Chinchilla Care

By J. Houston

This early work is an absorbing read for any chinchilla owner or historian of the breed, but also contains a wealth of information and anecdote that is still useful and practical today. Illustrated with forty text photographs. Contents Include: The Chinchilla and Its Fur; Checking; Care of Pregnant and Lactating Females and the Young; Feeding; Care of Sick and Injured; Breeding; Housing, Equipment and Sanitation; Records; Pelting; and a Glossary. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Apr 18, 2013
• ISBN: 9781447498247

Book preview

CARE

CHAPTER I

THE CHINCHILLA AND ITS FUR

Prior to their decimation by trappers seeking to supply chiefly the European market for chinchilla fur at the turn of this century, chinchillas flourished in the semi-arid regions of the Andes in Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina at elevations ranging from moderate to well above the timber line. Today what is left of the South American wild chinchilla population is found chiefly in the northeast corner of Chile at high elevations, and such is the scarcity that it takes an Indian trapper sometimes weeks to capture a pair. Subsequent to the introduction of the chinchilla in the United States in 1923 by an American mining engineer, M. F. Chapman, and the later development of the chinchilla industry in this country, South American states began to take steps to preserve the remnants of their wild supply and to foster the domestication of chinchillas in their territory. Today it is unlawful to kill chinchillas in Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, and the latter country bans their export. All four of the countries have set up government stations for the purpose of domesticating and raising chinchillas, and in addition Chile and Argentina have taken steps to arouse public interest in the animals through newspaper articles, government bulletins, and the offering of prizes for the raising of chinchillas. Of the 1500 to 2000 domesticated chinchillas in South America in 1948 it was estimated that all but about 500 were located on three ranches in Chile. Methods of feeding, housing and care on these ranches were patterned closely after those used in the United States, and disease problems were much the same. About 99 percent of these chinchillas were of the species chinchilla brevicaudata as distinguished from the chinchilla lanigera, which comprises 99 percent or more of the chinchillas in North America.

4.00 per skin on the London market, but at present are more often sold by the pound at a lesser amount.

Like the rabbit, the chinchilla belongs to the largest order of mammals, namely, the rodents; but since there are over a thousand species of rodents, this fact does not indicate any significant similarity between the two species. As a matter of fact the chinchilla is a simplicidentate rodent belonging to the principal suborder of rodents which possess but a single pair of upper incisor teeth, whereas the rabbit belongs to the other main suborder of rodents, the duplicidentate, which have two pairs of upper incisor teeth, one pair being smaller and located behind the other. In particular, the chinchilla belongs to the hystricomorphous (i.e., like the porcupine) division of the numerous and diverse rodents, and its closest relatives are the porcupines, the cavies, and the agoutis.

The two generally recognized species of chinchillas, the lanigera and the brevicaudata (i.e., shorttailed) differ in several important respects. The brevicaudata, of which there are several varieties (e.g., Boliviana, Indiana, etc.) has a gestation period two or three weeks longer (about 128 days) than the normal 111 day period of the lanigera. When the species are crossed, the male half-blood offspring have been found to be sterile. Likewise, when the half-blood females that result from crossing the two species are mated to lanigeras (or brevicaudatas) it has been found that the one-quarter blood brevicaudata (or lanigera) male offspring are frequently sterile, some estimates of the proportion of the sterility being as high as two-thirds. The gestation period of the female half-blood offspring runs about a week longer (usually 115 to 120 days) than full-blood lanigera. The brevicaudata is usually considered to be a larger animal than the lanigera, but tends to be less prolific, averaging less than two young per litter, generally carries more brownish tinge in its fur, and is often more sullen in temperament. In appearance the brevicaudata is easily distinguished by its large broad head, small blue ears, short tail, and chunky body; whereas, the lanigera is characterized by fairly long ears, a long tail, and usually a narrower head and shoulders than the brevicaudata. The few brevicaudatas that exist in the United States have been used chiefly in experimental cross breeding in an attempt to introduce the brevicaudata’s size in the lanigera and to secure the greater hardiness that is sometimes found in crossbred animals. So far this crossbreeding has not produced any commercially important results. Also during this period Umi ger as of equal size have been developed so this original advantage is no longer a factor of any importance.

Figure 1: Chinchilla Lanigera on the left; Chinchilla Brevicaudata on the right.

