Can iguanas live in cold weather? Reptiles fall in Florida on Christmas weekend

While iguanas are not native to Florida State, they do have similar inclinations to Floridians i.e they are not used to the cold. As the Sunshine State faces Arctic frost, officials have issued warnings for reptiles falling from trees.

Over the past few years, Florida has seen temperatures drop to below 40 degrees. It is reported that this holiday season, temperatures may drop to the low 20s in the inlands and skirt around the 30s along the coast, according to the National Weather Service in Jacksonville.

Christmas time calls for a different type of rain; the reptile laying belly up (Image via Getty/Tim Chapman)

While the state may not see a white christmas yet, it will see a green one due to the usually cold-blooded reptiles who hand around on trees.

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Iguanas can survive the cold, but just barely

The National Weather Service Office in Miami issued a "falling iguana" warning to residents. This unique weather feature has been previously issued twice before. These giant lizards, though cold blooded, can survive in cold weather. But, once termparatures drop to below 40, they slow down and become immobile.

This immobility means they can no longer cling onto branches and are often seen falling from trees, as if raining. A professor and reptile expert at the University of Florida, William Kern, told Newsweek:

"Iguanas are cold-blooded and at night with no sun to provide solar warmth, they become torpid, unable to move."

Wildlife experts have warned Floridians not to touch or pick up fallen reptiles. They mentioned that once they warm up, they'll get back up on their own and move back into the trees, which they like to call home.

More advice came from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who informed us that these wild animals may act in self defense if seen in unfamiliar places, so they advised locals not to take them home in a bid to "save them." They are not dead, just cold. The Conservation Commission said:

"Never take cold-stunned iguanas into your home! These are wild animals and may act defensively once they warm up and recover."

The cold weather, however, is not all bad news for the iguanas. Males of the species can grow up to 5 feet long and weigh as heavy as 20 pounds during this weather, and residents should be watchful of them.

A Floridian local captured an image of a stunned reptile (Image via Getty/Joe Cavaretta)

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Iguanas have otherwise been harmless to mankind and have even been deemed safe enough to keep as pets. Reports of the lizard-like reptiles started in the 1960s around Miami-Dade County, while their natives are more tropical areas like the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

As mentioned by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, green iguanas can grow up to five feet and weigh close to 20 pounds. Females can lay nearly 80 eggs a year. At this time of the residents just have to keep a watch and mind their step.