Sexing chinchillas seems to be very challenging for the inexperienced chinchilla owner and often time for veterinarians as well. Many unexpected litters are born because of mistaken sexing. So never be embarrassed by asking for advice.
So lets talk about way the mistaken sexing occurs and it may help you determine the sex of your chinchilla. First, and this is quit important, ti is best to hold the animal by the base of the tail, and gently lift the rear legs up to look at the genitals. Holding the chinchilla any other way often makes the genitals “scrunch” up and males can be mistaken for females.
In this photo to the right this is actually a female. But this is the tricky part, females has a vaginal cone that is often mistaken for the male penis. The arrow is pointing to the vaginal cone. Notice there is no space between the anus and the vaginal cone. The only time females look differently is when they are in heat in that case the “sealed” space between the anus and vaginal cone may be “open” and there may be a discharge of milky to almost clear moisture. Otherwise this is the way a female looks.
Ok Now it is time to see the difference in the male chinchilla photo to the left. In this photo we are looking from the side view which shows a space between the anus and the penis. Both these photos are of fairly young chinchillas. As the male matures the testicles are often very visible on each side of the penis. They can especially be seen in warmer temperatures. But the important thing to remember is there is actually a space of bare skin between the anus and penis, even in newborns, there is a space large enough for a Q-tip to fit in the space.
Another photo of a Male and female side by side from Sunshine Chinchillas is pictured below. Female on the left and male on the right
Why is it so important for us to know the sex of our chinchillas, as a pet owner you might not even care what sex you have. It makes a difference if you want a second chinchilla and are going to try house them together. We do not want OOPs babies.
As reputable breeders we want to ensure that every baby born has the potential of improving the breed of chinchillas. As with all animals, there are possibilities of animals carrying genes that can produce poorer quality animals and even animals with abnormalities and limit the age of what the animal can mature to. Some of these bad genes produce malocclusion (a gene that causes painful teeth to growth excessively fast ) causing an animal great pain and early death. But there are other genetic undesirable traits as well, such as, heart murmurs, diabetes, and others. As reputable breeders we keep pedigrees, and eliminate these know health risks from our breeding herd.
If you want to become a reputable breeder we are here to mentor and train you - please reach out for guidance. But, if you are a pet owner, we want you to have the most healthy chinchilla, who will likely spend as many as 12-18 years of quality time and companionship with you!
Still have questions, reach out to empresschinchilla@gmail.com