# Cria poop question (WARNING: photo)



## alpacamom (Jan 28, 2007)

Our alpaca had her cria last Thursday. I saw the cria pass the meconium, but haven't seen him pass anything else. He's been nursing like a champ, runs laps around the pen and barn and does everything else an alpaca is supposed to do, including gaining weight. He was 16.2 lbs at birth and was 17.9 lbs this morning.

We saw him over the bean pile tonight and he was straining. He urinated fine and has been urinating regularly, but was holding his tail up when he was "done", so we took a look to see why. There wasn't anything new on the bean pile when he was "done", but he had dingleberries hanging from his back end. My dh took a paper towel and wiped them off and this is what was there:










Obviously, the penny wasn't there...it's just to give you an idea how much/little there was. Is this normal? Should we get the vet involved? Does he just need an enema? All his other behaviours are normal. Please help!


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

> Obviously, the penny wasn't there


Too bad....... we're always looking for new ways to make some money; but, it would have suggested a petty high copper content in your fields! I'm not sure what to make of the rest, if he's otherwise happy and healthy I'd just keep an eye on him. Do you have a freezer for dead stock or samples? No harm in freezing the sample in case things develop.


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## alpacamom (Jan 28, 2007)

Wouldn't it be nice if our critters were change machines?  Ah well...

Nope, don't have a freezer for dead stock or samples (I didn't know people had them, honestly), but did put the sample in the fridge with a little note saying "Rey Poop..DO NOT EAT!" just in case we needed it for something. 

He's healthy in every other way as far as we can tell. He's our very first cria born on our farm, so we don't really know what to expect other than what we've read in the books, but you know that life doesn't always go according to the books darnitall. 

Thanks for your input, Ross!


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## llamaqueen (Feb 22, 2006)

He doesn't stand straining at the poop pile for long periods of time does he? If he does, then I would say give him an enema. But, if he acts normal and is gaining weight, he's fine. They don't go very much when they're really young. We keep an eye on them just to make sure that things are moving through and that they are acting fine. We usually weigh them every day at the same time at least for the first few weeks (more if they have had complications). We keep the record posted in the barn next to the scale that way we can spot possible problems before they get serious.


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## alpacamom (Jan 28, 2007)

llamaqueen, nope, he doesn't stay on the bean pile very long at all. He gives an honest effort...if nothing comes out in a short time, he moves on and tries again a little later. He's acting like an alpaca is supposed to...running laps, trying to encourage Mama to play, sniffing at everything, nursing, trying to eat hay on occasion (he sees mama do it, so he figures it's what he is supposed to do, too), urinating... I did take his temp this morning and it was 102...a shade on the high side, but it was after I weighed him and was looking him over in the shop. It was under 80* in there since the AC wasn't on, but it is warm and humid today. The fans are on in the barn and there is water in the swimming pools for them to cool off if they need to. Anyway...


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