Whether viewed in a pasture or glimpsed in the wild, all Llamas have a wonderful beauty because of their elegant wool and attractive posture. Llama and alpaca wool ranges from white to black, with shades of gray, brown, red and roan in between. Markings can be in a variety of patterns ranging from solid to spotted. Little variation is located in guanacos or vicunas, which are light brown with white under sides.
Mature llamas weigh an average of 280-350 pounds., but vary from 250-500 pounds. Full body size is reached by their fourth year, and, while there are not any clear variations between the sexes, males tend to be a bit larger. They are long lived, with a normal life span of 15-20 years.
Like cattle, lambs and deer, llamas are multi-stomached ruminants that chew their cud. There is a hard upper gum (no upper teeth in front), mincing upper and lower molar teeth in back, and an ingenious upper lip for clasping forage together with the lower incisors. Adult males develop large, sharp lower and upper canines for fighting. You must ask your veterinarian to get rid of these to stop injury to males pastured together or to females being carefully bred.
The llamas' unusual specially adapted feet makes them very sure-footed over a variety of terrains, including exotic soils and snow. It is 2-toed with a diverse leathery pad on the bottom and curved toenails in front. The rectangular bare patches on the side of each back leg are not vestigial toes ("chestnuts" as found on horses), but metatarsal scent glands supposed to be associated with the production of alert pheromones. An additional aroma gland is located in-between the toes.
How old is your llama? Era can be determined dependably in young livestock by checking the larger long lasting incisors that erupt to replace the "milk" or deciduous front teeth. The middle pair of incisors comes in between 2 and two and a half years of age, and the 2nd pair at a couple of years of age.
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