Clyde post rut in May

Bogart at 5mo 2000  ( Humphrey x Bailey)

Gracie at 18 months. Humphrey x Bailey - Ariel at 18 mos Caesar 2002 Day 46   Clyde x Sable Sampson 2002 4mo Clyde v Houston

The Truth About Camel Humps:

As Owners of Tip Top Camels & Reindeer we have developed many opinions in dealing with our exotic animals. In doing so (as with any subject), there are many differences of opinions thus leading to controversy among producers in the exotic animal business.

It is not our intent to question other producers in their practices, but to let our potential clients know how WE raise and train our animals. We don't claim to be experts in the exotic animal business, but have formed our own practices in the way we raise and train our animals by talking to many producers and vets in the  business.

While putting our website together it was very important to get the best possible pictures of each of our animals, that was no easy task and I'm sure we will be updating old pictures with new pictures for years to come!

We decided to put a picture on this page of Clyde when his humps are over because people who see the older bulls at this stage of the year always ask if our older bulls are sick or if they were born that way.

The truth of the matter is that this is due to the rutting or breeding period they go through while herding their 'harem' of cows during which time they eat and drink  very little.

When our customers buy young bull calves from us and plan not to use them as breeders we always encourage them to geld the camel. Thus avoiding any of these problems as they will no longer go through the breeding mode, they will then be as the females, eating year round and staying healthy with humps up.

The rutting period usually starts in early December and goes through mid April. Much longer than other species, during this period they eat and drink very little thus drawing off the fat stored in their humps.

The camel bulls become more and more territorial as they get older, and that is when they begin consuming less food, however if well fed their humps should stay  up to at least age 9 as most bulls continue to eat normally to that age. That was Clyde's age the first year he consumed less during the rut and his humps tipped which at first startled me. I continued to feed him as usual the following summer, but his  humps never came back up. So the summer after the next breeding season was over I let him gorge himself with all he could eat, much as a bear preparing for hibernation.

In doing that the past few years I have been able to get his humps back up by mid summer. I have done this by feeding both he and Humphrey 25lbs, of grain and mineral per day.

Humphrey's larger body size has prevented him from getting his humps up as far in the summer but they are both now always in very good shape going into the breeding season, which will add years to their lives.

We feed our camels a mixture of grain along with 3 to 4 ounces of 12/12 mineral with high levels of copper, selenium and XP yeast to help them digest their feed and hay. While we feed our older breeding bulls much more than the others, please keep in mind that we work the bulls up to that level of feed slowly, feeding this heavy is a bit risky, but we feel its worth the risk as they are always in poor condition after the rut.

We feed our other camels only a small fraction of grain in comparison and that also varies depending on adult, lactating or weanling animals. Always consult your local vet or dietitian before starting a feeding program for your camel as each area requires different needs as far as nutrition is concerned.

Another large part of getting our baby camels humps up at an early age (usually within several weeks), is the fact that we keep our babies with their mothers and would only bottle feed babies if there would be a problem with the mother producing milk. Their mothers milk, coupled with eating grain as soon as they are able help to give them a real head start on getting their humps up -- insuring the best possible health at an early age. 

To protect against overeating and tetanus we administer a 7 way shot at a few  days with a booster to follow a few weeks later. (You should talk with your vet about any vaccines you decide to use as there are differences and different areas require different products.)

Another reason we have decided against bottle raising our animals is due to our experiences with bottle fed animals as they get older along with the experiences and stories of others. We feel that in bottle raising animals a lot of the natural fear and respect that animals should have towards humans is lost. Then as they get older they often, at the very least, get pushy and worse, concerning intact males, get downright aggressive. While aggressive behavior can be very subtle concerning females or geldings when dealing with critters that can weigh in excess of 1500 pounds even the smallest signs of aggressive behavior can become a real problem.

While bottle raised babies are always very cute and cuddly, and more often than not; mother raised babies are more skittish, we have found without fail that within a few months of weaning along with daily feeding and handling they are every bit as friendly as bottle babies and are more socially adjusted towards people.

While there are, of coarse, exceptions to both sides of this rule as far as mother raised vs. bottle raised animals; it seems that producers  I have talked to are pretty much split down the middle.  We decided it was important for viewers of our website to understand the reasons we let our mothers raise their own babies.

Whenever your camels humps start to tip it's time to take blood and manure samples to find the problem.   

However the next time you hear or read that humps tipped over on a Bactrian camel is an inherited trait, you will know it is untrue.

Humphrey and Clyde's offspring are proof of their excellent genetics!

Home