Alpacas are foraging animals. They eat almost everything. It is easier to tell you what alpacas dont eat. They dont eat holly leaves and they dont eat ferns. They love to eat oak and maple leaves. Whenever the girls are allowed to visit the house they make a beeline for my azaleas and my husband's Japanese maple. Probably 20% of their diet is leaves. Any tree branches blown to the ground during a storm becomes an instant feast. I watched six girls eat for hours on a small maple tree that was blown over in a storm.

Alpacas have front teeth on their lower jaw only and a hard pallet on the top. The lower front teeth are meant to meet the front of the top pallet. When the teeth meet the pallet at exactly the right place the alpaca is said to have a good bite. Your animal can lose points in the show ring if his teeth either under grow or over grow the end of the pallet. Because alpacas are foraging animals their front teeth grow their entire life to make up for the wearing down they get from foraging. It is unfortunate for alpacas in the United States that we supplement grass pastures (grazing not foraging) with alpaca grain and provide nice soft hay for them to eat. It is unfortunate because this diet does not always wear their teeth down as fast as they grow. If you have alpacas you will be learning to trim alpaca teeth or they will have difficulty eating, it is a fact of alpaca life.