When Do Alligators Sunbathe?

Daily Sunbathing

• American alligators live in rivers, swamps, lakes and streams in southern states along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of Mexico. They use a combination of heat from the sun and the cool temperatures of their freshwater habitats to regulate their body temperatures. Alligators usually start the day basking in the early morning sun. They often retreat back into the water to avoid extreme midday heat, and then emerge again in the late afternoon for more sunbathing. The second round of sunshine warms them up for the evening when they do most of their hunting for food.

Designed for the Sun

• Like dogs that pant to cool their bodies, Alligators sometimes keep their powerful jaws ajar while sunbathing to cool down. This posture, called gaping, prevents their heads and brains from overheating while the rest of their bodies absorb heat from the sun. The thick scales on their backs have small plates called osteoderms, or scutes, that are filled with capillaries. As an alligator heats up blood from those warmed capillaries begins circulating throughout his body.

Sunbathing Strategies

• Alligators often sunbathe on partially submerged logs so they can escape quickly into the water if they are threatened. Their black skin and the shape of their bodies camouflage them in this setting, and they are often mistaken as logs. Although they tend to hunt turtles, fish, and other prey at night, during the day they lounge in the sun a short distance from shore and watch for opportunities. When land animals dip their heads into the water to drink the alligator may lunge to capture them.

Winter Months

• Alligators like it hot, and their ideal habitat temperature ranges from 89 to 95 degrees. Still they remain active even when the temperature drops as low as 40 degrees. In colder conditions they often burrow into the mud just above the water line and rest until temperatures rise. Although their metabolisms slow down, alligators do not hibernate like bears or other mammals. When sunlight warms the entrance of their lairs, they rouse themselves and find a spot where they can sunbathe to warm up and re-energize their bodies.