PROGESTERONE TESTING
One of the ways to check to see if your female is pregnant, is to put her with a male & see if she's receptive. If she lays down for him, she is probably not pregnant. If she spits on him, she either doesn't like him, or she is possibly pregnant. Another way to tell, is to send some blood in for progesterone testing. You can have a vet draw some blood & send it to a lab, but this can be quite expensive. If you'd like to try it yourself, I can tell you how I go about it. I am not a vet, but it's not a difficult procedure.
You will need a small vial to collect the sample of blood from the ear, alcohol & cotton swab, lance, & form. Wear some old clothes, because when the llama shakes her head, you could end up with blood spattered all over you. Tie the llama snug, so she has minimum movement of her head. I draw blood from the ear. Clean off the ear thoroughly with alcohol on your cotton swab. From the tip of the ear, I move down about an inch. From the edge of the ear, move in about 1/4". I fold the ear over a bit, so you can see the backside of the ear & stick it firmly with the lance. You may have to stick it a few times to get the blood flowing. Hold the edge of the ear that you are using toward the ground so that gravity will bring the blood along the edge of the ear. The vial has a little lip on it. Draw this lip across the edge of the ear to collect the blood & fill the vial to about 1/4" from the top. If it's windy, the blood my dry up & you'll need to wipe it off with the alcohol swab & start over again.
When the vial is full, remove the top, replace with the red cap. Tip the vial a few times to mix the blood with the preservative in the vial. Write the llama's name on the vial, attach a piece of paper to the vial with the llama's name, fill out the form, & mail it off to M&M Lab with $8. I wrap the vial in a paper towel & send it in the cardboard priority mailer from the post office. No ice is needed. Mel will call you in about 3 days with the results & also mail you a printed report.
If you are testing more than one female, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly in between so that you don't contaminate the next llama's test.
That's all there is to it!