Black Velvet Chinchilla

Black Velvet Chinchilla, as a member of the Chinchilla family, has a very gentle and likable temperament, showing curiosity towards everything. It is a highland animal, very clean and not prone to sickness. What's admirable is that it bathes in sand and can spend weekends without worrying about being alone.

Black Velvet Chinchillas make up 5% of all Chinchilla populations. They have a black appearance, black eyes and ears, black stripes on the outside of their front legs, and white fur on their abdomen. Due to the genetic makeup of Black Velvet Chinchillas, they cannot exist in a homozygous form. The genetic makeup of a Black Velvet Chinchilla is one Black Velvet gene plus one Standard Gray gene.

Chinese Name: 丝绒黑龙猫

English Name: Black Velvet Chinchilla

Common Nicknames: 绒鼠, 长尾龙猫, 毛丝鼠, 栗鼠

Latin Name: Chinchilla laniger

Geographic Distribution: Andean mountain regions of South America

Reproduction: Viviparous

The Black Velvet Chinchilla's most notable feature is their appearance, which resembles rabbits. They have black fur on the outside and a white belly. Despite their small and chubby physique, they are incredibly adorable creatures. The Black Velvet Chinchilla has a relatively long average lifespan of around 15 years. However, their lifespan is influenced by their living environment and diet. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a comfortable environment and a healthy diet for raising Black Velvet Chinchillas.

It is recommended to keep the Black Velvet Chinchilla for pet lovers. The Black Velvet Chinchilla has a small and chubby body. As the name suggests, its fur is black. It looks like a rabbit from the head and like a squirrel from the tail. It's even more absurd that many people mistake it for a cat.

Diarrhea

Causation: mainly related to food. The incidence is highest in summer, and juveniles are more prone to this disease than adults. Feeding feed with high moisture content, moistened pellet feed, excessive feeding of green feed in summer, and consumption of poor quality licorice, fatty feed, fruits, etc. can cause diarrhea.

Symptoms: Mild diarrhea has little effect on chinchillas and shows no abnormal signs. The feces are relatively loose, sticky, and covered with a layer of sticky material. Some feces are stuck on the cage to the ground. When diarrhea is severe, the feces are watery or pasty, contaminating the hair around the anus. Chinchillas often lick the anus, showing restlessness and occasional pain. Diarrhea, especially severe diarrhea, if not treated in time, can easily develop into enteritis.

Prevention and treatment: Mild diarrhea can be treated by adjusting the feed. For example, stop feeding any feed with high water content and high fat content, and further dry the pellet feed and hay. When diarrhea is severe, it is necessary to use medication while adjusting the feed. To prevent secondary enteritis, 0.5 grams of sulfonamide drugs should be fed twice a day for 2-3 days.

Enteritis

Causation: Enteritis is contagious. When this disease is found, it should be immediately isolated and treated, and the entire group should be disinfected to prevent the spread of the disease. It is mostly caused by severe diarrhea, but it can also be caused by other chinchillas.

Symptoms: The feces are sticky or watery, with yellow-green mucus, or blood streaks in the watery feces. The affected chinchillas have elevated body temperature, decreased appetite or anorexia, unkempt fur, shrinking in the corner of the cage and being reluctant to move.

Prevention and treatment: Soak the cage of the affected chinchillas in 1%-2% potassium permanganate solution for disinfection. Treatment can be done by oral or injection of chloramphenicol. The oral dosage is 0.3-0.5 grams, and the injection dosage is 0.35 milliliters, once a day for 3-4 days. Chloramphenicol can also be used orally at a dosage of 0.5 grams and in combination with injection. For chinchillas that refuse to eat, 2 milliliters of glucose should be injected daily.

Eye Inflammation

Causation: Mostly caused by cold or dust entering the eyes during sand baths. In addition, poor sanitary conditions of the breeding environment can also cause eye inflammation.

Symptoms: Redness and swelling of the eyes, increased tears or secretions.

Treatment: Use penicillin eye drops, 1 drop each time, 1-2 times a day.

Pica

Causation: This is a terrible disease with two causes. One is caused by external stimuli in the environment, and the other is genetic. Pica can be inherited by chinchilla offspring, so chinchillas with this disease are not allowed to breed and sell. However, some pet traders still sell such chinchillas and their offspring.

Symptoms: It is generally characterized by neuroticism, irritability, and eating its own fur. Some also bite humans.

Prevention and treatment: It is generally impossible to cure hereditary pica. For those caused by external factors, appropriate doses of complex vitamins can be supplemented for treatment, with generally satisfactory results. Therefore, it is recommended that you carefully observe the appearance of chinchillas when purchasing. If there are missing spots on their fur, please do not buy them.

Heatstroke

Causation: Mainly occurs during the hot summer. When the indoor temperature exceeds 30°C, chinchillas are prone to heatstroke. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen ventilation and take various measures to control room temperature.

Symptoms: Mild cases appear tired, loss of appetite, and slight redness in the ears. Severe cases have accelerated and weakened breathing, inability to stand, leaning back, and can quickly lead to death.

