Quote Originally Posted by SatanicIntention View Post
So if a 10 year old girl gets pregnant and has a baby successfully, then that's okay too?

Sure, as long as a 6 month old dog goes into heat and gets pregnant first go around, that's ok... 6 month old cat, sure...

When animals get gravid/pregnant what have you, too early, it's detrimental to their growth and can stunt them. I've had it happen in rats and have seen it happen alot when breeders breed them at 3-4 months old when the animal isn't even done growing.
I actually have a theory about this in ball pythons, and I plan to test it. I'll compare the growth rates and clutch sizes of females first bred at 2000 grams, 1500 grams, and 1200 grams. I'll also compare females over 1000 grams bred at age 1 (harder to find), age 2, age 3, and age 4.

Yes, it's not going to be this year, but probably in more like 4 or 5 years. If no one else does it in the meantime, I'll do it.

The premise of the theory will be, ball pythons, like some other animals, have their growth and future productivity negatively effected by being bred when they are too small, though actual age does not matter.

The above testing should show some evidence for or against the idea. I will have to use a fairly large number of animals, and record averages, as obviously genetics and other factors can be involved.

If I turn out to be wrong, that will be significant too, and may change the way breeders manage their snakes. If I wind up with evidence supporting the theory, it will be a confirmation of what most breeders are assuming.

In the meantime, to play it safe, I first breed my female snakes at 1500 grams, and not a gram less.