Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now I am really confused.
I saw them dead this morning, they did not move, blink, or anything like they usually do. Now, I go out their 6 hours later to remove their bodies and they are alive!!! What is going on?
Do anoles get dormant if they are too cold? The room I have them in is a sunroom. The room temp. got down to 50 last night, but I had a red light on them. Is it possible that the red light just wasn't enough?
I'm so happy!! I thought that I had killed them somehow, but they are moving. What happened is that our sunroom is not heated with our furnance. Instead it is heated with it's own ventless heater that runs off of propane. Our propane tank ran out.
So I've turned on our electric baseboards (we only use them as backup) So gradually the temp. is increasing.

Will someone explain to me about what happens when they get cold because they live in Florida, and their are days in Florida that it is only 40-50 degrees? How do they survive down their without a heat bulb?

A temperature of 50 degrees would not cause your anoles to look or act "dead". As you mentioned, temperatures in Florida are in the 50's and 60's regularly... Anoles will be fine as long as the temperature does not go below freezing (assuming they can heat up during the day). Also, if the temperature is low for an extended period of time, them may brumate (hibernate), but even while brumating, they will not appear dead, ie. they will move around if startled, etc.

So, I am not sure what happened with your anoles... it is a mystery to me.

Dave

Anoles don't generally hibernate even in the nothernmost portions of their range. They will seek sheltered places when the temperature gets into the 40's and 50's but can endure even those temperatures for some time. They remain active and will eat throughout the colder months when the opportunity presents itself.
I have no idea what may have made your Anoles appear dead!

I remember reading somewhere, (maybe in an R.D. Bartlett book or article about anoles?) that occasionally, the morning after a hard freeze in Florida, anoles would "litter the ground". It wasn't clear whether they were frozen stiff and dead, or whether they were just so catatonic from cold that they had lost their grip on their perches and fell off. I had assumed that they were dead, but maybe not?

Another possibility - could there have been gas fumes, carbon monoxide, or even propane from the empty tank in the room? Maybe they had passed out from the fumes, and recovered once the room cleared. It takes much smaller amounts to affect small animals... You know, like the proverbial "canary in the coal mine"?

I don't know if this helps or not - just some theories...

Lisa