my small female

[Kanej]

hi Everyone, so recently i took a 9 month old female veiled chameleon off someone. I only took her because she was in fairly bad condition; sunken eyes and dark skin and plus i had an extra enclosure at home. im now happy to say she is looking very healthy now 2 months later, no more sunken eyes but instead huge turrets always looking about and her colur has improved.
MY ONLY CONCERN is that at 9 months she seems extremely small? i have a six month old male veiled that is almost tripple her size. I was wondering if she just has small genetics? would this affect her and breeding, i personally think she is too small to breed? please any thoughts?

thank you

 

[HaysStanford]

How small is she? Can you give an exact size in inches?

 

[Kanej]

she is about plus minus 3.5 inches

 

[Chameleonic]

On this forum most people recommend not breeding until the female is at least a year old, and in good condition. If she has not been well cared for then she will be smaller - chameleons grow depending on how much they eat, and temps, etc.
Maybe it is partly genetics for your little one, pics would be helpful but you'd definitely be better to wait until you've cared for her properly for at least 6 more months to see if she has a growth spurt.

 

[Kanej]

i shall upload a photo later on, yes but also i am worried that even if i dont breed her she is now at the age that she will still lay unfertile eggs and that may have a negative effect on her?

 

[Chameleonic]

i shall upload a photo later on, yes but also i am worried that even if i dont breed her she is now at the age that she will still lay unfertile eggs and that may have a negative effect on her?

It's possible of course, so you have to try to give her plenty of food to make up for the lack of care, but also not so much that she makes eggs. A difficult balancing act for you.
Make sure she never sees your male, that will make her much more likely to lay infertile eggs. If she does make eggs then she will probably be able to cope, so don't worry too much, just give her lots of extra calcium.