The American Chinchilla used to be known as the “Heavyweight Chinchilla” and originated from selective breeding of the Standard Chinchilla. This is a six-class breed. Senior bucks weigh about ten pounds, and senior does weigh about eleven pounds.
This breed has a commercial body type and needs to be of medium length with well rounded hips and well filled loin and ribs. The shoulders should be in proportion with the rib spread and hips and they should be well developed. A slight taper should appear from the hips to the shoulders, with more length in does. The back should be a gradual arc, beginning at the base of the ears, carried to a high point at the middle of the hips, and extending to the base of the tail. A medium dewlap is allowed on does.
The head needs to be medium full from the ears to the muzzle, with a well filled jaw and face, and a short neck. The ears should be in proportion to the size of the head and carried erect and close together. The ears should match the body color and be evenly ticked. A 1/16 inch of jet black lacing should be distinctly visible on the tops of the ears. The eyes should be bold, large, and bright, with an alert expression.
The feet and legs should be straight, with medium bone. The front feet and upper part of the hind legs should be ticked in a uniform gray and match the body color as much as possible. The color should run down the thighs to a narrow strip on the outside of the hind feet.
American Chinchillas have rollback fur. The fur should be about 1¼ inches in length, very dense, with fine texture, and with a gentle rollback. It should also be free from molt or hutch stain, smooth, glossy, and bright. The color needs to match that of a real chinchilla. The undercolor needs to be a dark slate blue at the base with a pearl intermediate ring, and the top edge being a narrow black band. Above this, there is a very light band that is brightly ticked with wavy jet black hairs to resemble the chinchilla surface color. The neck fur should be lighter than the rest of the body, but strictly confined to the nape of the neck. The chest is ticked lightly with a uniform pearl, slightly lighter than the body. The body color should extend as far down the sides as possible. The belly color, next to the skin, needs to be white or blue, and the outer color needs to be white. The eye circles need to be well defined and narrow, and of a light pearl shade. The underside of the tail is white, while the topside is black, interspersed with white hairs. The eyes may be brown, blue-gray, or marbled, with brown being the preferable color.
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