Dreamcatcher Alpacas
Alpaca health · Nutritional & metabolic

Copper Deficiency in Alpacas

Updated 2026-10-02By the Dreamcatcher Alpacas editorial team6 peer-reviewed references
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Monitor and manage

Usually manageable with good husbandry; involve your vet if it worsens.

Uncommon but possible on sheep-style (copper-free) minerals or where molybdenum and sulfur tie up copper.

Category
Nutritional & metabolic
Urgency
Monitor and manage

Signs & symptoms

  • Faded or 'rusty' dark fleece
  • Poor fleece crimp
  • Anemia
  • Poor growth and fertility

Related symptom guides: Pale Gums or Eyelids (Anemia), Dull, Faded or Brittle Fleece.

What causes it?

Low dietary copper or high molybdenum, sulfur or iron in feed and water.

Risk factors

  • Feeding sheep minerals long term
  • High-sulfate water
  • Soils high in molybdenum

How vets diagnose it

Liver biopsy (best) or blood copper levels interpreted by a vet.

Treatment

Copper supplementation under vet guidance — copper overdose is dangerous.

Prevention

  • Use camelid-specific minerals
  • Test water for sulfate where suspected

Background

Copper deficiency, or hypocupremia, is defined as insufficient copper to meet the body's needs, or as a serum copper level below the normal range. Symptoms may include fatigue, decreased red blood cells, early greying of the hair, and neurological problems presenting as numbness, tingling, muscle weakness, and ataxia. The neurodegenerative syndrome of copper deficiency has been recognized for some time in ruminant animals, in which it is commonly known as "swayback". Copper deficiency can manifest in parallel with vitamin B12 and other nutritional deficiencies.From Wikipedia — “Copper deficiency”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Research & references

PubMed lists 28 peer-reviewed papers on this topic in camelids. The most relevant include:

  1. Noninvasive imaging of immune responses. Rashidian M, Keliher EJ, Bilate AM et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2015. PubMed 25902531 · DOI · Free full textOpen access · cited 183×
  2. Copper poisoning in four llamas. Junge RE, Thornburg L Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 1989. PubMed 2793584 · cited 11×
  3. Nutrition and skin diseases in veterinary medicine. Hensel P Clinics in dermatology, 2010. PubMed 21034992 · DOI · cited 14×
  4. Copper oxide wire particles effective against gastrointestinal nematodes in adult alpacas during a randomized clinical trial. Needleman AL, Wright MC, Schaefer JJ et al. American journal of veterinary research, 2022. PubMed 36074747 · DOI
  5. Targeted Delivery of Cyclotides via Conjugation to a Nanobody. Kwon S, Duarte JN, Li Z et al. ACS chemical biology, 2018. PubMed 30248263 · DOI · cited 18×
  6. Camelid heavy-chain variable domains provide efficient combining sites to haptens. Spinelli S, Frenken LG, Hermans P et al. Biochemistry, 2000. PubMed 10684599 · DOI · cited 121×

Frequently asked questions

What is copper Deficiency in alpacas?
Uncommon but possible on sheep-style (copper-free) minerals or where molybdenum and sulfur tie up copper.
What are the signs of copper Deficiency?
Faded or 'rusty' dark fleece, poor fleece crimp, anemia and poor growth and fertility.
How do you prevent copper Deficiency?
Use camelid-specific minerals. Test water for sulfate where suspected.
Is copper Deficiency an emergency?
Monitor and manage. Usually manageable with good husbandry; involve your vet if it worsens.

This page is educational and does not replace advice from a veterinarian who has examined your animals. Camelid medicine uses many drugs “extra-label”, so dosing must come from your vet. In an emergency, call your vet first. Read our disclaimer · How we write and review content.