Armadillos are an incredibly unique animal. They are found across North, Central and South America and nowhere else in the world. There are 20 different species of armadillo in existence across the Americas.
In mating, armadillos are not very monogamous. A typical female armadillo could mate with two male armadillos while a male armadillo could mate with up to three female armadillos. The pregnancy can take from two to four months depending on the species of armadillo. Armadillos are actually able to pause and prolong the pregnancy if they choose and will often do this if they feel an environment is unsafe.
Male armadillos are not very active in the raising of the baby armadillo and their role stops after mating. This does make a little sense considering it is unlikely that any armadillo would know which male was the father.
Baby armadillos are born in litters of 1 to 12 with strong variance across species. Once born they are totally reliant on their mother for milk and support. In the early stages, the armadillo will remain in a burrow for two to five weeks before emerging. Even after this baby armadillos will stay with their mother for almost a year and will continue to be fed by their mothers for half a year.
The most outstanding feature of an armadillo is its hard shell. When born the shell is soft like leather but will harden within a few days. The babies learn the skill of rolling into a ball within hours of being born. While the babies are incredibly cute they would not make good pets. This is because they require a large area to roam, eat a lot of insects and are primarily nocturnal. If you are considering an armadillo as a pent we strongly advise against it. The internet is full of cute armadillo baby pictures to satisfy your cute pet needs.
