Do Iguanas Eat Less in the Winter?

Hibernation

• Iguanas will hibernate if the temperature drops below 40 degrees. Because the areas they live in do not usually experience such cold temperatures, iguanas do not spend the majority of their time foraging for food to store energy for the winter like animals in cooler climates, such as bears. Lower temperatures also result in a lack of available vegetation for iguanas, so they may eat less in winter due to food scarcity.

Process

• Hibernating iguanas will go into a very deep, sleep-like state in cold winter temperatures. While hibernating, the only bodily process occurring in the iguana's body is the action of the heart pumping blood. During this time, the iguana will not eat at all. However, prolonged periods of such low temperatures are not normal in the iguana's habitat, so the iguana will not starve.

Species

• Green iguanas will only go into their sleep-like state during cold temperatures, but the desert iguana will hibernate as a normal part of its life cycle, because its natural environment can experience cooler winters. Desert iguanas will retreat to a shelter and hibernate when the temperatures drop under 55 degrees. Desert iguanas do not eat before going into hibernation, because once the iguana's body slows down in the cold, food in the iguana's system can rot due to lack of digestion, killing the iguana.

Fun Fact

• Green iguanas are not native to South Florida, but they have established populations there as an invasive species because of the area's warm climate. In early 2010, record low temperatures in South Florida resulted in iguanas going into immediate hibernation, sometimes so quickly they would fall from the trees they were sitting in. Even though the fallen iguanas appeared dead, they were just in a state of hibernation; they awoke and resumed eating once the temperatures returned to normal.