A llama in full fleece is a llama that has had it's fleece on for 2 years or over without being Shorn. These are the hardest to take care of because they have so much hair.

When you get your llama it may already be groomed. Use this as a kick start to your grooming program. I like to groom more than once a week, but I am obssesive when it comes to keeping my llamas clean. About once a week should do the trick as most llamas don't collect enough veggies to need an exstensive grooming every week.

If your llama is matted & in full fleece when you acquire him, you'll need to do a full body shearing and start from scratch or shear him in a poodle, barrel or lion cut and start on the neck. I suggest a full body shear.

If your llama is already groomed, I suggest a good brushing once a week with the slicker brush.

There are different types of brushes for different jobs. I have quite a few in my arsonel. There's the Slicker brush, probably the most common brush used by llama owners and handlers. This is my favorite brush, I use it the most of any of my brushes. You must know how to use this tool, however. You must get down to each layer. If you use the brush as it is met you'll end up with a fleece that's only brushed on top & the rest of the layers are not even touched.

The soft bristled brush is an important tool if you plan on having shorn llamas. A slicker is to harsh to use on shorn areas as it will just scratch at the llama's skin and it's very uncomfortable. The soft bristle bush grooms the top of the short hair, you don't need a deep clean on blown out shorn areas.

The procupine brush is nice, but it just tugs at & pulls to much on a llamas hair. I don't particularly like this one.

The tail tamer is an essential, just like the slicker. This looks much like a human hair brush but works great. It's good for getting out those annoying little snarles, rats and the veggies you can't see.

There's also a brush that has HUGE horendious looking teeth on it. It's plastic and a lot of women use it on their hair. This works alright if you want to see just how detangled your llama's hair really is but I don't suggest this one for a begginer, you must be very careful as this one can really hurt your llama.

The mat rake is, also, essential. Some llamas have matts but their fleece may be salvagable. It works best after a shampooing and conditioning. This one usually has a metal handle with a plastic grip and huge aweful looking teeth that are slightly sharp on the front & quite pointed. This brush must be used with extreme care, aslo as you can really hurt your llama if you just go rag tag at the fleece. You must holt the hair with the matt in it at the roots, blocking the pull and then go to work on the matt. Don't just sink the teeth in and start pulling, you almost have to use a hacking motion in order for it to be efective.

There are other brushes out there & I encorouge you to try new ones. These are the ones I have in my grooming bucket & that's how I use them.

Also, a note about the slicker-I suggest what they call a "gentle" slicker. It pulls less then a normal slicker and it's more comfortable for the llama, it's also more practical for training a young llama to stand while grooming.

I know! It sounds like a daunting task, but really it's easy if you have the right tools.

You'll need something to spray your solution of cleaner and water onto the llama at relatively high pressure. An insectiside sprayer for plants works good, but I suggest a miracle groomer-it's the best tool I've ever used for washing my llamas.

Llamas have a "water proof" coat, almost. So it's needed to have high pressure when wetting them down & adding soap. A hose will work but work the water INTO the coat, all the way to the skin.

Once the animal is thuroughly wet, take your device that sprays your shampoo & water and proceede to fully shampoo the whole body, paying special attention to soiled areas (such as the nest (where the body meats the neck) and knees). After he's fully soaped, to the skin, rub it in with your hands taking care not to go in circles or rub in one spot to long. It is best to squeeze the solution in, rather than rub. You risk turning that beautiful fleece into one big sheet of felt if you rub in circles or rub lots in one spot. ALWAYS go vertically, or horizontily if you must rub. Never do both, start out with one & stick with it. (on shorn areas you can be less careful)

Once the coat is fully shampooed you can begin to add the conditioner. This prosesse is called floating the wool. You add the conditioner while the shampoo is still in the coat. This is accomplished by following the same steps as adding the shampoo, just omit the wet down part, the llama's already wet so no need to add more water.

After conditioning, let the fleece stand for 5 to 10 minutes and the proceed to rinse out. Take extra care to get down to the skin, soap and conditioner can be quite irratating if not properly rinsed out.

You will now need to employ your blower. A blower is a small "Motor" made for blowing large amounts of pressurized air. It's not an air compressor but it is related, the jet of air is just not quite as strong. Look in a llama supply catologue to see what one looks like.

If you have one you'll need to blow the llama until dry or almost dry.

Once he's dry you may attack those matts with the matt rake. This is the best time to do it as the fleece is conditioned and soft.