Dominant mutations

They are called Standard because wild chinchillas are grey. Standards should be a clear blue grey with even veiling (the dark area in the pic). They can range from medium to extra dark in colour. They have grey ears, dark eyes, and a white belly. Standards that show "tinge" , which is an orange or brown hue, should not be used in breeding as tinge is considered as an undesirable trait that is often passed on to offspring.

Tower Beige chinchillas have dark red eyes and beige fur which can vary from light to dark with white bellies. Their ears are pink and have a tendency to develop freckles as they get older. Beiges are very susceptible to oxidisation; this is where daylight reacts with their fur and turns it almost orange. The conditions that a beige chinchilla is kept in dictate how quickly they oxidise.

Black Velvets have black fur on their backs which gradually blends through grey into their white bellies. They have paw spats, like the stripe on the paw of the chin in the pic. They have black eyes and black ears. While black velvets can easily be recognised from birth their colour can continue to develop and darken until they are fully mature (at approximately 18 months).

Wilson Whites have predominantly white fur, sometime with some grey patches (hence the term mosaic), dark ears, and dark eyes. Silver chinchillas are genetically the same as Wilson whites although they are all a soft, even grey with no veiling (unlike standards).

Ebonies are classed as a cumulative dominant mutation. The colour of an Ebony chinchilla can vary between Homo ebony (every hair shiney black) these are entirely black right to a light, or ebony carrier, that can look like a standard (with a few tail tail signs). The colour of an ebony (excluding ebony carriers) continues all the way round it's body, which in light ebonys looks like a dirty looking belly.