I need information on Llamas, Please?

[babymakes6]

I have the opportunity to get a male llama (not castrated), from somebody who has one for free. They have him in a pen in the barn with two miniature horses and a mini donkey, because they have no pasture. They are also selling the donkey and horses. We went to see him last night and I really want him, but I have NO experience with llamas at all. He is dark brown, and fairly small. They think he is 3 or 4 years old. He came to me and sniffed my hand several times, but didn't let us come to him. Is this normal behavior for a llama? We are going to put a 5-foot fence around 1 acre of our property, will he try to jump it? They told us that if he wanted to he could jump a 4-foot fence. Are llamas easy to care for and train? I found a very helpful article on llamas, that gave a lot of information, but I want to hear from REAL llama owners, or people that have been around them. THANK YOU!

 

[crittergal]

Hello,

I do not have llamas, but I have alpacas and they are alot alike. As far as temperament, some are friendlier than others, usually depending on how much they have been worked with. They are pretty easy to train and very smart. They do like to have atleast one other llama or alpaca in with them, but other animals such as goats or sheep would probably be okay too. I have my alpacas in a four foot high fence and they do fine with it. For more information you could visit llamanation.com they have many llamas for sale and I think they also have a forum. Hopefully a llama breeder will get on here and give you more info. If you do get him, I am sure you will have fun watching him.

 

[babymakes6]

Thank you, he seemed very sweet, just a little stand-offish. Here is a couple pictures of him:

 

[chickenzoo]

I have a male llama and a male alpaca together and a female llama in another pasture. They have been good natured, although not totally approachable w/o food. They stay in our 4 foot fence and eat very little with nice hay and pasture. They get along with all our other critters also. I do shear during summer and trim up their hoofs.

 

[Whispering Winds]

TAKE HIM! He is darling and they are such sweet animals!! He would be lonely, as they are herd animals, but your other critters will work for him too. . .I have Alpacas and they stand at the fence and talk to each other, because the girl is by herself for awhile until I get the other three up here (two girls and a boy) and one nice thing is they don't eat alot!! Let us know how he does!! This might be the start of a whole new thing for you!!!-

 

[babymakes6]

I really want to, but we need to get a fence put up first! They also have two miniature horses and a donkey that are in his pen that they want to sell. I offered my Golden Retriever as a stud for their (beautiful!) female in exchange for the dapple mini. Now I am waiting to hear back about that.

That way he would not be alone-and I would also get my horse!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

We have four Llamas. Two females and two males.

These guys are no trouble at all. We have them in an rope electric fence and one part of the metal fence in only about 3 feet tall

They respect fences, even low ones. They are a riot to watch run around and are very low maintainance.

 

[mylilchix]

We have 2 female llamas. They do really well in a 4 foot fence, even after 3ft. of snow that they could have easily climbed over. Our girls are friendly, but don't like being petted too much. Ours come and nuzzle our cheeks when we're in the pasture. They don't eat a lot and only poop in one spot. Go for it!!

Sonja

 

[username taken]

It is normal for camelids to be somewhat aloof. Alpacas more so than llamas, but in general camelids are not as outgoing as goats for example.

Its definitely a good idea to get the mini horse as a buddy for him, particularly as he is a known jumper, if he's kept by himself he is likely to jump for sure.

You can halter break him to lead and tie up just like any animal. Being older he'll learn a little more slowly but you can still train him. You can also train llamas to pack - they take to it quite well.

Just bear in mind that if you want an animal you can hug and pat all the time, well, camelids arent really that type of pet. Some like being patted but the majority of them arent overly keen on lots of touching.

 

[NOnuggets]

If you had said that he had behaved any other way - that would have been a red flag! Llamas are aloof by nature. They will approach out of curiosity, but require "desensitization" to be touched and handled. If males are handled too much when they are young, it can result in something called "berzerk llama syndrome" (not kidding) where the llama tries to mount people and can cause severe injury. It is good that he knows he is a llama.
One thing to caution you about though - he is an intact male, and if he does not have a female, he may mount and injure your other animals - as laying down to a llama is an invitation to be bred. I would advise you to have him castrated. While they are doing that, you will also want to have his "fighting teeth" cut. Male llamas grow a set of teeth that are like shark teeth - and they can actually castrate another male with them! They need to be kept short if you want to prevent injury...even geldings can continue to grow them (but more slowly) so it is good to keep an eye on them...
General care involves toenail trimming, CD/T vaccination if you vaccinate, regular worming (meningeal worm, carried by deer, is fatal to them), shearing, and be aware that they are susceptible to ticks, which can cause paralysis (which usually can be reversed if the tick is removed)...
There are lots of llamas "free to a good home" right now, as they live 18-25 years...female llamas do not have estrus cycles like other livestock - and can be bred any day of the year and conceive - unless they are already pregnant. If you have a male and female, you have babies. Please don't, unless you have a home for the baby, or you area is not already saturated with llamas needing homes. This is a soapbox for us, as we have fostered and rescued many llamas, as have many of our farming friends, ...and still can't take enough. They are pregnant for 11 months, and need to care for their babies for about that long, without overhandling by people...
They are wonderful livestock guardians, and trail buddies, but don't enjoy contact the way other animals do. We have children with autism, and if ever there were an animal that embodied autistic traits - it would be a llama - which is great for our kids - because the llamas respect their space.
Llamas are very head and leg sensitive...preferring to be touched on the neck only. They cannot be mistreated, because they do not forget. You have to earn their trust and respect. They are extremely intelligent, and keenly observant. If you like cats, you might like llama temperaments...
All that said - we love our llamas - and would love it if everyone loved llamas - but they are unique, and not everyone enjoys them!
We are so glad you asked questions, and did research before you took the leap - and hope you got all of the answers you needed! We wish you both well!