Alligators are carnivorous reptiles whose primary feeding time is at night.
Small alligators will eat snails, frogs, insects, and small fish. Larger gators will eat fish, turtles, snakes, waterfowl, small mammals, and even smaller alligators. Examinations of alligators' stomachs have even found such objects as stones, sticks, cans, fishing lures and other assorted items. Some researchers theorize that they may be used for ballast, or that they serve some purpose in digestion. Alligators swallow their food whole.