What Do You Do With A Llama? | Llama Care and Breeding |Dams | Studs | Crias | Photos | Links | Previously Sold |
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| This is Tapestry and she's looking for a new home. You can see more about her on my dam page along with pictures of her mom and dad. She's actually sized as a mini llama and her first cria was a mini. She's currently expecting a cria in mid to late March. I'm offering Tapestry for $1800. My husband and I are moving back to Georgia to be close to family and Tapestry is the last llama I have left for sale. |
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We're Deloris and Jack Gardner and for 18 years now we've called the beautiful Hill Country our Home. Seven years ago when my husband "took a great fall" and sustained a severe head injury I was not in a position to be able to move closer to family for their help and support. I continued in Fredericksburg since that fateful day, but now find that I can finally make the move back East to Georgia where I grew up and where both Jack and I have family. I'm leaving the below story to explain why we ended up having llamas however currently I've been in the process of finding homes for all my remaining llamas, and actually only have one remaining pregnant female left. Most of my stock has gone to live in NE Texas at Triple T Ranch owned by John and Kim Todaro. When the crias that I was expecting are born I'll be putting their pictures on the web site along with contact information on how to purchase them. As I have always done, John and Kim work with the crias to make them easy to handle and love, and only have a few crias each year.
Why llamas? I was raising Barbado sheep and waterfowl, but sneaky foxes were making off with my lambs and ducks. I was told that I should get a guardian. I started with a search for a guardian donkey, but the ones I found had blue eyes and cost $3000 each. I had been thinking along the lines of $300. I also learned that donkeys can sometimes be temperamental and harm the lambs as well. Then someone else suggested a llama. Owning llamas had never entered my mind, but I decided to investigate that option. The first place I visited had been selling single crias (baby llamas) at 4 months old. I have since learned that youngsters need the companionship of others for proper mental health, not to mention that this is too young to wean a cria, unless the mom's health is at issue. Fortunately for me, the first farm didn't have any crias available. However he did have an intact male and a female, trying to sell them as a pair to keep together. This also is not a good idea! The male could impregnate the female at the wrong time of year for Texas heat, or try to breed her in the midst of giving birth. Also repeated breedings can damage the female. Anyway, it seemed like it was going to be hard to even find good llamas for sale. As you can see from my web site, I finally did purchase llamas, and never regretted it. I get email all the time from people who have purchased llamas with no support from the breeder at all, and they need help with feed and basic care. When you decide to purchase, find out what kind of support and guarantees you can expect from that breeder. The main point of this whole story is that it is important to do your homework before you run out and buy llamas. Visit several farms, learn about the different types of llamas, their care, and whether you even want to consider breeding. Breeding shouldn't be entered into without thought and planning. What are your breeding goals? Do you have the time to spend in training crias? Are you willing to invest the extra money necessary to purchase good sound breeding stock? Do you understand what makes good sound breeding stock? There are many questions you should ask yourself. I have to admit, that watching a cria come into the world, will leave you on a high somewhat akin to watching your own child come into the world. I know I was laughing and crying for joy with the experience. But with this joy and the fun of crias, there is the responsibility to provide a home for that cria. In March 2002 , my husband Jack had a serious accident in which he sustained a major traumatic brain injury including the stem area which has affected his right side and balance. He was in a coma for two weeks. He came home almost 2 months after the accident, where we have adapted to accomodate his abilities. His recovery has slowed down, and now is even declining physically. However his attitude is remaining good, he has a wonderful sense of humor that gets me into trouble sometimes, and he wants to set goals for himself.
After all this discourse, I hope you enjoy "meeting" some of our llamas as you explore our pages. I have a page devoted to basic care considerations, one on personal experiences some of my customers have had with their llamas on the What do you do with a llama? page, and a links page that includes other very nice llama farms as well as links to pages devoted to llama education, places to purchase supplies and llama associations around the country. I also have links to local attractions and real estate. .
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