Reptile & Amphibian Forums

thanks for looking

He (I think) looks awesome. He looks just like my male yellow ackie, having the same build and everything but the darker color.

By the way, did you get my email?

Ryan

Thats a gravid female. Cheers

Wow, I was way off. I guess I still have a long way to go before can accurately sex a monitor. My "male" ackie looks just like that, even the swollen belly. I doubt that it is a gravid female, but I could be wrong. Perhaps I and the person who gave them to me sexed them wrong...

Ryan

Oh, now that I have looked at it again, the neck isn't as stocky as I thought it was at first glance. The head shape does look like my "female."

Ryan

Post a pic so we can have fun.

Also, with adults, males have stiff spurs, females are softer, and or smaller. The males are easily popped(everted) females not so.

Comparing head shape is ok, if you seen lots and lots of them. but its only one indicator. Some individuals need several indicators to be accurate. To a point of some individuals defy being sexed(rare). Going by head shape is like humans going by facial hair. It suppose to work, but not always. Cheers

I'll get a pic up of them as soon as possible, maybe tomorrow.
The person that gave them to me also sexed them by their spurs as well. I have never really examined them myself, just casually on the rare occasions that I hold them. Females usually DO have a longer head shape and a narrower neck, don't they?

Ryan

Hey Frank, I did shoot you an email, but can't be sure you received it.

Cheers,
Neal

Hi Ryan, as Frank pointed out, that is indeed a gravid female storri.

Here is a pic of dad. He is not gravid, just kinda fat.

Nice looking female storri! I just had mine die on me last week. She was very gravid as well. She looked almost identicle to yours. She got an infection from a bite by the male. I had not noticed until it was too late. When I found her she was barely alive. The vet gave her some antibiotics, but she died anyways. The bite was not really an act of aggression. I saw him do it, she was in a tight fitting hollow log that he wanted into. He grabbed her by the foot and pulled her out. At the time, I inspected her foot and thought it looked fine (even though he really reefed on it). A few days later I was moving the stacks around to see if she had started to dig a nesting tunnel, then I found her. Her foot was black, and swollen, skin was dry dead and kind of hard. She was very weak and lifeless. Anyways I lost her and she really was my favorite. This storri pair were great animals. Their interactions were almost mammalian at times, they were visibly very fond of each other. I have eggs cookin' that she layed about 7 weeks ago so that softens the blow a little...I just hope I don't screw them up! Later, Ron

That is a bummer. I'm sorry for your loss. They really are fun little monitors.

Their bites do seem to pack a wallop for their small size. It seems like people often end up with dead females.

I hope things go well with the eggs.

Cheers,
Neal

I forgot to ask, what kind of nesting options were provided?

Nesting options are just the dirt in her cage which is about a foot deep. She would just dig a tunnel and lay them at the end of it. Sometimes it would be 2 feet long and about 8 inches below the surface. The last clutch she laid took me a couple of hour digging with a spoon to finally find then extricate. I only have 4 eggs incubating (she layed 7, 3 were infertile). I lost some earlier clutches from either finding them too late or I also had a faulty thermometer that always read lower than it was. Hopefully everything is dialed in right and I can keep her line going. Ron

That sounds about right, it seems like the eggs are in the last spot I dig up. Haha

Cheers and good luck with the eggs.