Will cold-blooded animals die without heat?
Eventually, yes. Cold-blooded (or more correctly, ectothermic animals) such as reptiles, rely on outside sources (eg the Sun) to regulate their body heat. They can slow down their metabolism to an almost comatose state until they can get heat again. However, for an ectothermic animal’s body to work at an optimum level it needs heat. If your body slows down too much, you are unable to eat, drink… all the necessary things needed for life. It’s more likely that an animal will die of starvation due to a drop in temperature for an extended period of time, rather than the actual cold itself!
