Ok!! CALLING ALL LLAMA OWNERS!!!!

[jacks'thunder]

HI! I need some help please! My hubby and I just went to an auction and rescued 2 skinny llamas. Not super skinny but a little under weight. Now here is the hard part. I know nothing about llamas! The lady says they eat hay like minis and sweet feed........ ok how much? And how about their feet? Worming? Shelter?

We pick them up tomorrow morning. They were both very friendly and came right up to us. The lady said they came from a petting farm that now has no use for them. They have no halters or leads, are there special ones for them or can I use a mini halter(XL) for now. I'm worried about them over nite but we had no trailer(hubby bought on impulse and a kind heart). We have no llama experiance so any and all advice would be appricated. We do have some wonderful friends that have a llama but I wanted my forum families opinion! They are soo cool! I can't wait to get them home! But I want to do things right for them.

Thanks in advance!!!

Leya and 2 llamas named Thunder and Wilson!

p.s. they are both beautiful but shaved funky! Thunder is white w/ light brown polka dot spots and Wilson is black and white pinto colored!

WOO HOO!! I'm so excited!!

 

[Miniv]

I'm not a llama expert by any means......We have two adults that give us a cria every year.....

They get wormed with Ivermectin, get a tetanus shot, feet trimmed, and their wool shaved in summer.

Our's eat the same hay as our minis and they share in the same grain, although I'm told they don't need the grain.....

There are special llama halters sold at most feed stores or ranch supply stores, but I'm sure a mini halter would work fine in a pinch.

Are they halter broke? If not, you may want to take either a length of PVC pipe or a panel to herd or guide them into your trailer. As long as they aren't panicky, they respect barriers.

MA

PS: Forgot to mention shelter -- Llamas are even more hardy than horses, I think. But they do need something to keep them out of the wind and rain/snow. Our's get along great with our minis and act as guard animals for our youngsters.

 

[Marnie]

I'll let you know a few things I've found out, I'm a fairly new llama owner too. You should go into your search engine and write in Llama as they are a very different animal. For one thing, they say everything you know about horses, throw it out the window, things don't pertain to llama's at all.

Our vet and the books I have say this about deworming. every 2 or 3 months, deworm with the paste Pancur or Safegaurd and every 2 or 3 months, deworm with INJECTABLE Ivermec. I deworm my minis with Ivermec from the vet, by mouth, this isn't the same thing, my vet says to get it at the farm store, the same thing for pigs and cattle. And you just squeeze the skin together and inject it under the skin, not into the muscle. Once a yr they need a CDT shot.

Copper is bad for llamas.

Theres loose salt for them, not the same as the minis, I put mine up higher so the minis cant' reach it, it'll give them the diarreha but the llamas should have it free choice, I was told its the same as for sheep, at the farm store too. So far I'm using some that the people gave me.

I was also told that they can get whole grain stuck in there intestines but so far, they get the beet pulp and the same grain and sweet feed that my baby minis get. Next time I have my grain mixed, I'll have the oats rolled or crimped or whatever you call it, can't think right now.

They said it's very important to clip them in the spring as they can handle the cold well but not the heat. Clipping is a must.

They chew there cudd alot, like a cow, have more than one stomach. They really are interesting animals but with the web at your fingertips, you can find out all you need to know.

Good luck and bless you for buying them and giving them a home.

 

[whiskeyranch]

There was someone with 3 beautiful Llamas for sale on LB. Maybe you could contact them?! Have fun, I love Llamas!

 

[Ashley]

ARe they really thin? Llamas are not fat animals. They look fat with all the hair but you would be suprised by how small they really are when you sheer them.

Sheering at the very least around the belly in the spring is a must. They do over heat easly if some is not taken off.

