No I don't have an alpaca, but I love watching them. They are such adorable looking animals. Even though I'm in my early twenties I still love visiting a local rescue farm and feeding the alpaca. They don't normally let people get too close but allow me to touch them. :-) If I had more land I'd consider getting an alpaca.
Wow, I never even realized you can have them as pets! The only time I ever experienced them as such was in video games! I would love to have one as a pet, but we don't have the place for it (I live in an apartment).Also, how big can they even get? I imagine you'd need a big place for them!
Just curious. You said they are kept as pets and not as livestock. So if they are kept as livestock, what are they bred for? For milk or for meat? Or the wool?
06-02-2014, 12:10 PM, (This post was last modified: 06-02-2014, 12:10 PM by Happyflowerlady.)
I have never had an alpaca, but I have had a llama before, and they are a great pet. They are not going to be like having a dog, but they are very intelligent, and can be easily trained.
Llamas and alpacas are oftn used as pack animals for hikers, and backpackers. They walk about the speed of a human, and are much easier than a horse to handle. They are not usually used by horseback riders as pack animals, because the horse can walk further and faster, and the llama or alpaca will tire out. When they get tired, they just lie down, and won't gt back up; so it is much better to have them along when someone is just walking, and the alpaca can keep up.
They can actually come in the house, since they are very particular where theey go to the bathroom.
Alpacas will also ride in a car or van, since they climb in and then usually just lie down and enjoy the ride.
If you have a large back yard, they could easily be kept as a yard pet, but would need a small barn or shelter of some kind.
