Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In watching one of my v. storri over the last two weeks, I have noticed that he will bite and thrash crickets but can never finally eat them. He also 'misses' when striking at crickets more frequently then before. His mouth has no issues from external or internal inspection. He still readily tongues the air. What are your opinions on this behavior?

I have also noticed loss of pigment on his underside in the last month or so. Both of my other storri do not show this white pigment on their underside. Is it common for monitors to lose pigment or is it some issue that I am unaware of?

as far as hydration is concerned, all three are soaked once every two weeks and provided with two dishes of fresh water at all times. they are fed an exclusive diet of crickets and supplemented once a week with calcium with vitamin D3 and a multivitamin twice a week. the other two monitors in the enclosure show none of the same symptoms and the male with the issue appears to be in perfect health externally with the exception of the loss in pigment.

All i can say is take it to a good reptile vet.

I hope everything works out for yah.

Cheers and goodluck,
Sean

I'm not sure what make of the "pigment loss" or thrashing crickets without eating them, but it sounds like your husbandry is off. If your cage doesn't maintain good humidity levels and/or they don't have the option of humid burrows, then make the necessary changes rather than soaking them.

I dust all bugs with a 50/50 mix of Herptivite and Rep Cal w/D3, every feeding. I raise up my storri on lobster roaches, but that may not work well for everyone. Dusted crickets are a solid staple.

How old are your Storr's?

Cheers

The storri are approximately 7 months old.

I will modify my husbandry to see if that deals with the issue.

Thanks.

hmm, I would reduce the crickets and go with mice and drop the supplements. Maybe dust some crickets with calcium every two weeks and throw them in there to supplement the underdeveloped bones of fuzzys (sounds like the right size for him?). If he is taking fully developed mice I wouldnt supplement at all. Maybe a few crickets now and again (honestly I do this for their own mental stimulation more than nutrition ha, gets them moving and hunting with that ol' gleam in their eye).

Drop the soaking as well, no need, just dump some water over their substrate to keep it a bit moist. Make sure he has the right temp ranges and basking temps. Maybe pull him from the others to better focus your husbandry on just him.

Not saying that is the right way or will correct the problem. I tend to stick with mice more than insects and I have never been a big fan of supplements. I have seen more problems than not associated with varying their diet beyond mice and a few insects and I always figured the reptile supplement industry doesnt have the most stringent quality requirements. I never worked with roaches but their supposed to be great. Who knows maybe a few FT fuzzys is just what he needs. Actually you could try throwing some FT fuzzys in a blender to give him an easier swallow and get things rolling.

A vet visit may be in order just to be sure.

Good luck!

Tom

One of the problems with your suggestions is that storri don't always want to eat mice, especially young ones and males.

Frank Retes has bred many generations of monitors over the last 16 years on crickets dusted with 50/50 Herptivite/Rep Cal.

Cheers

That's cool, just throwing out things to change based on how I keep my monitors. I dont have breeding experience nor experience with Storr's but those are just the things I thought of when I read his husbandry specifics. I just like mice with a few crickets thrown in maybe dusted with calcium, that's about it.

Believe me if I was experiencing trouble I wouldnt hesitate to do exactly what you prescribed. I'm all for changing things up to get better results! Actually I have a juv water that went crazy wild on me so I switched to all dusted crickets for the last two weeks and he is calming down (could also be I moved him and covered his enclosure and just left him the F alone haha).

Anyway, I think the info you provided is solid dont get me wrong.

Tom

And that includes establishing Storrs in this country. And starting the red morph of storrs.

Crickets are far and away the best and most important food item you can give them. Then after you understand how they are suppose to progress you can give them other items if you like, but then you will have something to compare too.

Most advice givin to you is without the associated results. And that is important to understand. Anybody can say anything, but if they do not relate what progress it resulted in, its TOTALLY WORTHLESS.

For instance, we took Storrs from egg to egg in four months. We had them lay as many as 8 successful clutches a year and grow to be over 20 inches. ALL ON CRICKETS ALONE.

The main problem for most is not the monitors, its the crickets. But once you understand crickets, they are VERY VERY easy to buy, house, or breed. One small box will without question, support a grip of Storrs.

They are right about soaking, Storrs HATE WATER, if there is standing water at the storrs habitat, it means it flooding and its time to climb trees. They are NOT found anywhere near standing water. They understand controlling their hydration by using moist burrows and limiting exposure to drying conditions. That and the consumption of food. They normally have no need to even drink water muchless soak in it. IF THEY have a need to soak, it tells YOU the cage set up is WRONG.

What is so very sad about these forums is this. You and other posters must take into consideration(why I do not like to coach newbies) that the keeper does not know or understand much, so everything suggested must include a learning curve.

You can successfully feed many types of prey items, the problem is, how do you know what is best? Or when to change, or how much of each? What is so handy about crickets is, you throw in a handfull and let the monitors work out all of that stuff. With mice, roaches, or other items, you are the one who makes those decisions, So until you know when, how much, etc etc etc, do it the EASY way, feed them dusted crickets. Its totally proven and no one that I know of has better results that I have had with any other captive prey item.

Lastly, the belly fat thins out just before laying eggs. I would look close and see if you see oval yellowish things inside of her. I know, you think its a boy, well we often make those mistakes. To me, that looked like a girl and one close to laying. But hey, what do I know? Cheers

Thanks Frank.

I was only soaking because I had read that it was beneficial for monitors to be able to fully hydrate themselve and remove retained pieces of shed. They are kept on an appropriate soil that holds moisture, so I will do away with the soaking from now on.

The only reason that I was 'thinking' that one was a male was because it displays the most prodominant red coloration of the three that I keep. I have no clue on how to determine sex in storri...or any monitor for that fact...so it was just my assumption. Upon inspection tonight, I noticed that the two smaller storri(the one in the picture included) both have 'thin' bellies and the largest appears as normal as ever. I did not notice any 'oval yellowish things' but go figure...I can't even spot eggs in geckos for the life of me. Hopefully I ended up with at 1.2 group and have two gravid females...i guess only time will tell.

Thank you for the input it is always appreciated.