Prevention and treatment: Immediately move mildly affected chinchillas to a cooler indoor environment, and apply a layer of cooling oil to the nose. In severe cases, treatment is often ineffective as they can quickly die. Therefore, prevention is the main focus of this disease.

Constipation

Causation: The main causes are feed and dysfunction of the nervous system.

Symptoms: Obvious reduction or cessation of defecation, very small and dry stools. Chinchillas stop eating and drinking, squat in one place without moving, have a humped back and painful appearance, weakened mental state, and closed eyes.

Prevention and treatment: Reduce or avoid artificial interference. Increase water intake or provide some oil-based fluids and easily digestible feed, such as whole milk powder, glucose water, apples, etc. When the above methods are ineffective, the following medications can be used: 1. Injecting enemas rectally; 2. Oral administration of 2% liquid paraffin or soapy water, 5-15 milliliters each time; 3. Oral administration of 10%-15% vegetable oil suspension.

Mites

Causation: Contact with a source of infection (a sick chinchilla) or excessive humidity in the environment.

Symptoms: Hair loss from the roots, in patches on the skin. When blowing away the fur, flakes-like fragments can be found.

Prevention and treatment: Apply a 1% dichlorvos solution to the affected area once a day for 3-5 days. In addition, the chinchilla should be placed in a dry environment.

Malocclusion of Teeth

Causation: Prolonged lack of softwood for chinchillas to gnaw on, resulting in overgrowth of their teeth, hindering chewing and feeding.

Symptoms: Excessively long incisors visibly protrude outside the lips, changing from normal light yellow to white, with swollen lips and drooling.

Prevention and treatment: Always provide wooden blocks in the cage to prevent tooth overgrowth. Use scissors to trim the overgrown parts of the incisors, and apply anti-inflammatory water to the incisors for 3 days.

Trauma

Causation: Bites or injuries.

Symptoms: Skin bleeding.

Prevention and treatment: Apply Yunnan Baiyao externally or use topical sulphur powder at the affected area. Avoid sand baths during the treatment period.

Fracture

Causation: Bone fracture caused by accidents.

Symptoms: Fracture can be felt by touch.

Prevention and treatment: In general fractures, as long as there is no inflammation or affecting the survival, let it heal naturally. Remove high objects from the cage to avoid jumping. Surgical treatment or splinting is not recommended because chinchillas may chew on the splint, and surgery may stimulate nerves, while anesthesia can easily cause death.

In cases of severe fracture, amputation can be performed for limbs. Treat the wound with Yunnan Baiyao and let it heal naturally.

Black Velvet Chinchillas, like other rodents, have teeth that continuously grow throughout their lives. So don't be surprised if you hear a clacking sound while they are being raised. Additionally, Black Velvet Chinchillas are very fond of jumping up and down. They can generally jump to a height of over half a meter. Therefore, installing a jumping board in the cage allows the Black Velvet Chinchilla to play and grind its teeth, killing two birds with one stone. It can also squat on top of the board to rest.

If you have a large cage, you can consider placing a branch for the Black Velvet Chinchilla to climb and perch on. However, it is important to ensure that the wood is harmless to the Black Velvet Chinchilla. If it is a branch that you picked up yourself, boil it in boiling water to disinfect and kill any insects on it, then dry it in the scorching sun or in a drying oven.

The feces of Black Velvet Chinchillas normally have no smell, but their urine does have a slight odor, so it is necessary to lay down a urine-absorbing material in the cage. In cages with a bottom tray, wood shavings, cat litter, or paper straw can be chosen as water-absorbing materials. However, it is worth noting that although pine shavings have a strong deodorizing effect, the substances contained in pine wood may cause asthma in Black Velvet Chinchillas. Unprocessed pine shavings are not suitable for use by Black Velvet Chinchillas.

Black Velvet Chinchilla cages should not be placed in direct sunlight. The living environment of Black Velvet Chinchillas should maintain good air circulation, but they should not be placed directly under air conditioning or in a drafty position, as this can easily lead to uneven heating of the Black Velvet Chinchilla's body and cause illnesses such as colds and diarrhea. Do not place Black Velvet Chinchillas in hallways or in places where people frequently walk and disturb them. The cage should be placed against one or two walls and not in the center of the room. However, it is important not to place the cage directly against walls with wallpaper or wall panels, as Black Velvet Chinchillas may chew and ingest them. Try to place the cage of the Black Velvet Chinchilla on a chair or table to give it a broader perspective and allow it to observe its surroundings. Do not place it directly on the ground. The key points for the living environment of Black Velvet Chinchillas are: quietness, avoidance of direct sunlight, elevated position, dryness, and ventilation.

As for how often to comb it, it can be based on the shedding of the chinchilla. When the chinchilla is shedding, you can comb it more frequently. However, chinchillas do not shed their fur in spring and autumn like many small pets. Chinchillas shed their fur based on the growth of their hair, not according to seasonal changes. During the shedding process, the old fur generally starts from the neck and goes all the way to the tail. At this time, you can also observe a not-so-obvious boundary line between the new and old fur.