Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I jus thought I would post for whoever that cares that next week I am getting redeployed back to Iraq. I was already there from March through September but then I got sent back home for medical reasons. Well it seems that the Experts involved have deemed me fit enough to go back so off I am going. I will do my best to post from over there but it is hard so if I disappear for days at atime that is way. I am sure that some will be glad of my absense but I would just like to close by saying that all I ever try to do is offer good advice and ask the occasional question. That is it. Anyway, I jus thought some of you might like to know. Todd

It's not a good place to be these days!

Good luck!

Cheers,
Wulf
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http://www.leiopython.de ,
http://www.herpers-digest.com

Anyone who is glad to see you go is a loser. This forum is for people who want to learn and help others when they think they can. You've been doing both! We all owe you a debt of gratitiude for giving up your comfortable lifestyle, playing with snakes, to go fight for our freedom to do the same. Best of luck in your upcoming tour of duty, Todd, and keep us posted on any interesting herps you see there. Here is a list of snakes of the Middle East by VaHerper, another forum member. Watch out for the nasty ones!
Snakes of the Middle East

I thought i would let you all know that in my first tour over there we spent a lot of time isolated in the middle of the desert and we did encounter several reptiles. I thought I would share with you all about that. First off there are spiny-tailed lizards everywhere over there, and I never knew that they got as big as they do. We saw several specimans roaming around that were easily between 2-3 feet long. I caught one small colubrid. I wasn't able to positively identify it but I do know it was a colubrid(no fangs front or rear)and was simular to a reallylong ribbon snake. I saw a saw-scale viper that someone had killed. I hate it when they kill animals for no reason. I told everyone that if they encountered anything else to find me and I would get it and relocate it so it wouldn't need to be killed. There were two reports of egyption cobras but i never got the joy of trying to get one of them. However the ost interesting thing that I saw over there wasn't even a snake(which is my passion). I caught a adult size sand fish. These creatures are amazing. They have the perfect adaptations to allow them to live in the desert. Overall I would say that it has been a successfull experience being able to see some reptiles in there natural habitat but I would much rather be home playing with my burms. Anyway I jus thought I would share some of the experiences with you all. Todd

We don't know each other, but I spent two 6 month deployments over there during Desert Shield and Desert Storm. I know how lonely it can be, how hot it is and how maddening it can be to be with the same people every day. Stay smarter than the other guys.

Joe

There's probably quite a few herps possibly even endemic to Iraq that you might see on your tour. Maybe someone there has a dig camera and you can post some pics! SJM