So I've been thinking about this thread a lot. First off: I don't think breeding those 1500+ gram girls you've gotten up to size is a problem.

But on the topic of 800-1000 gram females, unless they're older (4+ years) and it's very clear that they're well-fed and just smaller animals.... I simply wouldn't bother breeding them? Even if they lock, I wouldn't expect a younger animal of that size to ovulate. Even if she ovulated, I would expect either small eggs or a small clutch (1-4 eggs), probably both. And then they have to recover their breeding weight. Whereas waiting gives them an extra year of growth, and maybe I'd get a clutch of 5-8 eggs?

That's part of why I want to give my 2007 a year off after this season? She's het lavender, and I'm breeding her to another het lavender. She laid 5 eggs last year, and one of them was a visual lavender albino. She's got 4 follicles brewing up this year. It's only 1 in 4 chance per egg, right? So I kind of wish I'd given her the year off THIS season, and given her a chance to put on some real weight and make a nice big clutch instead.