The distribution of the type species extends from north-east Queensland (almost to the coast) across to the Gulf region of the Northern Territory. The township of Charters Towers QLD is the type locality. The sub species is found from north western Northern Territory westward to the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The type locality for V. s. ocreatus is no longer accessible as it lays many metres beneath the waters of Lake Argyle. The distribution of the two subspecies does not overlap (MERTENS 1966, SWANSON 1976, SPRACKLAND 1980, STORR 1980, STORR et al. 1983b, WILSON & KNOWLES 1988, HOSER 1989, COGGER 1992, EHMANN 1992). Food consists primarily of insects (LOSOS & GREENE 1988) . Their favored habitat is low rocky outcrops where they construct shallow burrows beneath rocks often firmly embedded in the soil. Throughout much of the range of both species they are potentially threatened by the presence of the introduced Cane Toad (Bufo marinus) as they share the same micro-habitat. The author has personally observed this in the Charters Towers region of QLD after the visiting an area where they were previously known to be common and finding nothing but cane toads in their place.

The keeping of Varanus storri in captivity isn’t always straight forward and easy. They seem to be fairly solitary animals in nature, only coming together for reproduction. Aggression between members of both sexes is often seen in captive animals. The author has seldom seen a monitor that is so aggressive to members of its, own type. It is advisable to keep them separate most of the time and pair them up every now and then for breeding purposes.
The enclosure should be fairly large with a good sized floor area. Artificial rocks can be constructed from Styrofoam and made in such a way as to provide overhangs and crevices to give the animals lots of potential for climbing and also areas of shelter. Tree roots and logs and even some artificial plants may also be added perhaps providing more areas of shelter. If the enclosure has these features, two animals are then better able to be kept together offering them plenty of opportunities to stay out of each others way.
ERDFELDER (pers. comm.) keeps Varanus storri in small harem groups of 4-5 animals in which only one male is integrated. However aggression is occasionally witnessed here too.
Reports of successful breeding of this species have been frequently published. Breeding into the second generation has also been recorded (BARTLETT 1981, 1982, EIDENMÜLLER 1994, EIDENMÜLLER & HORN 1985, FLUGI 1990).
As previously mentioned it is not always easy to successfully pair up an apparently suitable breeding pair. Once successful mating has been observed the male is removed to another enclosure to reduce stress on the now gravid female. About 4.- 6 weeks after successful copulation, the female lays 2-5 soft-shelled eggs. These are then removed to a suitable incubation container onto moist vermiculite or perlite. The eggs are then incubated at 27 – 29°C. The humidity in the incubation container should be kept at around 90 - 95% humidity. However, water droplets should never be allowed to drip onto the eggs as this may cause problems with oxygen exchange and kill the developing embryo. After an incubation period of around 100 days the young begin to hatch. Upon hatching they are approximately 12 cm in total length and weigh about 3.5 g. Rearing of the young doesn’t normally present any problems apart from the fact that they do develop aggressive behavior. Therefore it is advisable to separate them fairly early in the peace. Feeding is also quite straight forward with them accepting small crickets, cockroaches and grasshoppers. They will also occasionally accept caterpillars and wax moths. Frequent dusting with a calcium supplement is highly recommended.