Figure 2: A view of the semi-arid country in which chinchillas flourished prior to their extermination in the wild. (Courtesy of Dr. Hilan F. Keagy)

The wild chinchillas remaining today in Chile, as well as other South American animals such as the viscacha, llama, and bicuna, live on the hardy green grasses and herbs that are able to withstand the rigors of a rugged rainless desert country thousands of feet above sea level where the daytime temperature during the fall varies from 40 degrees to about 87 degrees. Both the sparse vegetation and the chinchillas themselves apparently obtain their water from the dew that condenses at night in the crannies of the porous volcanic rock and keeps the underside of the rocks cool during the heat of the day. Such is the preservative quality of the arid climate that large quantities of chinchilla droppings can still be found among the rocky places once inhabited by large colonies of chinchillas now long since extinct. While the bulk of the wild chinchilla’s diet consists of hardy green grasses and herbs, the animal according to the natives eats insects, and robs birds’ nests, eating the yolk of the eggs. When caught, the wild chinchilla is found to be a wiry specimen, free of vermin, and rough furred owing to contact with the rocks among which it lives and the shrubs upon which it feeds.

Of considerable interest are the habits and traits which characterize the chinchilla as an animal. Temperamentally the chinchilla is gregarious and feels quite at home among its fellows. Curiosity is one of its outstanding traits. It is always interested in the goings on of its neighbors in neighboring pens, and you may be sure that most of the chinchillas have heard you come in and are wondering what you are going to do when you enter the building on a tour of inspection even though they are all in their nest boxes and apparently uninterested in what is going on outside. Chinchillas are quite vocal, and they have a wide variety of sounds to indicate their feelings toward you and toward one another. Among these cries the most usual are the long rather protracted warning cry which they utter when they are afraid and which serves to alert the whole herd to danger, a peculiar cooing sound which they use as a mating call, and a hissing or spitting sound they make when they are angry and hostile. They are wary and cautious and rather slow in warming up to strangers, but can easily be made into playful and gentle pets. As a rule they do not like to be picked up or constrained in any way, although they can become accustomed to this if the handler avoids sudden movements and is gentle in his treatment. Probably nothing is as conducive to a chronic state of fear in chinchillas as the practice in vogue among some ranchers of grabbing at their animals in unskillful attempts to pick them up and then handling them roughly.

The chinchilla is a nocturnal animal, active at night and rather sleepy and drowsy during the day, although it is not uncommon for a chinchilla to come out into its pen at intervals during the day to feed. Chinchillas shun the direct rays of the hot sun but they seem to enjoy basking in the early morning or late afternoon sunshine. Their daily ration they like to eat piecemeal, a little bit at a time rather than consuming the bulk of it at the time it is fed. The female dominates and is usually larger than the male. When a fight occurs between the two sexes, as sometimes happens at breeding time, the female almost invariably wins.

It is probably correct to say that the chinchilla is more sensitive psychologically than physically. It can survive an astonishingly bad diet, mistreatment and poor physical environment if the psychological factors in its environment remain relatively stable. Such factors include regularity of routine, freedom from disturbances such as rude interruptions by unfriendly caretakers, sudden violent and unaccustomed noises and sudden changes in environment such as are caused by moving the animal from its accustomed quarters or shipping it.

Chinchilla fur is of the agouti type found in many animals in the wild state, e.g., the agouti (a South American rodent), the fox, the squirrel, the raccoon, the rabbit, etc. That is, the individual hair shaft has alternate dark and light bands. The prevalence of agouti-type fur in so many species of wild animals is probably explained by the survival value of this camouflaging pattern of coloration, which in the case of the chinchilla renders it almost inconspicuous among the grayish-blue volcanic rocks which constitute its natural surroundings. Usually there is a yellow or red, or both, present in the banding of the hair shaft, but in the chinchilla the lack of these colors makes the fur an unusual and distinctive variation from the ordinary natural agouti type.

Figure 3: A cross section of a chinchilla pelt which vividly shows the undercolor, bar and veiling which are characteristic of chinchilla fur.

Next to the skin of the chinchilla the fur is a slate blue extending for a considerable distance up the hair shaft. This band, called the undercolor, is really a dilute black caused by a lessened concentration of black pigment cells in this part of the hair shaft. The undercolor is broken sharply by a band of white or no color called the bar which in turn is followed by a black tip called the ticking or veiling where the black pigment cells are highly concentrated. The veiling is normally heavier on the back of the animal, shading off down the sides and disappearing at a rather well defined line that marks the white understrip on the belly, where the hair shaft lacks the black tip. Interspersed through the fur are the coarser king or guard hairs, which project a little beyond the main body of the fur.

Figure 4: A sport in fur-color pattern. The animal’s tail and rear quarters are pure white.

