'll find a link to her website where you'll find further information about dwarfs. :)

[jfleenor2]

Yes, I would also like to know this!
I have a 5 month old kit -- she weighs 280 gms. Birth weight was 39gms. She appears healthy in every way. Is she a dwarf?

[FuzzyMom]

http://www.spoiledchins.net/chinsales.htm

[The Animal Farm]

Looking at Kindra's is a good place to start. Size alone doesn't determine if a chin is a dwarf, some chins are just small. True dwarfs have certain characteristics like a chipmunk face, almost non-existent front paws, disproportionately large hind legs.

They are a mutation not a separate breed. They are a really small chinchilla with some unusual features but dwarf females cannot be responsibly bred under any circumstances. It's asking for birth complications. So they are the result of a dwarf male carrier and regular size female usually.


Yes, I would also like to know this!
I have a 5 month old kit -- she weighs 280 gms. Birth weight was 39gms. She appears healthy in every way. Is she a dwarf?

[Emilys_Exotics]

Dwarf chins are similar to dwarf humans. (i.e. it's a genetic mutation/illness that makes them a smaller chin, and they have larger/oddly shaped heads, smaller feet etc. than normal chins). Whether this is a good trait or not is under debate. Just as many human dwarves have serious health problems (their organs are normal sized and don't always fit etc.) so too can dwarf chins. Some say that this mutation should not be bred for, others maintain that it can be bred responsibly (i.e. NO BREEDING DWARF FEMALES as dwarf kits are still full sized, and a dwarf female is too tiny to pass kits safely). I still don't know where I stand on this. I love the smaller size idea, and I think they are super cute with their unique look, but I do know that dwarfism isn't a harmless mutation the way a color mute might be. I'd love a pair of dwarves, but since I'm not sure where I stand on the breeding of them, I wouldn't get one. It wouldn't be right for me to promote such breeding by buying such chins if I ultimately decide it is unethical to breed this mutation (or deformity as some might call it...).

Emily

[EBB]

Thanks for the quick replies and great hints :). I will more thouroughly research in the next couple of days, meanwhile I welcome any other comments.

[wallride]

Here are two threads that may help.

http://www.chins-n-quills.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96592&highlight=dwarf+chinchillas

http://www.chins-n-quills.com/forums/showthread.php?t=95757&highlight=dwarf+chinchillas

There are breeders who concentrate solely on dwarf chinchillas. They however, do take all precautions to ensure the animals will lead lives just like "normal sized" chinchillas. Also, breeding females are not dwarves, but dwarf carriers.

For more accurate information, i suggest contacting Kindra Mammone. I believe she is the largest concentrated dwarf breeder around now, since she bought the remaining dwarf herd of a retired breeder. :)

[CHINCHILDREN]

i am no expert but i do know that dwarfs are nothing like what is sometimes marketed as "mini chins."
a small chin is just that and a dwarf is something very diferrent. just my 2c worth...

[Kmammone]

Somebody called and asked me to post to this. I'm sorry if this is quick and short, but I have an owl here who got hit by a car and he needs my attention.


(i.e. it's a genetic mutation/illness that makes them a smaller chin, and they have larger/oddly shaped heads, smaller feet etc. than normal chins)


This is not completely acurate. Though there is a very definite shape and look to dwarves that is MUCH different from just a small chin, I have found no more health problems with them then I have with my regular chins. In fact, I've only had one who actually had real health problems and he was a rescue as well as a pet store chin, so who knows where his problems really came from.

I've studied these guys for about 10 years from the woman who bred them the most in the country and recently bought out two of the people who were breeding them the most. I have chins here who are over 9 years of age and still breeding and know of others who are still breeding at age 15.

So, while they are very different, I do not believe they have any more health problems then normal chins. They are kind of like pygmy goats. Their organs are similar in size to normal chins, which gives them their broad behind look, but it doesn't seem to give them any more problems then it does my pygmy goats.

I have a page on my site with information on them if you would like to read it, it is here http://www.spoiledchins.net/dwarf_chinchillas.htm

If you would like to discuss this more, please email me, I don't get to the forums often at all, since rehab season never seems to end.

I'm off to sub q an owl now, wish my hands luck! Those talons are nothing to sneeze at!