When to body shear

[LovelyBoys]

Is there a time when it is really necessary to body shear a llama??? We don't show ours. We use them for pet therapy. We do have them sheared in early May but would like to know when to body shear, if necessary. Thank you.:)

[Marty McGee Bennett]

just to clarify your question... is it ever necessary to "only" shear the body instead of shearing the whole animal? As far as I know there is never a reason except for esthetics to leave the legs and neck. I prefer to shear with hand shears and often do a modified body clip and leave the neck and legs for ease of shearing since those areas often don't grow as long or hold enough heat to cause a problem.
Hope that helps.

[Pat]

We recently adopted six llamas that have not been sheared in at least two years. They are carrying around several layers of wool blankets! We are planning to body shear this year. Are you suggesting we leave the neck and legs in this case too?

[Marty McGee Bennett]

The body is the most important part. The legs and neck are not going to cause your llama to overheat if you clip the body. It is a matter of cosmetics. If it comes to a knock down drag out fight or leaving them I would leave them or perhaps sedate them to do the legs. The neck you should be able to shear with no problem. I quite often use fiskars with points that aren't sharp to do the neck especially up by the eyes.