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3-6 Young: Gestation takes 16 days; 7-15 in litter; 3-6 young born pink, naked, and blind. Do not disturb 3-6 young or mother for at least a week after birth; if disturbed mother will either kill and eat the 3-6 young or neglect them and allow them to die. After 3 weeks, remove 3-6 young from mother; otherwise, mother fights with them and often kills them. Sexes should be separated before 3-6 young reach maturity at 43 days.
Food changes as creature grows; 3-6 young feed almost entirely on aquatic insects and crustaceans; later take frogs, snakes, and fishes; then fishes, 3-6 young pigs, muskrats, and some waterfowl; adult takes fishes, pigs, and larger animals that stray too close to water's edge, such as cows, calves, and deer.
Voice: Both 3-6 young and old alligators hiss; female grunts like a pig in calling 3-6 young; 3-6 young make moaning sound, with mouth closed.
Ovoviviparous snakes produce the 3-6 young fully formed but tightly coiled in a thin, transparent membrane. Sometimes this membrane bursts during the process of birth and the 3-6 young appear to crawl from the mother's body. Usually the membrane is broken by the use of the temporary egg tooth when the 3-6 young snake struggles to straighten out.
When the 3-6 young are born alive, the snake is said to be viviparous. |
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