I got a LLama & a Alpaca male - Now What Do I need to Know - !!!!!

[chickenzoo]

I had a chance to purchase an Alpaca and a LLama, both males, both attached to each other for almost nothing. The Alpaca is said to be 1.5 years, not sure on llama, but seems fairly young. The Alpaca had a metal ear tag that was infected so we removed it. He is in full wool. His hind toenails were growing under so I clipped them too. Llama was in better condition. What do I need to know about their care, shots, feeding, worming - with what etc. I have horses, potbellies that I trim, worm etc., do I treat the alpaca and llama like them? Help!

 

[Chatychick]

I know the first thing is to make sure they are neutered. Also I think that they basically eat browse and some grain but with males I dont think I would grain them just give them hay...dont know but bet they need the same shots like Teatnus and maybe rabies like other livestock and I do know barb-wire is a Big No-No as their eyes are so large and it can cause some problems.

 

[chickenzoo]

No barbed wire here, only use hot tape here, so no worries on that. I've read that some places neuter and others do not, does it affect their behavior if no females are present?

 

[Chatychick]

Not sure but the ones I know of are neutered as it does make them calmer.

 

[Chirpy]

Congrats on your two new family members.

Two intact males should be able to live together just fine as long as they are never around females. Do you know if either of these two were bottle raised? If either of them were you most certainly want to have him/them castrated at your earliest convenience. Males that are bottle raised can end up with Berserk Male Syndrome (females can get this too but it's not usually as bad) which is when they see people as equals. They get very dangerous when full grown. One way to stop this behavior is to castrate them before puberty. This behavior actually doesn't happen real often but is certainly something to think about.

If they weren't bottle raised then I'd still suggest getting them castrated just because I think it's healthier for animals and can prevent potential issues down the road and it does make them more mellow.

They should not get grain, just a good quality grass hay. They should not have alfalfa hay unless it's as an occasional treat. They like fresh clean water so I use pails instead of water tanks with mine as it's much easier to keep pails clean for them.

They should get a CDT shot once a year. Depending on where you live (the terrain) they will need their feet trimmed 2 - 4 times a year. Sounds like you have that covered.

In the early summer you should shear them either entirely or with a barrel cut as they don't do well with heat. They will need a place to stay cool in the summer.

 

[chickenzoo]

It just occured to me that I don't even know if they've been fixed or not! LOL
How can you see anything under all that hair, he he. I took their word that they were males.

 

[conroy]

Post some pics

 

[LlamaChick]

The Alpaca is said to be 1.5 years, not sure on llama, but seems fairly young.

If they are intact you might or might not be able to see achm... their "manhood" at this age but you could see scares if they had been gelded. It depends on each individual animal it can happen from seven months to five years. It is not in the best intrest of the lamas (that includes llamas and alpacas) to be gelded before two years of age. If they are not breeders and are just to be pets it is in the best intrest for you and your lamas to be gelded it is a very simple procedure.

He is in full wool.

If you up north like me I would tell you not to worry about shearing untill next spring but since you are in florida I recommend shearing in the spring and fall, high valocity fans, and kiddie pools/spinklers for them to get their underbelly's cool as lamas are prone to heat stress.

What do I need to know about their care, shots, feeding, worming - with what etc.

They need either CD&T or Covaxan 8 I perfer the Covaxan 8 to CD&T as it contains eight instead of three vaccines. I happen to live in a high white tail deer area so I happen to worm more often than those who don't as white tailed deer carry a worm called menigial worm that travels up the spinel cord and left untreated when it reaches the brain it causes them to die. It is fast moving dease so it is better safe than sorry. If you don't happen to live where there are white tailed deer then you can probably get away with worming every month or every other month. I have found this paper by Dr. Pollard to be very informative. http://www.kentucky-llama-alpaca.org/publish/article_26.shtml

He also has a wonderful mineral supplement. Do you know how to body score? Do you have a scale? How much they weigh has a lot to do with how you feed them. As they are still growing I would still feed them grain as they need the nutrition from it. I feed Mazuri Llama Chews. I would asume that they could be feed to your alpaca but I don't know for sure. They have a good protin content (too much protin=fat) and a high Total Digistable Nutriant content. You can't feed horse feed as the high copper content is a BIG problem for lamas.

I have one adult male, one nursing mom, two adult females, one two year old female, and to crias (baby Llamas). We feed a timothy/orchard grass mix as alfalfa is high in protin. Lamas need about 12% unless nursing or in their last trimester or are old that is what timothy/ orchard grass has but alfalfa has about 16% protin. My male and my non nursing adult females are fat and they get 1/2 cup, my two year old is also fat or else she would get more, my nursing female gets about 5-6 cups of grain and 1-2 cups of alfalfa, and my baby's get free choice grain/alfalfa mix.

Here are some links to other sites that might be useful https://secure.lamaregistry.com/Forms/iwal_web.pdf
www.shagbarkridge.com
http://www.leftofcentercreative.com/linksorgs.html

If you have anymore questions just PM me and I will be more than happy to help you in anyway I can.​

 

[chickenzoo]

Thank you for all the info. I will also get with my Vet and see what he recommends for this area.
I know a lot of people do not give Emu shots but here in Fl they get shots like horses.

 

[chickenzoo]

Here they are ....