Show Qualities of a Chinchilla
The chinchilla continually grows new fur in a wave across it's body, called a priming line. The priming line is a line in the fur where the new fur growth comes from the fur folicles, and pushes the existing fur apart slightly. The old fur is shed, although often is held in place in the new fur, and can be removed by regular dust baths and grooming.
The Priming line often shows itself as a darker line in the animals coat, or a slight indentation in the line of tipping of the fur. This is due to the shorter, not fully grown new fur coming in, and also that the new fur parts the old fur slightly, allowing more of the tipping to be seen (making the chin look darker). In chinchillas of poor density, veiling coverage, and depth of tipping, the priming line can often be viewed as a lighter line, due to the visibility of the bar colour at the point the old fur is pushed apart by the new.
The priming line starts at the head and works slowly down the animals back, where it often resembles a 'horse shoe' shape when it passes over the hips, and then down towards the base of the tail. The final part of the chinchilla to 'prime out' is over it's rear legs.
The weather and priming
Priming lines generally start when there is a rise in temperature for a short period. They then continue their progression, growing new fur across the animal for a period of up to 12-14 weeks, until that prime has finished. In many cases, the weather (in the UK) will change during this time and a mild period will result in another priming line starting. Cold spells in the weather tend to slow the rate of priming.
Finish or Prime
Prime is described in the NCS Appraisal Sheet as follows;
Prime - Animal is in full prime with old fur fully grown out, exhibiting no priming lines. In condition and smooth all over, with no breaks or lines in the fur.
Growing New Fur - Priming lines appearing in neck and shoulders, or over hips and around tail. Majority of chinchilla is in prime. Slightly out of condition.
Substantial Priming Lines - Substantial priming lines across grotzen (back) and/or through neck and around tail/hips. Out of condition.
Rough - Animal in no discernable prime, with salt and peppery appearance to grotzen (fur in back). Substantial priming lines and very much out of condition.
Exhibiting chinchillas in prime
As an exhibitor of chinchillas, it should be your aim to take animals to the show which are in prime. If this is the case, they are at their best, and they are giving their owners the opportunity to prepare them for the show to be viewed at the perfect time. In the UK it is rare for many more than 5% of chinchillas in a show to be in full prime, and these tend to be the 4 1/2 to 5 month old young chinchillas (4 months to under 7 months in NCS shows) which are in their first 'full prime' coat, after growing their baby fur, which tends to be softer, out. Twelve to Fourteen weeks later, the chinchillas will hopefully have primed through just once, and will be in full prime again around 7 1/2 to 8 months of age, when they are in the Adult classes (7 months and over) at NCS shows.