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Size AND age combined = maturity. And no argument is going to make me think it's ok to breed an 800 gram female.
I don't think it's right to breed large 2 year olds, either. I think the snake should be at least 3.
Boys, sure--a year old is fine if they're eating great, and are over 500 grams. But people breed these girls too young and too tiny, and then wonder why they always get 3 egg clutches from them.
Kelli, I bred leopard geckos for a couple of years. I wouldn't have my females laying that many clutches, I feel it's too hard on them. One female would produce 3 or 4 pairs of eggs, and then I would adjust the temps and light, move the male, and shut them down for the season. I had one female try to keep on going, I had a heck of a time getting her to quit laying...she just wasn't responding to the lighting changes, and wound up laying 7 clutches. That female wound up doing poorly in the long run.
But that just illustrates my point--people CAN produce a lot more leos in a year than they can generally produce ball pythons, and in a lot less space. And then those babies only take about a year to grow up. That's the reason the leo market is so much more volatile.
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