Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi there, this is my first visit here. Hope to meet some of you guys/gals someday. I just retired out of the Army (Iraq was no fun, but sure seen a lot of large Uromastyx and sand vipers there!). Been herpin' since I was six.I checked out Keith's (Hillson) Eastern King Snake site.
Awesome! I love those Eastern Kings! I will post some pictures of my North C. locals soon! A couple question though: Does anybody know how I can get in touch with Kevin Enge? I hear that he is breeding that large Eastern King I saw in that Photo Gallery.
Is that other big six footer I saw from New Jersey, or just raised there? (Just curios, I didn't think Easterns get that big up North)

Thanks (if you have any questions for me just ask)
No Doctors degree
Not a Herpotologist
Just a dedicated hobbyist (31yrs)

Welcome!! Where those wild euro's mean? tell us more about the sand reptiles you encountered!
Thanks,
DJW

Hi there!
In response to your question, most of the Uro's were pretty docile. Some of the bigger ones would try to bite me, but eventually calmed down after some handling. Others would open their mouths but then close it if you got close enough to stick your finger in it. I caught probably around 50 of them - no kidding! Most of them I caught in Kuwait. You should see them! They were huge! I found two really big ones, one was 30" and the other was 31 inches. The reason I caught so many, is because I had to relocate them all. They were all in danger of getting run over by the Army's equipment within our camps and then of course you know there is this occasional soldier that gets a thrill out of killing anything that moves in order to (attempt to) impress his peers (I had one of those soldiers - but I fixed that problem real quick).
I felt bad for all these lizards because so many of their dens were destryed by trucks & tanks. That is what made them so easy to catch most of the time. They were trying to find their den, only to end up running around in circles confused and scared by many soldiers and trucks.
I also found some smaller lizards but don't know what they were. I'm not quite the lizard expert in the middle east. One thing I do have to admit though Uro's are quite plentiful in that part of the world.
Let me know if you have any other questions,
Thanks

Huhmmm....my first message disappeared into cyberspace. User error.
Well glad to hear you made it back OK.
Do you know what kind of Uromastyx you saw back in Iraq? Any insights on them?
Hope you have another 31 years as a herp hobbyist.

Bill

Thanks for your reply!
I know for certain that all of the Uro's I caught (then relocated, read my first reply) were all Egyptian Uro's, because of their massive size. My biggest one measured 31 inches! Don't know how much he weighed, I guess maybe 2 or 3 pounds. The smallest ones were about 3.5 inches. They all looked alike, exept for the young adults which actually had some pretty yellow coloring all over their bodies. The real old/big ones were usually dark gray, but their size was impressive. I never seen lizards that big in the wild before. I used to think all those Chuckwallas I caught (in the 80's on FT. Irwin) in Southern Cali were big. But they're only a third of what I saw in size in Kuwait & Iraq.

Welcome,

Can't wait to see pictures of your N. Carolina easterns. As you can tell, if you appreciate the "greatest getula", the eastern king of course, you are in good company here. Glad you're back on American soil. Peace.

Will

Thanks Will!
I just thought I would mention I found a pair of 4.5' easterns in the same spot about 7 days apart across the street from my house when I was on a short leave back in June. I found a female on a cool June afternoon. Then I found a male 7 days later in the same spot out in the open as I was walking to the woods to do some quick paintballing with my older son. The female looked as if she may have already laid her eggs. I decided to hold on to her and the male to see if they would mate. And they did! In my front yard under my close (hawk) supervision. I had to go back to Europe after that. My wife then calls me on the 30th of July and says: Your Kingsnake laid 13 eggs! I was cleaning the cage and just found them laying there under the newspaper! Lucky for me, I was able to save all but one infertile egg! The other 12 eggs are still looking good as of today - after talking to my wife.
Take care,

I didn't even think there were many reptiles there, I figured they'd all been killed off by bombing, war, and oil drilling by now...

Glad you're back in the U.S. Sorry I can't answer your questions about kings but I'm curious about those uro's and vipers!

Hi there!
Yes, there are a LOT of Uro's out there, especially in areas where seemingly nothing grows! No gras, no bushes, no rocks - it looks like a giant big brown parking lot. The only visible features are the rabbit sized holes of the large Uro's. Those holes are almost identical to the american gopher tortoise's burrows. And it is also amazing to see the other wildlife that depends on the Uro's. At night, when you shine a flashlight down their burrows you will almost always see the owner, until he retreats furter below, but I have also seen saw scaled vipers, horned vipers,one young desert monitor(a beauty), geckos, scorpions, various beetles and one of the the Uro's enemy the black desert cobra( which hunts and eats small URO's). Without the Uro's out here (no rocks, no plants, not a single visible blade of grass), these other animals would not be able to live out here (Kind of like an Indigo on a cool Georgia morning without the Gopher tortoise and it's warm burrow).Please check the other two replies and if you have any other questions let me know.
Take care