Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my girlfriends sister gave us her vieled to try to nurse back to heath cus weve had pritty good luck with our 2 but it dident work out. im pritty shure it died because it had nothing to climb on in his cage so therefore stoped eating and by the time it wanted to it was to week to expell waste or something. Anyway now i have this extra cage and i was thinkin of rigging it on to my big guys cage but i was wondering if there could be a risk of disease/parasites. if there is whats the best way to completely disinfect it?

Also i baught a female about 6 mothns ago (shes about a year old now) to breed with my male (about a year 1/2 old) but he just seems to big. weve tried it and they are both receptive to eachother and willing (the female is sexually mature and everything too) but when he went to mount her he caught his hand on her eye, so i interviened and removed her, and ended up giving her a eye infection. does size matter or should i jsut let them do their thing?

Clean the cage with bleach and hot water before using it, that will take care of any lingering parasites.

Size does matter. I have a 24" male Panther Chameleon (Zeus) and he has trouble mating with the girls but he has been sucessful with a small female in the past. I've been seeking a larger female for him for nearly six months now. I would put your pair back together to see if they can work it out.

However, if she is not cooperative, you should seperate them. I also owned Zeus's father and his mate (a very large pair). They mated several times but one time she wasn't receptive and while he was climbing all over her trying to find the right position she bit him on the exposed hemipene. He couldn't get it back in and so I rushed him to the vet. The vet told me, "I can get that back in, I've seen much worse." He dissapeared into a back room with Zeus Sr. and a little later came out and stated "I couldn't get it back in, I had to amputate it with a lazer." Zeus Sr. then sufferd one massive infection after another in his vent region. I got a new vet. After eight months of painful lancings and anitbiotics that caused him to vomit, I had him put down. The treatments were just too much for him. He made auduble moans in the vets office. It just wasn't right.

Yes, it is true. It has been said that it is best to have the female a bit larger or close in size for breeding. This way the female will not be as intimidated. But you say they have both been receptive to one another and have attempted to mate. Depending on what you are having them mate on or in will determine how your male handles your female. Many attempt to mate their chams outside of cages etc or in areas 'easily visibe' so they can watch, sickos.

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0.2 Chameleo Chameleo Calyptratus
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.2.0 Dead Chameleons