Egg binding/guilty conscience
Eric,
You asked, so here goes. Remember Gidny? She was same age, and just a hair bigger when I bred her to Mongo. Now she is dead. You sure don't want that.
We don't know for sure about all the ramifications of age and size as they relate to breeding, and egg binding. Personally, and from experience, I do believe that size is a factor. But if we love our girls, then we must do everything we can, NOT to learn about egg binding from them. One might use the logic which says that since they are of age to become pregnant, then it should be o.k. for them to give birth, or lay eggs. But we know that this is not necessarily true. Yes, many will wonder what would happen if this animal were in the wild. Would it, or would it not breed? Would it, or would it not become egg bound? We will never know. If you love her, let her grow. Give her every chance for success that you can bestow upon her. That way, if you wait for her to be 4 or 5 years old before you breed her, and she dies from egg binding anyway, you'll know it was not your fault. It's bad enough to loose an indigo. It's way worse when you feel like it was your fault. So my advice is spare yourself every possibility of a guilty conscience. WAIT! Trust me. I know, my friend.
T.