It raining iguana's! - Worldwide Wildlife and Environment Forums

frostfire · #1 (**permalink**) 07-01-2008, 05:26 PM

I read an article today that I found quite suprising. It said that because of cold weather, the tree-dwelling iguana's in the southern parts of Florida are freezing stiff and falling out of the trees. Iguana's apparently need a temperature of at least 23 degrees, but last week the temperature dropped down to 4. Under these circumstances the iguana becomes paralysed, only his heart remains active, untill he warms up and 'defrosts'.

The tropical iguanas in South Florida aren't native species, but are released pets which originally come from South-America
Locals see them as pests because they are eating away at the native vegetation of Florida and are seen to be taking over the area.

paul m · #2 (**permalink**) 07-01-2008, 06:30 PM

Could be quite nasty having a frozen iguana dropping on your head - they can get to quite a weight!

Strange weather
Frosts in Florida, floods in Oz .... Crews work to restore access to flooded properties - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Quote:

Originally Posted by frostfire

I read an article today that I found quite suprising. It said that because of cold weather, the tree-dwelling iguana's in the southern parts of Florida are freezing stiff and falling out of the trees. Iguana's apparently need a temperature of at least 23 degrees, but last week the temperature dropped down to 4. Under these circumstances the iguana becomes paralysed, only his heart remains active, untill he warms up and 'defrosts'.

The tropical iguanas in South Florida aren't native species, but are released pets which originally come from South-America
Locals see them as pests because they are eating away at the native vegetation of Florida and are seen to be taking over the area.

frostfire · #3 (**permalink**) 09-01-2008, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul m

Could be quite nasty having a frozen iguana dropping on your head - they can get to quite a weight!

After reading your post I thought I'd look up how big and heavy these Green Iguanas (Iguana iguana) can be. Apparently males grow to a length of 120 to 140 cm and females to 90 to 120 cm (including the tail, which can be halve the body length). The largest one found was a massive 230 cm long and weighed 10,5 kg!