The outward appearance of the fur is pretty largely determined by the bar and the veiling. Good fur has a well defined bar about three-sixteenths of an inch in width and free of any grayish tinge. Contrast between the bar and veiling is sharp, and the latter is evenly distributed so that the surface of the fur is unmarred by a mottled, blotchy appearance. The undercolor, visible when the fur parts or breaks, is an important component of the fur. A bluish-black is the desirable color, the blacker the better. Good undercolor, often ignored by the inexperienced breeder, is one of the things an expert looks for in a pelt.

Figure 5: A tuft of chinchilla fur magnified to approximately twice actual size.

At present three color classifications of chinchilla fur are recognized: dark, medium, and pale. Probably there is a genetic formula for each of these color gradations and perhaps for several others now included in them, but the genetic analysis of normal chinchilla fur color awaits the future. As yet no commercial preference seems to attach to any one of the three color classes. Not much has been done in developing chinchilla fur color mutations. That such mutations occur in chinchilla just as in other animals may be taken for granted; in fact, a few such animals have been born, but have not been properly bred. Failure on the part of ranchers to preserve such mutations often arises from a lack of understanding of their importance for establishing the genetic character of normal chinchilla fur color as well as their possibilities for extending the future breeding stock and pelt market. Any rancher who has a new-colored sport turn up in his herd should treasure it. Much can be learned by the proper breeding of such an animal even if it is a far from desirable physical specimen, and there is a possibility of profit in the offing.

Chinchilla fur is about 1 to 1 1/4 inches or over in length and varies-in density. The hair grows in tufts, many extremely fine hairs growing in clumps. Density is usually checked by blowing into the fur. If the skin cannot be seen, the density is considered good.

Figure 6: A chinchilla cape which is characteristic of the garments which are being made from the limited number of chinchilla pelts available today.

The leather of a chinchilla pelt is very light in weight, yet quite durable when properly tanned. Nature has supplied in this lightness a desirable quality which is usually obtained in other fine fur-bearers only after prolonged breeding. It is not uncommon in the trade to adopt rather costly processes of thinning the hide in order to reduce the weight of the pelt. The modern woman does not like to be weighted down with heavy furs. Because of its lightness in weight chinchilla fur is particularly well adapted to the three-quarter length or full length coat. And since lightness of weight is highly important in fur trimming, chinchilla is the ideal fur for trimming and can be used on the most delicate and gossamer fabrics.

In the past chinchilla fur has been unjustly criticised as being a fragile, delicate fur which would wear out quickly. This false notion has fortunately been disproven not only by the presence of chinchilla garments scores of years old which are still in good condition, but also by the use of a pelt testing apparatus which subjects pelts to extreme stresses, strains and wear equivalent to what the fur would have to stand over a long period of time. Chinchilla fur has proven to be one of the most durable furs available in this modern era.

Every fine fur has its distinctive qualities. In chinchilla these can be summarized in one word—softness. Softness is the keynote of the total effect of chinchilla, softness in color and texture. And softness is what women love in a fur. Fashioned into a garment, quality chinchilla has a lustrous, shimmering effect as the light catches and accents the soft and lovely blue-grays of the fur, which in profile has a fine downy or misty appearance. The softness of color adapts it readily to harmonization with any color scheme. The delicacy of texture, arising from the exceptional fineness of the hair shaft, makes chinchilla the softest of all of the furs.

CHAPTER II

A BACKGROUND OF THE FUR INDUSTRY AND CHINCHILLA HISTORY

Few people are aware of the great magnitude of the fur trade or the fact that it is one of the oldest industries known to man. In this nation alone there are more than five hundred million dollars spent annually for furs. Added to this are the investments in animal breeding stock, fur farming equipment, real estate, garment manufacturing plants, tanneries, fur stores, etc., which represent many more millions of dollars. The fur industry is indeed very great and is universal in scope. It is one of the most natural and basic industries to be pursued by man.

The fur industry got its early beginning when man first began to use furs for clothing, which goes back to the very beginning of the human race. The primitive man of that day had to kill animals for some of his food, and it was only natural for him to take the animal skins and fashion them into some sort of clothing.

With the passage of time man became cognizant of the need for some system of bartering in order that exchanges of goods could take place for mutual advantages. In order to be able to trade however it was necessary of course to have an article which had a universal value, and which would be generally acceptable to all men. Since all of the individuals at that time used furs and skins for clothing, and recognized their intrinsic value, furs became one of the earliest mediums of exchange. To be sure all furs were not of the same value because of the variety of kinds, and the differences of quality among them. They could not be sorted into classifications bearing a certain value, as can be done with money as we know it, but at least men were put in the position of being able to bargain on the basis of the furs which they had to offer in trade.

