Eat NO Fruits or Vegetables?

EAT NO FRUITS OR VEGETABLES?

January 10, 2011

Well, the introduction of fruits and vegetables to the llamas failed. They ALL turned up their noses, literally, to the bananas with or without the peel, baby carrots, mini corn cobs, sliced apples, orange chunks and orange rind. What did they get excited over?

Alfalfa.

Como T. Llama enjoys eating alfalfa.

Truly, alfalfa doesn't look tasty, but when five llamas can't stop eating it, then it must taste like candy to them. Alfalfa is high in protein, so it shouldn't be fed regularly or else the llamas will get too fat. Did you know that it is common for American llamas to be overweight? That probably doesn't surprise you.

In case you're wondering what llamas eat and how much, here are the facts:

The average adult 350-pound llama eats approximately five pounds of hay per day. Llamas thrive on a variety of hay, including Bermuda, Orchard and Timothy. Each is low in protein, which is the ideal diet for a llama's sophisticated digestive system (more on this in another blog when Llama Mama gets up the courage to photograph "llama beans.").

So based on today's experiment, llamas don't like fruits and vegetables--or at least the llamas of ShangriLlama don't. But wait! Mama Llama didn't experiment with rose petals. The groomer said llamas like those, too. Skeptical? Me, too. Can't wait to try this out on Valentine's Day!

Until tomorrow...

Happy trails from Mama Llama!