Ebony grows sooooooo slowly!!

Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

Help Support Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Anne-Lise

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2009
Messages
401
Location
Québec
I knew ebonies were slow growers, but boy this is killing me :p My little boy will soon be 8 months old (born June 4th). He arrived here in September weighing about 400g and now he's up to 530g. What are your experiences with ebony chinchillas and the time they took to be fully grown? How big did they get?

My little lovable Mister Brown Stone (don't ask about the name, I got a bf with lots of imagination!)
 
I have an extra dark ebony chin that I got at the same time I got a PW chin. They were only a month apart in age. The PW was a month younger. The PW was always bigger and grew much quicker. The eb grew slowly and is on the smaller size. I don't know if this is typical as I know nothing about breeding chins. But they are both beautiful chins in their own right and they are both excellent pets. Never sprayed on me once. :D
 
They sometimes take a loooong time. Ronda had one of her males in breeding really fill out and become wider in the chest at 5 years. I've had them continue gaining up to and past three years. Males in particular. :)
 
I know his parents were a georgeous couple of 5-6 years old for the female and nearly 10 years old for the father. I guess he's on the slow side hun....
 
He looks so much like my L.T. (Little Tornado). 550 grams at 6 months but I think he holds a lot of promise.
LT3010209.jpg
 
What a georgeous little one rcr! Yep you're better at taking picture than I am! I took about 20 shots to get that one that is not so bad....

I 'planned' to put him in breeding at 1 year 1/2 but I hope he'll get that weight soon!!
 
Last edited:
I have an extra dark ebony and he'll be 2 years old in one month and he only weighs 590. I was told by the breeder that extra dark ebonies tend to be on the small side.
 
I feel the darker ebony the chin, the slower they will grow. White ebony, about the same. I always wait at least 2 years with them to make sure they are fully grown, and have had a steady weight every month for at least 4 months before putting them into breeding.
 
I agree with the "depends on the genetics", not to mention the number of kits in the litter, nutrition, etc. The Eb male (very dark!) that won section champ at MCBA Nationals last year was 750 grams at 6 1/2 months, and by the time he was RGSC at the WI MCBA show in October, he was 920 grams! His sisters (it was a litter of quads) were around 800 by October. The male happened to be fostered to a standard female that littered the same morning, and has fantastic milk production. Is that why he got to be such a super chunk?? Not sure. His daddy is only 700 grams, but momma was 1000 when she won section champ at Nationals. The three girls I showed last weekend at the Heartland show were 700, 750 & 760 grams, all were put in the homo eb class based on their color but they are not homo ebs, and they ranged in age from 8 to 10 months. I have one August baby that is giving me FITS at 585 grams, but I am trying to be patient. I like strong, steady growth but do find that the ebs keep growing well past a year in many cases--at least at my house! The color phase doesn't seem to be the determining factor around here, moreso how growthy the parents are and if they get off to a fast start or not.

But regardless, I love ebony and find they are worth the wait!!:)
 
Chinniechantel, you just confirmed what I thought I was going to do: wait till his weight has stabilized, so I know he's probably over with growing.

Think they were two in his litter. He's from Whitewoods, got him at the NY show in September. So far he's just grown really well, he's blocky, fur looks just great. Hope he keeps on improving!!
 
Sometimes with the slower growers it can be hard to know what kind of treasure you've got if you don't wait. I know I have an ex. dk. ebony male who held steady around 600g from around the age of 8 months to a year and a half, thought he was probably done with most of his growing. He is one of those chins who looks bigger than what they weigh in at though, so he was not a small 600g chin. As soon as he hit 1.5 yrs old he grew almost 140 grams in a span of just two months, with no feed switch and no environmental changes. Almost all of it seemed to have gone to his neck too, now he has really gorgeous conformation.

Also on a side note: this is why you can't use weight as a sole factor in determining pregnancy. He obviously wasn't pregnant yet gained as much as some females do while pregnant!
 
Personally, I think if you consider any size gained after a year you are barking up the wrong tree. You are gonna lock slow growth genetics into your herd and have issues with it for years to come. What does it matter if an animal is a 850 gram beast at 2 years old in breeding if it got a second at 10 months because it was a shrimp? If you breed for show, you need animals that are gonna show well at show age.
 
But a slow grower could be as great looking as a fast grower. Yes I agree it's better if they get that weight 'faster' but the important thing for me is the result and the health. 850g at two years old in breeding is great! I just don't see things like you do I guess, I see it the opposite. If the chin IS gorgeous and DO throws great kits.....so what does it matter is it took him a while longer to grow? By the way there's no show in Canada, so I do whatever I can when there's one not too far from the border.
 
Like I said, if you are breeding for show, you need animals that will show well at show age. A animal that is small will not show well, and by the time it has size at two years it loses it's clarity and condition, so it won't show as well again at that point. Especially as a small breeder who doesn't have hundreds or thousands of animals born each year to choose from and have in perfect condition at the perfect time we need to be more diligent so that when a show comes around we have animals that aren't gonna end up under the table.
 
I have to agree with Jeff on this one. Most of my animals mature, and have their final growth spurts around 12 months. Even this can become a problem, as if there isn't a show around that time we are out of luck.

Having an animal that matures at 2-3 years old, IMO isn't a good breeding tool. Especially if the line continues to produce animals that mature at 2-3 years old. How can you possibly show them and have them do well?
 
How can you possibly show them and have them do well?
You can, and they often do. Several breeders on the west coast are guilty of showing oldtimers and taking the top awards at shows with them. Linda clark got Grand and Reserve with her two last year.

Often it's just to fill out your show string, or support the chapter. With so few attending, it's nice to bring as many as you can.

Just noticed that this forum has a high ratio of puking smilies on the list to my right. Interesting.
 
I've taken 2 and even 3 year old to nationals just for the fun of it and taken firsts, but that is the exception, not the rule, especially with ebs where there will be oxidation issues.
 
Well that would mean that most ebonies would never show?! I mean, as most ebonies DO grow slowly....... I completely understand what you mean, but I'm confused as to what it implies. As it is a well known fact and that most breeders told me that ebonies grow slower than other mutations, so if an eb is not at his top at 8 months, it should not be bred??
 
Back
Top