I've handled gators of various sizes from hatchling up to 4 feet as well as been in fairly close proximity to animals that were 8 feet and bigger(within a few feet). I have not kept any yet, but I don't plan to do so until I am properly set up to do so as well as have the proper permits and papers.
Hatchlings tend to be fairly shy in my experience and I've free-handled a few dozen without even a nip. However, sometimes they get defensive and will try to bite. But from a hatchling, this is nothing serious, but darn it hurts
Most of the juvies I've dealt with have been the same, although they will show more tendency to bite because it seems that with their bigger size comes more bravado. lol But if you regularly interact with your gator at times other than feeding or cleaning from a young age, you are very likely to have a very docile animal on your hands. However, I will not argue that a bite or tail slap from any gator over a foot and a half is not fun.
I've been in close proximity to adults in captive situations as well as in the wild and never been attacked or even felt very threatened. They usually hit the water to get out of my way or just plain ignored me. I've had the occasional large one hiss at me, but I backed off and no harm done. Unless you present a serious threat to them or their babies or unless they think you're food, you shouldn't have to worry too much(not that I would go swimming with them though
). And of course an adult can and will do serious damage under certain circumstances.
Now, when it comes to "taming" them. In my honest opinion, you cannot "tame" any species of reptile. They are wild animals and are very powerful. And they KNOW it. Certain species and individuals will tolerate handling and fair amounts of prodding and poking, but others will not(and even the nice ones have their limits). Personality can be generalised for certain species(like alligators tend to be pretty inoffensive for instance), however, each animal is an individual and they don't always read the books we do when it comes to how they should act. This is especially true of any crocodilian species(and by the way, to the person that said alligators aren't crocodilians, no offense, but try again) and the proper precautions should always be taken when handling or interacting with them. Crocodilians are just as deadly and dangerous as venomous reptiles, and no matter how "tame" you think you're gator is, all it takes is ONE mistake to earn a trip to the hospital or morgue.
When it comes to numbers, I am not sure of exact figures, but I am sure it is in the thousands easily. Alligators are not farmed in the numbers that they once were for the skin and food trade, but there are still active farms out there. As a rough estimate I would guess a good 10,000 alligators hatch on farms each year(of course these numbers could be WAY off, I'm being VERY conservative I think) and out of that I would estimate MAYBE 20-30% of them enter the pet trade(being rather generous in this regard I think). Luckily, things have changed and there doesn't appear to be as much demand for a pet gator like there was. Crocodilians are most definitely NOT for everyone, and thank goodness the majority of the public(both herpers and non-herpers) seem to realise that.
But the bottom line is this when it comes to your situation:
1) If you were in NO violation of any written laws and your animals were not in a position to be threat to the general public, you're animals should not have been confiscated and destroyed, NOR should the game officers have even come to your door.
2) If you were caring for them in a responsible manner and the animals were not subject to unsanitary or cruel conditions, again, you should have your case.
3) If your state does not have any regulations concerning large herp or crocodilian species from being kept by private individuals, again, there is no reason you should have been visited by the game department and had to go through this ordeal.
Best of luck on your case, however I feel that you have a hard fight. But, since you did not violate any laws, I am honestly shocked to see the judge did not simply throw this case out based on the fact that there is nothing for you to have violated in the first place.
