How do you flatten armadillo?

[SVanderkolff]

Yah I know,"Run over him with a pickup truck"
Seriously, I have a really nice piece of armadillo 10" by 4" that was shaped into about half a sphere. How do I go about flattening it.
Thanks
Steve

 

[zerogee]

Dang, beat me to it. But seriously, it's keratin - same as true horn. The shape may be a problem - likely you'll need to cut it into strips first, but you should be able to shape it with heat. You'll probably need to heat it to about 240F (just a bit above boiling point - wouldn't hurt to have a pan of water in the oven too - don't have the armadillo in the water though) to get the best flexibility, then clamp it to flatten it - then allow it to cool completely while clamped to set the shape. Might be a good idea to put the steel (or whatever) you're going to flatten the armadillo between in the oven with it.