Medicine and Surgery of Camelids. Группа авторов

Figure 2.47 When the noseband is not on bone, it can easily compress the cartilage and compromise the airway.

The author has designed a halter that is proportioned to solve these problems. It may be better to work without a halter than to work with an ill‐fitting one. If the noseband can be pulled forward more than 3/4″, it would be advisable to tighten the crown piece. It is better to have the crown piece temporarily a bit snug than to risk the noseband sliding off the nasal bone. Box 2.5 outlines the steps involved to fit a halter on a llama or alpaca.

Llamas and alpacas have small heads and young camelids have even smaller heads; be precise! (Figures 2.48–2.51). You must pay attention every time you put a halter on! Most haltering mishaps happen when we are just putting a halter on for “a few minutes” to do something quickly.

As a rule, take the halter off whenever you can and, if possible, do not ask an animal to wear a halter overnight. It is more comfortable for them to go without a halter. This is particularly important for animals that are otherwise sick. Llamas and alpacas housed at a veterinary hospital should not be left wearing a halter. A device called the handler helper can be left on safely and comfortably in situations when a novice must catch an animal easily (Figure 2.52).

Box 2.5 Step‐by‐Step Fitting of a Halter

      1 Start with a halter that is properly proportioned and has the option to adjust the size of the noseband. Open up the noseband to one of the two largest holes.

      2 Put the halter on.

      3 Tighten the crown piece as much as you can.

      4 Put your fingers on each side of the noseband and tug forward. If you can pull the noseband to the very edge or off the nasal bone, you must tighten up the crown piece or get a smaller halter.

      5 Check to make sure that the halter throat piece is not pushing against the trachea or esophagus. If it is, this indicates the halter is too big.

      6 After the crown piece adjustment, you may tighten the noseband. The noseband should never more than just gently touch all the way around the nose without pressing or restricting the animal's ability to move his mouth and jaw. Provided the crown piece holds the halter in place well up on the nasal bone, the adjustment of the noseband is less crucial for purposes of handling.

      7 Check the crown piece about 10 minutes after you put the halter on or just before attaching a lead rope and leaving the catch pen. Nylon stretches by approximately 33%. As the nylon stretches and the fiber compresses, you could end up with a dangerous amount of slack in the crown piece.

Figure 2.48 This halter fits properly; the nose band is adequately sized to fit well up on the nose band and still provides room for the animal to open its mouth.

Figure 2.49 This alpaca is wearing a halter that is too far forward on the nose. In addition, there is not enough room in the nose band to allow it to sit further back and it is restricting movement of the jaw.

Figure 2.50 This llama is wearing a halter that looks like it fits but, in fact, it is sitting just at the edge of the nose bone and the crown piece is not snug enough to keep it from slipping forward and off the bone. Additionally, the nose band is too small to allow for chewing.

Understanding Male Behavior in Camelids

Camelids are generally quiet, but males in the midst of a disagreement are rambunctious, aggressive, and violent. Neck wrestling and leg biting are common male interactions. Breeding male camelids present challenges and require more thoughtful and deliberate management. Breeding males are territorial and highly sexual (Figures 2.53 and 2.54).

Figure 2.51 This halter fits. You can see that there is slack in the nose band and the halter fits well up on the nose bone.

Figure 2.52 A handler helper is a great way to facilitate catching by people who are not trained to catch properly.

To successfully shape the behavior of males, it is helpful to understand their behavior in relation to other camelids and understand their behavior in relation to humans. To convince males not to engage in natural behaviors is a losing proposition. A better approach is to make fighting or other problematic behaviors unnecessary. Anyone working with intact males should pay close attention and anticipate behavior. Doing this will allow prevention of unwanted behavior, which is more effective and safer than attempting to correct misbehavior once it has occurred.

Figure 2.53 Male llamas fighting.

Figure 2.54 Male alpacas fighting.

      Trying to force males that live together to play nicely all the time is impossible, but their environment can be controlled, which can diffuse many situations. Good facilities will allow for handling breeding males easily and safely. An intact male on a lead rope can learn to be respectful and cooperative even when females are around.

      It is not always about dominance! A common misconception of many camelid owners and veterinarians is that undesirable male behavior is because of their desire to express dominance over another. The dominance model is overused to explain behavior between camelids as well as behavior between camelids and their human caretakers. The primary problem with the dominance explanation of behavior