Eventually the demand for furs increased as they became valuable in the eyes of man not only as protective clothing, but also as articles of personal adornment. Particularly stimulated was lhe demand for the more beautiful furs such as ermine, mink, sable and fox. These became the luxury furs of the world. Rabbit, skunk and cat furs were also used, but were considered to be only semi-precious because of their inferior beauty and texture. The precious furs were enjoyed mainly by the royalty and higher classes of a kingdom who could afford them; in fact, ermine became known as the fur of royalty during the medieval times inasmuch as only persons of royal blood were permitted to wear robes or garments made of it.

Up to the discovery of the New World by Columbus most of the furs in use in fur-minded Europe came from the forests of Europe and Western Asia. With the discovery of America fur came into a more general use because of the hitherto unknown vast quantities of fur available in the new land, and also because some new kinds of fur were found. The quest for furs from the lands of America became very great, and the early explorers who were exploiting the lands for their respective countries were quick in adopting plundering tactics to secure furs for the pleasing of their monarchs. Charters were given by the ruling hands of many countries for the sole purpose of developing a fur trade in the New World. The impact of the search for furs was very great, and figured prominently in the development of the countries now comprising North and South America.

One of the new furs found by the early explorers of South America was chinchilla fur. To this day little is known of the chinchilla’s history, but it appears that it begins somewhere in the pre-historic ages as remains of pre-historic chinchilla-like animals, called megamys, have been found in the Permain deposits of the Argentine. This gives placement of the chinchilla sometime prior to the dawn of man. The early chinchillas were much larger than those found by the early explorers, or the chinchillas as we now know them, but scientists are reasonably sure that the present day chinchillas are direct descendants of megamys.

From all indications the chinchilla has always been found, even in prehistoric times, in the same general area where it was found in modern times. The range inhabited by chinchillas in their wild state appears to have been confined to a certain portion of the Andes Mountains which runs along the western coast of South America. This section of country is about six hundred miles long and two hundred miles wide and encompasses parts of four nations; namely, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. It can be roughly designated as being between the latitudes of twelve to thirty degrees south. It is still a mystery why chinchillas never strayed into other parts of the country, but it is presumed that barriers of natural enemies on the north, south and in the jungles in the eastern Andean foothills prevented any migration.

Figure 7: A sectional map of a portion of the western part of South America. The area within the dark lines indicates the natural habitat of the chinchilla.

The chinchilla habitat runs from sea level up to the mountain peaks of the Andes which are from 12,000 to 16,000 feet. This mountainous region is desert-like in appearance with very little rainfall and consequently very little vegetation. It is warm in the daytime and very cool at night, particularly in the higher altitudes where strong winds are almost always in evidence. The snow line is at about 9,000 feet, but snow under the 10,000 foot level rarely stays on the ground very long. The two species of chinchillas, the lanigera and the brevicaudata, live at different levels with the former choosing the lower altitudes of 10,000 feet or less and the latter living in the higher ranges. The sparse vegetation on which they live consists of low stunted brushes, coarse tough grass, herbs and mosses.

Figure 8: A view of the desert-like terrain in which chinchillas thrived in the wild. To be particularly noted is the sparse vegetation which in this view consists of only low stunted brush. (Courtesy of Dr. Hilan F. Keagy)

No one knows for sure just when chinchilla fur was first used, but apparently it was hundreds of years before any European set foot on American soil; probably as early as when the ancient Egyptians were building their pyramids. Pre-Incan races were chinchilla users, and it is known that about one thousand years ago the mighty Incas used this fur, and even in their time it was considered as a luxury. The Indians used the skins and also sheared the animals and made thread from the fur which was then used to weave blankets. Because of the luxury of the fur however only the chieftains could wear the garments made from the skins; the other Indians had to be content with blankets.

Figure 9: Pictured are the prominent chinchilla veterinarians, Dr. Hilan F. Keaçy and Dr. Evelyn Keagy, standing among some of the porous rocks where wild chinchillas made their home. (Courtesy of Dr. Hilan F. Keagy)

It was about the year 1524 A.D. that the Spaniards first came in contact with the Indians who were using chinchilla fur. These Indians were known as the Chinchas, and they not only used the animals for food, pelts, and for the making of thread from the animals’ fur, but also had the animals around for pets. Since the Spaniards had no names for the animals they named them after the Chincha Indians with the word chinchilla which means Little Chincha.