 

[JO~*]

Their hoofs (toes) have pads under them. Yes they do need triming sometimes, the hoof part that is.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

Hi Leya, I bet you'll do just fine being a first time Mommy to the llamas. So when do I get to see a picture of the 2 new additions? (or you could always bring them along WHEN you come up

) That was super that you helped these 2 out, sure wish all animals would find a happy ending

. Marnie gave you some good advice, I would get on the net and do some research on them too. Corinne

 

[shminifancier]

On hot days if not clipped and they don't have to be clipped, A nice spray with a hose through out the day is the thing to do. I lived in AZ. and belonged to The Southwest Llama Association., and some do not clip what I saw. And it is warm out there all year round. Many do because of the wool and they spin it themselves to sell and use, but not all of them clipped their llamas..I am sure some had "Misters" in there barns etc. to keep the temp done. This was in the PHX area, not in the mountains. Even had pack races on one of the "Mountains" called South Mountain.. Had a fine time with that group of folks. Hauling my mini in the car I felt right at home when many of the people in the they haul the Llamas in their vans~! I liked that a lot

My friends in Iowa never have clipped theirs but in the summer sure had to Spray water on the Llama to keep cool on the very hot days.. But you don't have to clip as long as you want to keep doing the spraying with the hose

and as far as winter goes they have all that hair they like being outside just have a shelter that they can go into. But don't have to close them up in the snow and such as winter has. As long as they can get into the shelter.

 

[runamuk]

You definately want to shear in the summer...if you leave the fleece on for too many years they can get all manner of creepy crawlies living in there

. They are just now really learning about the species and it turns out they are actually quite different from sheep/goats which is often how many vets choose to treat them.......for instance they are very resistant to anesthetics...my friend had one a young cria about 6 months that hadn't been properly raised it got a diseae that would have been prevented by the cdt shot...it had to be put down......this cria was in a coma and still required a dosage that would have put down a 2000 lb bull

.

here is an excellent site with lots of info...good luck have fun llamas are neat critters...my son thinks differently after being "horked" on by a neighbors bossy llama years ago.......that llama spit is bad news

lampedia

 

[SIX_GEMS]

We are part of the llama and alpaca club, who are incidently, managed the same. We have 8 alapcas and 5 llamas. As everyone said, ideally they are wormed with sub q ivermectin monthly to protect them from meningeal worm which is carried by white tail deer. So if you are one that has deer in your area, do the injectable montly, it will save your llamas life and a lot of heartache in the long run.

We do have ours all shaved in the spring but another important thing is that we always keep a child's swimming pool in the pasture so they can lay down and get wet. The llamas and alpacas love it and it really keeps them from getting heat stroke. Of course, it will need to be changed daily but our llamas/alpacas come running when we are filling up their pools..they also love to be squirted with the hose!

They really are wonderful animals and great pack animals...in fact, my youngest daughter used to ride our biggest male with a halter and a lead rope...he was great about it and she had a ball doing it. She is now about 95 lbs and did this a few years ago, so he was not over packed and really didn't seem to have a problem with it. He is a big boy tho, probably about 350-400 lbs.

Ours eat our horse grain and oats, timothy/grass hay mix and do very well. There are loose minerals you can get at the local agway and a few different brands of feeds specific for them. Ours are all halter broke and the llamas are very friendly...the alpacas are more of aloof animal, but their small size makes them so attractive, esp to people who like smaller animals.

I think the llamas/alpacas are a lot easier to manage than horses, so if you know about horses, llamas will be a piece of cake. The hardest problem is if you have a sick one, very few vets know much about them so often it means a trip to Ohio State for us. I really do like them tho and I think most people that do venture to get a llama, really do enjoy them. I would not want a whole big herd of them like we have with the horses, but a couple in each pasture to help watch what is going on is great. We have also crossed the llamas with a suri alpaca and had some very beautiful La Pacas....!! They are small and have the personality of the llama...so it really is the best of both worlds.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to send an email or PM.

good luck!!

 

[jacks'thunder]

Thanks so much for all the info! I spent alot of last night web surfing to try and find out as much as I can on them.

I do have a few spacific questions that I can't find answers for, so if you guys can help that would be great.

Weight- How do I tell exactly if my Llama is under weight?

When I pet his back I can feel all back bones going right down to the ribs. Also bones in his hind leg area(where the leg meats the back) stick out.

Teeth- What should their teeth look like?

Both of my Llamas have bottom teeth that stick out frome their lip. Kinda like a bull dogs teeth.

Treats- What can a Llama have for treats?

I'd love to give them a snack but I don't want to give them something thats toxic for them.

Thank you all so much!

Leya

 

[jacks'thunder]

Ok I'm going to try and post pictures of them!

The brown one is Thunder

And the black and white one is Wilson.

 

[Ashley]

They look like they could be a tad thin but nothing extream.