Re: Growth rate variation.
It could have to do with many variations, These are just things I came up with off the top of my head from Experience ect.....
Feeding(males require less food than females GENERALLY!! The older they are, the less food they need. Your male is likely younger than your uncles. A male at 5' would do fine on a every 2 weeks feeding schedule IMO)
Sex, of course females will get larger, girthier, and weigh more than males
Locality, Your male may be a completely differnt locality than your uncles female. For example, your male could be Suri(which get 8'+ usually either sex) and his female could be a hogg island (females rarely getting over 6') and much older
Age, self explanitory.
Hope this helps you out a bit