Precisely when chinchilla fur was first used by what was then considered as the civilized nations is not known, but it is believed the first possessor of a chinchilla coat was Queen Isabelle of Spain. According to a legend a body of Spanish troops under a Captain had been sent to South America for the purpose of exacting tributes for the crown from the Indians in the form of gold, silver and jewels. The Captain of these troops noticed that it was exceedingly cold in the evenings within a certain area of the Andes Mountains, and that in order to keep warm the Indians wore garments and blankets made from a very beautiful fur which he had never seen before. This was chinchilla fur, and it so impressed the Captain that his desire to have a garment made of it led him to trade some of his valuables to an old Chieftain for a chinchilla robe. When the time arrived for him to return to Spain he did not have as much precious metal nor as many jewels as he had expected to obtain, and was in fear that he would be thrown into prison or killed for his failure to exact more tribute from the Indians. Feeling that he had nothing to lose he took the gold and silver for himself upon landing in Spain, and substituted the chinchilla coat in its place. He then had the coat delivered to the Court by a messenger while he went into hiding. When the coat was delivered and the Queen had observed its softness and loveliness she decided that it was a far better gift than gold and silver, and the gift was accepted and the Captain forgiven. If this story is true it marked with all probability the beginning of the European demand for chinchilla fur.

Although there were some early introductions of chinchilla fur into the European fur trade it was not until the eighteenth century that the fur began to gain in popularity. Furriers of that day found it to be a welcome addition to the available furs and began to use it in some of their creations. Most of the chinchilla fur coming into Europe was brought in by traders who had received it in trade along the western coast of South America. Large quantities were not however available until the latter part of the nineteenth century when the fur was most extensively introduced into Europe. The main supply came from the Cordilla Indians who, being accustomed to the high altitudes and rigors of the Andes where chinchillas thrived, were able to trap them without undue hardship. The Indians in fact were only too glad to get the animals as they could make far more money selling the skins to traders than they could make in any other pursuit, and their knowledge of the chinchillas made them excellent trappers. By the latter part of the nineteenth century millions of skins were being exported with the peak year being 1899, and in that year nearly one-half million pelts were shipped from Chile alone.

The extensive trapping of chinchillas due to the very great demand for the fur in Europe began to exact its toll as it became apparent at the turn of the century that the wild supply of chinchillas would not last much longer. Trappers were no longer successful in getting large numbers of pelts, as animals became harder to find and the number of skins available for export became smaller and smaller. The South American governments became aware of this condition almost too late, but did take action in the early 1900’s to put a limit on exports by placing a tariff on all exports, but this did not help matters to any great extent as smuggling kept the trade open and chinchillas were being wiped out faster than ever. Therefore within a few years (about 1910) the governments of Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Peru entered into a mutual agreement which prohibited the hunting, trapping or killing of chinchillas, or the sale of skins. This was an all-out effort to save the wild supply, but the step was not really necessary as most trapping had stopped due to the fact that the number of chinchillas had become so small that it did not pay to engage in chinchilla hunting.

By this time chinchillas had almost been annihilated, and as has been the case in history, when the numbers of a particular animal become small, the animal usually becomes extinct as the odds for survival against the elements and natural enemies is overwhelmingly against it. Realizing that the wild supply would probably die off in a few years, the South American governments did permit the trapping of the animals as long as the purpose was to raise and propagate them in captivity thereby saving the animals from complete extinction. Apparently some chinchilla farms were set up in the early 1920’s as government administered stations. Some of these and a few private ranches are in existence in South America today. Practically all of their animals are brevicaudatas since there were no more lanigeras when these ranches were established.

But in reality the chinchilla raising industry is now centered in the United States and Canada, and had it not been for the endeavors of an American mining engineer, M. F. Chapman, who was working for the Anaconda Copper Company in Chile some thirty-five or more years ago, there might not have been any chinchilla industry today. Chapman was in charge of a number of mines which were located at about 10,000 feet altitude in the Andes and were near the town of Porteros in Northern Chile. Because of the lack of roads it was necessary for Chapman to ride from one mine to another on horseback. One day he was riding by a blacksmith shop near the headquarters of the company when the blacksmith came out and showed him two chinchilla skins which he had. Chapman was much impressed by their beauty and texture and upon inquiry found that they had been brought in by an old Indian so he made arrangements with the Indian for the trapping of some of these animals with the thought in mind of securing two or three of them for pets, as he had always been a lover of animals.

Out of sheer interest this pioneer of the modern chinchilla industry began to study the history of the animals, and he became so intrigued with the thoughts of them that he began