The breeding of mutations was very popular a few years ago.
Today it has taken a steep decline.
The reason for this was, each new mutation came into the market with great expectations.
Those expectations were usually not fulfilled.

The mutations were totally different than the standard chinchillas.
They were difficult to breed, and the reproduction rate was really slow.
If you are new to the breeding of chinchillas you should not
venture into breeding mutations UNTIL you have mastered the standard line of breeding.
Mutation breeding requires a lot of experience in the breeding of chinchillas.
Another reason for the decline is that the fur marketers have not taken to the new colors.
They say the fur looks alot better on the live animal, than it does as a prepared skin.
The color that is very popular on the market is the Black Velvet.

If you were to cross a white with a standard you would get silvery skins which are very actrive.
The bad thing about that cross is that the silver specimens
are an infrequent occurrence and they will not breed systematically.
The skins of the pied chinchillas are the most common among the mutations.
The problem with them is that, the clothing manufactures rejected them
so they are used for less glamorous products.
A huge error during the first years of mutation breeding
was by breeding white bucks to off-colored females.
By doing this the breeders thought it would improve the color of the standard.
But it had a reversed effect and that is where your beige specimens came into play.
When these beige-red chinchillas were crossed with off-colored standards,
the results were both the beige and the standard progeny were off-colored.
That made their skins pretty much useless.
Mr Schreiber's own opinion is this. He supports mutation breeding.
If we would have stopped mutation breeding, we would not be where we are today.
We would not have the high standards of chinchillas that we have today either.
 

THE STANDARDS OF CHINCHILLA COLORS

BLACK EBONY
In early 1960's the first Tasco Black Ebony was introduced.
The fur of the black ebony has a bluish-brown to blackish-brown color with a dark grotzen.
The veil is lighter on the sides and flanks, and the abdomen is dark brown.
This color is very sought after by the fur industry.

BLACK VELVET

The black velvet is the most important of all mutations.
The fur is short, velvety, and has an excellent density and fur mass.
The fur also does not have any partings or vortexes.
Most of the time this trait is passed on to it's offspring.
The only thing that may change would be the clarity of the color.
Some of the abnormalties can include, light neck bands, red tinge,
too long of hair, no dark veil, pied in color or poor body structure.
In America the Black Velvet has been split up into 3 different groups.
Black Velvet Extra Dark, Black Velvet Dark and Black Velvet Medium.
Actually though there is no light or dark blacks.
In the extra dark Blacks the veil covers the entire body
from tip of nose across the back to the tail.
It also extends over the shoulders, side, and flanks to
form a sharp delineation from the abdominal region.
The abdominal region is very white in color.
In the Dark Blacks the shoulders, sides, and flanks are lighter
and the transition to the abdominal region forms only a week delineation.
The Medium Blacks is similar to the dark to very dark standard.
Genetically it is only a Black Velvet by the black on it's head.
In Germany the Medium Black is actually called a "Blue Velvet".
The "Blue Velvet" has short hair, very dense fur, and the Velvet trait.
It has a flawless pattern of even, smooth flow, couninuous grotzen from
head to tail, extensive veil, and a complete agouti pattern.
A narrow band also runs throughout the entire coat.

Black Velvets should be crossed with clear dark blue and particulary very dark standards.
DO NOT breed your Black Velvet to an extremely dark standard.
The results of black x black will give you a red tinge.
You can cross your Black Velvet buck with a dark
or very dark standard female or visa-versa though.
This will give you an 80% better standard progeny according to some.
Always remember though that there always can be
exceptions to every combination you breed.
If you breed Black Velvet females and standard bucks you will
produce up to 50% very attractive progeny in Black Velvet and standard.
It's been said that the standards from
this cross have been given top marks in the shows.

YOU MUST NEVER
cross Black Velvet with a Black Velvet OR White to White Mutations.    SOHA ne pároztass Black Velvetet Black Velvettel vagy fehéret fehérrel (legyen az Wilson  White v. Pink White!!!)                                                                                                                                
By doing this it will produce a lethal factor. Halálos párosítás!
You more than likely won't produce
any young and if you do they will soon die.
If you breed your Black Velvet to a clear blue standard and
your reddish tinge reappears, you should change partners.
In order to give Black Velvets a nice, stable blueness,
breeders have crossed them with charcoals.
The result has brought back the blueness that is desired.
You may also get a Blue Velvet out of that combination.

Velvetet Velvettel nem párosítunk! Mind1 mivan a "velvet" szó előtt!! 

BLUE SLATE(LUTZ)
The Blue Slate was introduced by a German breeder named Gerhart Lutz.
He created this mutation by mating a white buck with a standard female.
Their progeny were Blue Slate and standard.
That indicated that the Blue Slate was the dominant.
The characteristics of the Blue Slate are:
The color is slate-like, rather blue, but unlike Black Velvet.
It has a pure white fully developed band.
The head is partially slate-like, the eyes have black margins,
and the front and hind paws have slate-colored stripes.
The fur is dense and displays a velvet character.
The abdominal region is white to bluish white.
The skin of the outer ear(pinna) is pink.
This new mutation was shown in 1984 in Munich as
a separate color and received good awards.

ACCEPTABLE MUTATION CROSSES
Rolf Haupt, Egon Moesslacher, Willy Hirscheider and others did a lot of
research, record keeping and planning to come up with the best crosses.
Through years of studies they came up with these breeding recommendations
(apart from breeding with standards):
***Black Velvets with light and dark Sapphires. RESULTS: Saphire Velvet light and dark.
***Black Velvet with blonde, light, medium, and dark beige.
RESULTS: Blonde Velvet(not used for skins), Pearl Velvet, and Pastel Velvet(Brown Velvet).
***Black Velvet with blue, non-gray charcoal. RESULTS: Charcoal Velvet.
***Charcoal Blue with Beige. RESULTS: Very attractive Beige.
***Sapphire with Standard. RESULTS: Sapphire and Standard;
the latter are Sapphire carriers(to be crossed with standards).

Like I stated before..
As with any mutation cross there can be undesirable and essentially useless progeny.
Such will not make good skins for apparel.
They also must not be used for further mutation crosses!!!

CHARCOAL MUTATION

Charcoal skins have been rejected by the fur traders.
This mutation is of importance though as a significant color enhancer and mixer.

PINK/WHITE MUTATION

Not all White chinchillas are albinos.
The true ones can be told by their red eyes.
Whites should be mated with standards.
The results would be:
pure white, white with a dark grotzen and some pied progeny.
If you are one of the lucky breeders you may also receive a Silver
with an agouti pattern and of course standards.
The standards from this combination should not be used for breeding.
The coloration of the Standard has been lightened.
It has been so bad at times that it actually looked yellow-white.

Here are a few other crosses, they include:
***Beige x Standard. RESULT: Beiges and Standard(often off-colored)
***Beige x Beige. RESULT: Beautiful, homozygous Beige with light bluish lower zone,
a white band, and a bluish sheen over the fur(recognizable by their red eyes);
but also frequently off-colored with red tinge.

THESE MATINGS ARE POINTLESS
White x White (lethal factor);  Halálos!!!
Blonde x Blonde;
Beige x Sapphire;
Black Velvet x White;
Black Velvet x Black Velvet(lethal factor). Halálos!!!

I hope this information has helped you somewhat in your mutation trials and errors.