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The idea behind pairing them when they're a little smaller is that breeding will stimulate the female's eating response causing them to put on weight faster. By the time they actually become gravid they're usually at a good weight.
That being said, I wait until they're bigger to breed. I have a couple females around 1300 that I paired this year simply because they're very stocky and I'm sure they can handle it. I know of people who start pairing at 1000 grams but to me it's not worth the risk. You get much smaller clutches and the odds of having complications are exponentially higher. Think of it as a 14 year old girl having a kid versus a 20 year old...much higher chance things will go wrong with a smaller female.
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