Baby alligators are called hatchlings. When hatchlings reach maturity, they grow to be approximately six feet long. Mature males are known as bulls, and mature females are referred to as cows.
Alligators mate in the month of May. The females build nests and lay 20 to 50 eggs. The gender of a hatchling is determined by the temperature during the 65 days of egg incubation. If the temperature remains below 86 F, then all the hatchlings will be females. If the temperature stays above 93 F, then all of the hatchlings will be males. If the temperature varies between these two, then a mix of genders will hatch. Hatchlings stay with their mother for the first one to three years of life.
