When Alpaca's spit...

Starring - Vodka (5y.o Pregnant Alpaca called Voddy), Malibu (3y.o Pegnant Alpaca called Boo) and Lucky (pedigree 7y.o female Alpaca).

Vodka - what happened to my lip?

Tantrums in the paddock!  Just a quick laugh...


The fight amongst the girls to establish heirarchy is ongoing.  Voddy thinks it should be her, she has been here the longest and she's pregnant!  Don't mess with Voddy.  Boo has been second place, and is commonly seen sporting a bright green streak of grass regurgitation across the back of her neck, setting off her grey fleece beautifully.  Both girls are grumpy, pregnant and have almost two years worth of fleece (they weren't shorn before we saved them :( ) and are due to be shorn in November.  Lucky was head girl in her old paddock and has age on her side, plus she knows she is a pedigree, and that she is amongst the commoners.

The spit-fights occur over treat buckets, although they have one each.  Voddy usually gets fed first becuase she is the first to get to me, and Lucky is still too timid of me to collect her bucket and wants it put down.

Keep away from my bucket!

Then Vodka decides Lucky's bucket looks so much better and tries to stick her head in.  With much growling and yodelling, the spitting starts.  Neither girl must lower her head and be submissive, so both stand side-on alternately regurgitating and spitting on her enemy.  I keep well out of the way, but then the funniest thing happens... both Alpaca's then get a droopy bottom lip and can't eat!

What a smile!!

Apparently it is called 'sour mouth' and the acid does something to their poor bottom lip and they can't close their mouth.  So now I have two adult females, both covered with green bile and both unable to eat from their buckets anyway.  After about five minutes their mouths seem to be back in order and they both continue to eat out of their buckets.