A special throat valve allows alligators to feed while underwater without the risk of drowning. In addition, alligators have a large, muscular tail that helps propel them through the water. Alligators are carnivores. Alligator diets tend to change as the animal grows larger. Young alligators typically eat smaller prey such as snails, insects, frogs, and small fish.
Larger animals prey on fish, snakes, waterbirds, turtles, and small mammals.
While alligators are famous for their carnivorous eating habits, few people are aware of some of the interesting facts surrounding an alligator's start in life. The eggs are incubated for about two months by heat generated by the organic matter in the nest. Nest temperatures affect the sex of the hatchlings. Nests maintained at in-between temperatures produce both sexes. Females remain near the nest to ward off predators and to be close at hand to hear the call of the hatchlings.