PONCHATOULA, La. — A Ponchatoula family is internet famous after posting a video of a couple’s very unique gender reveal.
The video — which has been viewed roughly 3.5 million times as of Tuesday evening — shows Mike Kleibert, better known as T-Mike the Gator King, using an alligator to reveal the gender of his and his girlfriend’s baby.
Kliebert opens the jaws of an alligator and waits to be handed something about the size of a bowling ball. As friends and family cheer him on, Kliebert puts the ball into the gator’s mouth.
In a split second, the gator’s jaws burst through the “ball” — which was actually a hollowed out watermelon. And to the delight of the crowd, gobs of jello come flying out. The gobs are blue.
It’s a boy!
Kleibert, owner of Kleibert’s Turtle & Alligator Farm and a former Swamp People cast member, said Sally, the huge gator they used for the gender reveal, was hatched even before his own father was born. She’s as tame as an alligator can be, Kleibert explained, and even knows Kleibert’s steps when he walks up to her and talks to her.
“That gator we used for the gender reveal is not just a gator or a pet. It’s a part of our family,” he said.
Kleibert brought a much smaller gator to the News with a Twist set Tuesday afternoon to talk about the viral video.
“I thought it was great,” girlfriend Rebecca Miller said. “I think a cake is simple. He likes to go over the top with everything, so we had to take it over the top.”
Kleibert’s family opened the first gator farm ever in Louisiana. Not only does the farm let people interact with alligators, Kleibert spends much of his time educating the public and trying to show them that alligators are more than stereotypical killers.
“A lot of people don’t know that alligators were endangered, almost extinct, and if it wasn’t for gator farms … there’s a possibility that alligators wouldn’t be here today,” Kleibert said.
Learn more about the Kleiberts and their gator farm in the video below: