Florida couple use alligator for gender reveal party

The Childs-Wrights have owned Amos the alligator since 2000, Fox 13 reports
7 News Miami/Fox

A Florida couple have revealed the gender of their unborn baby with the help of an alligator.

Stacie and Chad Childs-Wright, from Tampa, enlisted the assistance of their pet alligator Amos to make the big announcement.

Video footage shows a barefooted Mr Childs-Wright dangling a balloon on a stick in front of the fully-grown reptile.

After a few failed attempts, Amos eventually chomps down on the rubber ball, releasing a plume of pink powder.

The crowd of onlookers can be heard cheering with delight as Mr Childs-Wright walks away from his scaly sidekick.

The expectant father is qualified to handle the pet, thanks to his job as a nuisance wildlife trapper for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

This will be his and his wife’s tenth child “within their blended family”, according to Fox 13 News.

The beloved alligator has also been part of the family since 2000.

It is not the first time alligators have been recruited for the "gender reveal" task.

A family in the US state of Louisiana were even bolder with their version last year.

In a video clip posted on Facebook, reptile farm owner Mike Kliebert went so far as to shove a watermelon into the jaws of an alligator – by hand – which exploded with a spurt of blue jelly.

Animal charity PETA deplored the act, writing in a statement in March 2018: "What better way to reveal the sex of a baby than by dragging a 61-year-old, partially blind alligator into a crowd while blasting music?"

The Kliebert's video has been viewed more than 11 million times since then.

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