The alligator's nest simply looks like a compost pile, mainly because that is what it is. The heat of the rotting vegetation will incubate the eggs, and help determin the gender of the young. Gender genes are locked into place by temperatures during the first 21 days in the nest. Warmer eggs will produce males, cooler eggs females. The incubation period tends to be about 60 days. The average egg laying in the Glade is July 1st (+/- 2 weeks,) and the average hatching date of September 1st (+/- 2 weeks.) Mothers will help the young emerge from the nest, providing the nest and eggs were high enough to stay above the rising water levels of the wet season in the Glades.