Or it sinks to the bottom and strolls across, postponing its next breath until it reaches the other side. Observers have reported underwater trips lasting six minutes. The female releases only one ovum per year, but the embryo buds twice, producing genetically identical quadruplets, all males or all females, born with carapaces like soft pink leather. Even more remarkable are the variable delays in pregnancies. After summer mating, implantation of the embryo in the uterine wall normally is delayed about 14 weeks.
Gestation then takes four months, and pups are born in the spring.
But implantation may be put off as long as 2 years, apparently when the female's environment isn't favorable for pups. At SMSU's study site, infrared-activated cameras photographed rabbits, squirrels, opossums, wood rats and wood chucks entering and exiting armadillo burrows. If you find armadillos so novel and appealing you're moved to adopt one, don't rush into it. They're not the best housemates. Glands near the tail emit a musky odor, and at night the little armored one will collide noisily with walls and attempt to dig through the floor.