Watch zookeepers bottle feed little armadillo pup after health scare

Keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo have been feeding an armadillo pup after his mother stopped producing milk.

He was one of two pups born in August living in an off-the-exhibit den with their mother, Amber.

During a routine exam on September 5, the keepers noticed the pups had lost weight and seemed weak.

Their carers immediately rushed the pups and Amber to the veterinary hospital, where an emergency exam was performed.

They quickly discovered Amber had stopped producing milk and began trying to stabilise the pups with fluids and antibiotics.

Despite their best efforts, one pup died at the hospital.

The second pup, a male, responded well to the treatment and started to recover.

After a short stay at a veterinary hospital, doctors cleared the pup to move back to a nursery and since then he has been living in an incubator, mimicking an armadillo den.

He spent the first few weeks in the nursery nestled in a bowl lined with soft towels and sheets inside a warm incubator.

The little armadillo has been thriving in the nursery and steadily gaining weight and has even opened his eyes.