Please Help: Feeding Elderly Alpaca

TAH

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Have you tried fodder?
 

Mini Horses

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Do you have a zoo near you? If so, they may be able to advise or their vet would be more informed about exotics.

Just a thought. And as long as he is not suffering more than you, I applaud your working out his issues. I have many old mini horses and have used a lot of Blue Seal over the past 35 years! My old gals have lost their jaw teeth, so hay is not an option BUT the Blue Seal Sentinel Senior is an extruded feed which is also a complete feed. They are happy & me too. It is a puffed nugget, so the saliva in their mouth softens it nicely (yes, I've tried it to see if it was soft to chew!) and I don't have to worry about choke and such.

You can call Blue Seal and they will have a nutritionist who will talk with you and help with info as to what your animal can/cannot have and needs. TSC here carries a limited line of Blue Seal but will order special for me! I know you will find a solution.
 

DressageQueen

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Do you have a zoo near you? If so, they may be able to advise or their vet would be more informed about exotics.

Just a thought. And as long as he is not suffering more than you, I applaud your working out his issues. I have many old mini horses and have used a lot of Blue Seal over the past 35 years! My old gals have lost their jaw teeth, so hay is not an option BUT the Blue Seal Sentinel Senior is an extruded feed which is also a complete feed. They are happy & me too. It is a puffed nugget, so the saliva in their mouth softens it nicely (yes, I've tried it to see if it was soft to chew!) and I don't have to worry about choke and such.

You can call Blue Seal and they will have a nutritionist who will talk with you and help with info as to what your animal can/cannot have and needs. TSC here carries a limited line of Blue Seal but will order special for me! I know you will find a solution.

Unfortunately I can't find blue seal anywhere right now but will see if we can get any. I have some rescue minis too. They are such cute little things. I have a mother/daughter pair and the daughter has dwarfism but not so bad that it affects her health. She gets a little underbite that we have to fix yearly though. :)
 

Alexz7272

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What feed stores are near you? You can feed Llama feed if you cannot find Alpaca specific. Mine have had sheep feed as they are penned together, never ever had an issue, also have sweet feed out occasionally, local breeder does the same and with their elderly they use Purina equine senior.
 

mocnarf

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In my pasture, there are several trees, Cedar Trees, and Douglas Fir trees. My alpacas constantly nibble on the branches or more specifically the needles. I try to discourage it but they also manage to get into them. I have looked online to see if evergreens are harmful to Alpacas and can not find any specific info about it. For sheep, it is not a problem. I have not noticed any problem with their poop nor with their general health and they have been eating these leaves for quite some time. Does anyone have any additional knowledge about this. Is it enough of a problem for me to be concerned?
 

Latestarter

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I don't know for sure but based on the fact that they keep going back for more and no apparent harm has come so far, I'd guess in this case at least, they know "what's good for them".
 
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