Ever Seen Salt Shoot Out of a Nose? by Elaine A. Powers, Author

Snalt

window shade with salt sneezed on it from an iguana — Window shade has been “Snalted”

Have you ever seen a video of marine iguanas sneezing? They’re usually perched on rocks after their feeding swims, basking in the warm sun. Suddenly, iguana after iguana starts sneezing. A narrator explains this is how the marine iguanas rid their bodies of salt. Humans get rid of extra salt in their urine, but iguanas, all kinds, expel extra salt by sneezing it from nasal salt glands. Now you know: When you see an iguana sneezing, he doesn’t have a cold.

The sneezed salt is called “snalt.” It comes out as a spray that covers everything in its way. It dries as crystals around the iguana’s nostrils and is easily brushed off—of them. On other surfaces, however, it can be quite difficult to remove. Glass requires a glass cleaner, soapy water, and sometimes, a sharp blade to scrape it off. Snalt corrodes metals just like saltwater!

One of my favorite iguanas, Algae, would stick her nose into my ear to sneeze. (I think she was trying to clean the wax out of my ears.)

One more cool fact: It’s not only iguanas that sneeze salt—roadrunners do, too!

Display case with salt sneezed from an iguana — Snalt is very hard to get off of every surface but the iguanas themselves.

Lyric Power Publishing offers workbooks for teachers, parents and tutors to supplement student education. Here is a link to our fun and interesting Unit on Iguanas.

To learn about our latest science-based children’s books and workbooks, to read our latest blog posts about reptiles, birds, cats, and gardening, in a variety of locations, and about how the books come to be, what inspires an author to write, and many more interesting aspects of the publishing business, fill in the box below and we will add you to our email list.
Thank you!

Science-Based Books in Rhyme and Critter Adventure Stories, PLUS Workbooks & Activity Sheets that Make Learning Fun! Dismiss