Sapphire

A sapphire chinchilla is a blue-grey color variety of the domestic long-tailed chinchilla, Chinchilla lanigera. The color is usually treated as a recessive mutation, so a chinchilla may carry sapphire without showing it. Visible sapphires have a cool slate, silver, or powdery blue-grey cast rather than the warmer agouti look of a standard grey, and the belly is commonly white. Shade can range from light to dark, but sapphire is a color variety rather than a separate species or true breed.

Daily care is the same as for other chinchillas. Their housing should stay cool and dry, with safe shelves and wood to chew. Dust baths keep the dense fur clean, while a hay-based diet supports teeth and digestion. Heat and humidity are bigger risks than cold in most homes, and the fine coat should not be bathed in water. Breeding sapphire responsibly depends on knowing which animals are carriers, because pairing guesses can produce unexpected standard-grey kits or weaken type if color is selected ahead of body, temperament, and coat density.

Colors: Dark Blue-Grey, Light Blue-Grey, Medium Blue-Grey, Silver Blue-Grey