Ammoman, there's something I forgot to mention - berserk llama syndrome. There's lots of info on the web about it but here's a general rundown of what it is. It's important to be able to recognize it when you're llama shopping.
When male llamas are over handled when babies, especially bottle fed ones, they lose the ability to differentiate between llamas and people. Llamas are very dominance oriented. They fight among themselves all the time, spitting and growling At about 18 months, the males will hit puberty and start fighting for dominance - and they play rough. They'll knock each other down and lay on them. They bite and spit and scream at each other. They're very vocal. The problem is, if they've lost that respect for humans, they won't be able to tell the difference and will fight people for dominance, too. One that's got it bad can be dangerous. They never get over it, even if castrated.
I have 1 with it. A lady had a 2 year old that she'd bought for her kids and she was sold a real bill of goods as he has it. She had him on Craigslist to give away, saying he was too aggressive for them. I took a look at him and he had good conformation so I told her I'd take him to try out as a packer. I also told her that if he didn't pan out, we'd eat him. He is a good packer so I'm willing to deal with him but I have to to keep him in line. He's 5 now and is as bad as ever. I keep him in the lead on the trail as he can get in trouble with the other llamas. I also never take my eyes off of him in the pasture. He likes to follow me around, directly behind me where I can't see what he's up to. He could chest bump me at any time and knock me flat. I go after him aggressively myself to show him who's boss. When I'm trying catch another llama, he will get between me and that one to cut me off. He gets a knee in the belly when he does that. He'll also try to separate me from my wife when we're both in the pasture. If he wasn't a good packer, he'd become hamburger.
By nature, llamas don't like to be petted. They don't want their heads and feet touched and will back away if you try to touch them. If you see one advertised as 'very friendly, easy to catch', it's suspect as being easy to catch isn't common. If you ever hear the words 'petting zoo', run. That's a llama you DO NOT want.
