What do you feed armadillos in Minecraft?

Spider eyes. Select one on your hotbar and use it on the armadillo; holding one also makes armadillos follow you.

Why can't I find armadillos in Minecraft?

They only spawn in savannas and badlands, spawn fairly sparsely, and are small enough to blend into the terrain. Search slowly at ground level.

Why does my armadillo curl into a ball and refuse food?

It is scared. Sprinting players, players on mounts, and undead mobs frighten armadillos into rolling up, and they will not eat until they calm down and unroll.

How do you grow a baby armadillo faster?

Feed it more spider eyes. Each feeding shaves time off its growth, the same trick that works for most baby animals.

How to Breed Armadillos in Minecraft

Armadillos are small, shy, and weirdly important. They are the source of the scutes that become wolf armour, they scare spiders just by existing, and they are fragile enough that losing your only pair hurts. Breeding a backup population is the sensible play. Here is how it works, including the one behaviour that trips everyone up.

Where to Find Armadillos

Armadillos spawn in savannas and badlands. They are small and their shells blend into dry grass and terracotta, so scan the ground slowly rather than sprinting through. You need two adults to start, and transporting them home by boat or lead is usually worth the effort before you breed.

The Food: Spider Eyes

Armadillos have exactly one favourite food, and it is an odd one: spider eyes. The same drop that poisons you is a delicacy to them. Spider eyes drop from spiders and cave spiders killed by you or your tamed wolf, and witches can drop several at once; desert pyramid chests hold them too. Bring more than two, because you will want extras for growing the babies.

How to Breed Armadillos Step by Step

Put spider eyes on your hotbar and select them. Nearby armadillos will notice and start walking toward you.
Do not sprint. Sprinting, riding a mount nearby, and undead mobs all frighten armadillos into curling into a ball, and a rolled-up armadillo will not eat. Walk, and wait for any curled armadillo to relax and unroll.
Use a spider eye on each adult. Hearts will appear as they enter love mode.
The two will move together and a baby armadillo spawns right away.
The parents then need a few minutes of cooldown before they can breed again.

Babies take several minutes to grow up, and feeding a baby extra spider eyes speeds that clock along noticeably. If you find a baby you want to keep small permanently, current versions also let a golden dandelion pause a baby mob's ageing, though that is very much a luxury.

Why Bother Breeding Them?

One armadillo plus a brush already gives you scutes forever, so why breed? Because armadillos die easily. Low health, long journeys, one bad lava crossing, and your scute supply is gone. A bred colony at your base is insurance. As a bonus, spiders are afraid of armadillos, the way skeletons fear wolves, so a few armadillos around your animal pens double as a pest control system.

Slow approach, spider eye in hand, hearts, baby. It is a gentle little routine, and it beats hiking back to the savanna because your only armadillo met a cactus.

From Colony to Scutes

Breeding pays off at the brush. Every adult armadillo can be brushed for an armadillo scute, repeatedly, and scutes are what you combine to craft and repair wolf armour. A small colony means you can outfit a whole wolf pack without worrying that brushing one ageing armadillo dry leaves you short. Keep the colony somewhere safe and enclosed, well away from the undead mobs that panic them and the drops that can kill them, and your wolves can march into the Nether in fitted armour while the armadillos that made it possible nap peacefully at home.