Daily Archives: 24 December, 2007

Heat Stress

Posted on by January 22, 2013

Heat stress claims the lives of many llamas every year. Proper grooming, including shearing, is required especially of long-wooled llamas. Shade and ventilation, including the use of fans to circulate air around the llamas can prevent the occurance of heat stress in all but extreme conditions. When the temperature and/or humidity are high, llamas should not be stressed, which can include transporting, showing, herding/running the animals, packing, or breeding. They should have access to shade, air flow, and fresh, cool water. Some breeders add electrolytes to the water source.Pools of water such as kids plastic wading pools are sometimes used by the llamas, as are natural ponds and streams. Wetting down a sand pile in a shady area can provide a cool place for llamas. Hosing down the llamas legs and under the belly can help. However, be careful not to wet the llamas body wool, as this will create an insulating wet blanket and make the heat rejection more difficult.

Symptoms of heat stress include high respiration rate, open-mouth panting, foaming at the mouth, staggering or walking stiff-legged, inability to rise, and collapse. A rectal temperature over 102 degf for an adult is indicative of heat stress. Animals exhibiting symptoms should be treated immediately to bring down the temperature.

Complete shearing, wetting, soaking in cold cloths, ice or alcohol packs applied under the belly and to the back of the head can help bring down internal temperatures. A cooling enema can also help. A collapsed animal is in critical condition, and your vet should be consulted immediately. Complete recovery from severe heat stress can takes weeks, or longer; if the patient survives.

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Fighting Teeth

Posted on by December 30, 2007

The fighting teeth are very sharp, dagger-like teeth, on the upper and lower jaw, developed by the male llama upon maturity. They are dangerous to all those around him, including humans. Both geldings and intact males will develop these teeth. They need to be removed at the gum line, which can be done by your veterinarian quite quickly using OB wire. The teeth may in time grow back, and the procedure needs to be repeated, so they should be checked for regrowth periodically. Occasionally, females will develop a significant set of fighting teeth that also should be cut, although this is not as common.

Male Ilamas have sharp-edged fighting teeth which may begin to erupt by two years of age. These teeth are along the side of the jaws about halfway back. There are two on the upper jaw and one on the lower jaw on each side of the mouth. Fighting teeth have very sharp points and cutting edges front and back and are curved like a crooked finger. Some Ilama owners choose to have tooth cut by their vet, but many feel that the procedure is simple enough to be considered a routine part of their herd management.

Cutting Fighting Teeth

The most commonly used technique for removal of fighting teeth is to cut them off at the gumline using a flexible braided cutting wire known as obstetrical or OB wire, available from your veterinarian and livestock supply stores. Special metal handles are available for gripping the ends of the OB wire, and if these are used a 24″ length of wire is adequate.

OB Wire Saw and Handles

Restrain the animal in a chute. A large diameter lead rope can be inserted across the lower jaw to help to keep the mouth open while cutting the teeth.

Carefully retract the lips on one side and hook the wire behind the forward upper fang. The fighting teeth are slightly curved backward, so the wire will find its proper position at the gum line as you pull the ends of the wire forward. The OB wire is designed to cut only hard tissues like bone or tooth without cutting soft tissue, so once the wire is in place the animal may be allowed to close his lips around it.

Both ends of the wire should be directed forward out of the mouth, one end held in each hand. Draw the wire across the tooth by pulling first with one hand and then the other at a rate of about one stroke per second while maintaining a firm pull on the wire. Usually the fang will be cut off neatly at the gumline in about 15-20 seconds. There may be a little bleeding from abrasion of the gums, but this is no problem. Any sharp edges or points which remain can be smoothed with an ordinary metal file. Make sure that the sharp, severed crown of the tooth is out of the animal’s mouth before going on to the single lower fang on the same side, and then the rear upper fang. Repeat the process on the opposite side. After one use the wire will coil when tension is released. This makes placement on subsequent teeth a bit more difficult, but the same piece of wire can be used on all six teeth and even reused on additional animals if disinfected in Betadine solution prior to re-use.

Fighting teeth can be cut off as soon as they have erupted even 1/4″ and this is sound management policy. The teeth will continue to erupt until the animal is 4-5 years old, so put a reminder in your files to check the teeth of your males every 6 months and redo the procedure if necessary. Female Ilamas can get small fighting teeth. These erupt much later and usually are not removed.

Shearing

Posted on by January 22, 2013

Llamas should be sheared of their burden of wool for the summer months. A complete shearing, head to toe, on longer-wooled llamas, especially those that have developed matted wool due to lack of regular grooming, can be a heaven-sent gift to your llama! Other shearing styles are popular that do not remove as much wool. Belly, or barrel cuts, with attention paid to opening up “breathing space” in the arm pits, in front of the rear legs, and under the tail, are often used on show llamas.

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Got My Vote Showing off his Summer Haircut

It is dangerous to leave a  llama unsheared, or to not shear enough wool to provide adequate cooling just to make the llama more attractive at a show. In the past several years, the majority of llamas participating in shows in the warmer season are shorn.

Any animal developing heat stress symptoms that has not been sheared should be sheared immediately.

We typically shear all llamas over a year old, although we have sheared younger animals with particularly heavy wool sooner. We also shear our short-wooled llamas. Leaving about 1 inch of wool will keep the llama from sunburning. Regular sheep shears or Fiscar Scissors can be used. Shearing should be performed before hot weather starts, which will also give time to grow back a significant coat for winter protection.

Shears

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Lister Sheers

Many different tools can be used to shear your llamas. If you only have a few llamas a large pair of Fiscar scissors can be used to shear your llama. Scissors give a nice mottled or contour look. If you have more than just a few llamas you may want to invest in a set of electric shears and one or more sets of extra blades (1 set for every 3 to 4 llamas). The extra blades enable you to work your way through the entire herd before you have to send your blades back to be sharpened. Our favorite set of electric shears are the Lister Lasers (Orange). They are a little heavier than the Lister yellow handle shears but are much more powerful and enable you to get more shearings with a set of blades. We have had very good success sending our blades back to http://www.premier1supplies.com/. They have very quick turnaround and do an excellent job of returning your blades in like new condition.

I would caution against sending your expensive blades to your local sharpening service because it takes special centerless grinders to grind the correct curvature into the surface of the blades. If the blades are ground flat they can overheat and loose their temper.