All About Crocodiles Crocodiles are left over from the age of the dinosaurs. Crocodiles are great hunters due to their lightening-fast reflexes. Crocs propel themselves in water using their powerful tails and webbed feet. They are nocturnal which means they hunt mostly at night. After mating, females bury from 10 to 60 hard-shelled eggs into a nest which is either a hole dug in the ground or a mound of plants formed by the mother.
Crocodiles are good mothers.
Most females stay near the nest and protect it from predators until the hatchlings are ready to come out. After two months trapped within it's shell, the hatchling needs too much oxygen and needs to come out. Once the hatchling are out, the mother will often carefully pick them up in her mouth and carry them to the water. If a hatchling can't get out, the mother will gently pick the egg up in her mouth and crack the shell, encouraging the hatchling to come out. Hatchling's generally stay near their mother as they grow, but eventually spread out, sometimes getting eaten by other crocodiles.