Justin Kobylka in one of his videos mentioned it as 500-800 grams, which is generally where mine go off feed. Maybe that's because I'm growing them a little slower, so that's just how big they are when they hit that 2nd winter and their hormones turn on.... Generally by the time mine get to 1000 grams, they're home free.
It's definitely not all/only females. Mr. Nibbles, my het pied male, didn't eat ANYTHING for 5 months when he hit the wall. (He also stopped biting me. THANK GOD.) My 2010 enchi female never hit the wall at all, so now she's 1300 grams and ready to go this fall.
... but then there's my 2010 super mojave girl, who skated by on one tiny mouse a month from November-May. She's two years old and a slender little 700 grams, and she's only just started taking full sized rats again every week. Very frustrating, I definitely won't be able breed her until next year. So it's not only females, or all females. But I think it's more aggravating in females, because size is so much more important for breeding girls.
And I don't know of any way to avoid it that's really reliable. Some yearlings do it, some yearlings don't. I just offer food to those animals every other week, and I try not to go completely crazy.
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