{"id":42978,"date":"2025-11-11T22:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/42978\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T22:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T22:25:10","slug":"arctic-blast-cold-stuns-iguanas-in-florida-during-record-setting-temperature-plunge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/42978\/","title":{"rendered":"Arctic blast cold-stuns iguanas in Florida during record-setting temperature plunge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/frozen-iguana.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-v-7d0efd03=\"\"\/> article <\/p>\n<p data-v-7d0efd03=\"\">Iguanas typically begin to lose mobility when temperatures reach 50 degrees. Below that, the cold can completely immobilize them. (Cristobal Herrera\/South Florida Sun Sentinel\/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) <\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">A frozen iguana was spotted in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/local-weather\/florida\/boca-raton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boca Raton<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/florida\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florida<\/a> on Tuesday, as the coldest air of the season spread across the eastern\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/us\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">U.S.<\/a>, setting several low temperatures across the Sunshine State.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">The phenomenon\u2014known as &#8220;cold-stunning&#8221;\u2014occurs when temperatures drop into the 40s, and cold-blooded\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/category\/animals\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">animals<\/a> like iguanas lose the ability to move their muscles.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Iguanas were reported falling out of trees across other parts of the state on Tuesday morning, as the cold shocked humans and reptiles alike.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/weather-news\/first-big-freeze-cold-arctic-temperature-eastern-us-snow-south\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FIRST BIG FREEZE OF SEASON GRIPS EASTERN US, AS ARCTIC AIR AND SNOW REACH THE SOUTH<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">According to the FOX Forecast Center, the low temperature in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/local-weather\/florida\/boca-raton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boca Raton<\/a> on Tuesday was roughly 48 degrees.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/local-weather\/florida\/tallahassee\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tallahassee<\/a>, Florida reached freezing Tuesday morning, colder than several major Northeast metro areas like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/local-weather\/new-york\/new-york-city\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New York City<\/a> and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/local-weather\/massachusetts\/boston\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Boston<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Iguanas rely on the sun to properly regulate their body temperature and functions and enter a state of inactivity known as torpor. As the temperature decreases, the lizards lose their ability to grip trees, causing them to fall.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/weather-news\/when-do-iguanas-fall-from-trees-in-florida\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WHEN DO IGUANAS FALL FROM TREES IN FLORIDA<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said cold-stunned iguanas should not be touched or brought inside a home or car.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Cold-stunned iguanas can appear dead but will become active again as the temperature warms up,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu\/earth-systems\/blog\/tell-me-about-green-iguanas\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">according to the Florida Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">The commission warned that iguanas can bite and scratch when they recover and feel threatened. Instead, people are encouraged to call pest control services for help removing frozen iguanas from their property.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxweather.com\/extreme-weather\/video-cold-stunned-iguana-plummets-tree-miami\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">WATCH: COLD-STUNNED IGUANA TUMBLES FROM MIAMI TREE DURING ARCTIC BLAST<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">The Green Iguana is not native to Florida and is considered an invasive species, according to the commission.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">Officials say iguanas were first reported in the Sunshine State in the 1960s and have flourished in Florida&#8217;s climate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">The commission said that escaped or released pets are the main way nonnative animals are introduced into Florida.<\/p>\n<p data-v-6fc2855c=\"\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/us\/fl\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-6fc2855c=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Florida<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/weather\/winter-weather\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-6fc2855c=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Winter Weather<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/science\/wild-nature\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-6fc2855c=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Wild Nature<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article Iguanas typically begin to lose mobility when temperatures reach 50 degrees. Below that, the cold can completely&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[47,28,30,29,554,628,221,14992,26929],"class_list":{"0":"post-42978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-fl","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-florida-headlines","11":"tag-florida-news","12":"tag-science","13":"tag-us","14":"tag-weather","15":"tag-wild-nature","16":"tag-winter-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}