Albino Alligators: Interesting Facts

There are less than 50 albino alligators in the US, and they are kept animals.

Albino alligators have much smaller chances of survival in the wild, it is thought.

Their youth is precarious because they stick out so starkly to predators.

What do you think is the main predator of baby alligators?

Older alligators.

But they also face other difficulties. Can you guess one difficulty a pale alligator would face?

Sunburn. They are highly susceptible to sunburn.

America’s 50 kept albino alligators are exposed to a bare minimum of sunlight per day. They need a certain amount in order to get the vitamin D required by their bodies.

Albino alligators share the interesting traits all alligators are known for. Chief among those is their eating ability.

Alligators have a 3,000-pound bite–the strongest of any animal. They often break their teeth.

Do you know what happens when their teeth break?

Unlike many species, new teeth grow back in the place of the broken tooth. Alligators always have full mouths of teeth–for their whole lives–no matter how much they use or abuse them.

Alligators can also digest at a very high rate. Juvenile alligators can digest a quarter of their own weight in food in a single sitting.

To digest large meals, alligators shunt blood away from their lungs to their stomachs, and produce more stomach acids to break down their meals.

The stomach acids in an alligator are very acidic. Less than 2 pH, much like lemon juice or vinegar. Large bones can be digested in an alligators stomach in 13 to 100 days… completely.

Albino Alligators: Interesting Facts