Alpaca Sales

Alpacas for Sale in Pennsylvania

The alpaca comes from South America and are part of the Camelid family. There are five recognized camelid breeds:

  • camels
  • llamas
  • guanacos
  • alpacas
  • vicunas

These camelid breeds vary in size and have different purposes. Such as a Llama could be used as a  pack animal, and alpacas are valued for their fleece. All can be used for a secondary meat market. Alpacas (the domesticated vicuna),  llamas (the domesticated guanaco)  and camels have been domesticated for thousands of years. 

There are two breeds of alpacas, they differ only in the fiber:

  • Huacaya ( Pronounced wuh-kai-ya) – considered fluffy like a teddy bear

  • Suri  (pronounced sur-ee) have curls that hang

Quarry Critters Alpaca Ranch only raises the huacaya type alpaca for their wonderful soft fleece used for wearable clothing and other fun crafts.

Most often asked questions: 

  1. What is the difference between alpacas and llamas? 

  2. Alpacas are shorter and smaller than llamas. An average alpaca weighs about 120 -200 pounds whereas  a llama can weigh 250 -450 pounds. Alpacas look different in the ears. An alpaca has a spear shaped ear while a llama has a banana shaped ear.

Do Alpacas Spit?

All camelids spit to show negative communication. Alpacas tend to get possessive around food and may spit at other alpacas to show their annoyance.  The dispute between alpacas will sometimes catch a human is the path of spit. The alpacas don’t tend to spit at people. Alpacas owners learn how to avoid being caught in the crossfire. 

Can I buy just one alpaca? 

Definitely not. No. Alpacas are herd animals. They need companionship of their same kind, more alpacas. The larger the herd the best. We recommend at the very least, three alpacas. We sometimes refer to alpacas as pet quality but that means they should not reproduce. Alpacas are livestock and should not live in the house as a pet like a dog or cat. 

Alpacas should be housed with their same sex, except male crias should stay with their mom until they are weaned. Gelded males should not be housed with females as they will try to breed, which could lead to serious health issues for the female.

Have a herd of 3+ females or 3+ males is best. Do not think about housing one male and one female with a cria and think this is a herd of 3. No way. Disaster waiting to happen.