Quote Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki
It's very easy to kill a young/small male by over breeding it ... even if you rest it often ... if you don't have a lot of experience detecting URI's at their earliest stages, breeding young/small males might not be the greatest idea in the world ... of course many males will be fine, but I know dozens of inexperienced and experienced breeders alike that have killed very expensive animals because they did not want to wait for the animal to grow larger and stronger before breeding. Like so many aspects of ball python husbandry, it comes down to what you personally feel comfortable doing.

-adam
I would say that's a accurate statement... I personally wouldn't have bred my male if he was any smaller than he is now. I am pretty aware of how much is taken out of these animals by breeding... I've done alot of researching but not only that talked to alot of other breeders about their experiences and opinions. I then made my decision... I quarantined both animals, fed them on a regular schedule and have weighed them rather frequently and marked all of the information down.

Seeing how rapidly my male has grown and how healthy he is. He is not obese but he is not thin. In my opinion he couldn't have a better body structure. Of course this is my decision and if something WAS to happen then I would be at fault for knowing that he was a little underweight. Personally though, I feel he should be just fine. That's my honost Gut feeling...I'm being careful but...at the same time I'm giving him his chance to prove he is a man lol...