Where science meets herd care and husbandry.
Learn how to collect, test, and analyse faecal samples using trusted veterinary laboratory techniques — you can make confident, evidence-based decisions, cut unnecessary worming, and help your alpacas to thrive.
About your coach, Sue Thomas
I’m a published Veterinary Parasitologist, with research on camelid gut parasites, their interactions and treatments, conducted at the University of Bristol (MSc) and the Royal Veterinary College.
Before specialising in parasitology, I began my career teaching Biology and Chemistry in schools across the UK — helping students of all ages discover the excitement of science.
For over 20 years, I’ve been teaching parasitology techniques 'face-to-face' in the lab, working with alpaca owners, wildlife farm managers, vets, vet technicians, and students from age 16 to 75 and beyond.
My approach is friendly, practical, and rooted in the joy of science and learning. Drawing on two decades of hands-on alpaca farming experience, I'm passionate about helping owners and professionals turn complex parasitology into clear, confident practice — using evidence and analysis, rather than guesswork.
A thoughtful, science-based gift for alpaca owners & carers.
A gift certificate to wrap for a Christmas Day surprise! You can now gift the Introduction to Parasitology Online Course! The Course explores alpaca parasites in the gut, developing new skills to guide your husbandry and treatment decisions throughout 2026.
Take a look at the Course contents here https://www.alpacaparasites.com/introduction-to-parasitology-online
Learning how to analyse your own alpaca herd samples allows you to decide when to test, so you are aware of parasite problems before they cycle up and take hold.
A wonderful surprise gift & a unique learning experience.
Embrace the New Year with new testing confidence, skills & expertise.
I've made knitting yarn, had scarves woven on a loom at a mill, felted scarves and hats, but I've never had more fun than needle-felting. And I love needle-felting parasites.
I've sculpted tapeworms, E.mac, all of the roundworms with their crazy mouthparts and this fella! A parasite of humans, the bot fly larva. Transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes, the larvae grow under the skin for 5 to 10 weeks, breathing through a snorkel-like tube called a punctum. They mature, then burst out of the skin to head for the ground for the next stage in their life cycle, to pupate!
I digress, this is a bit of fun video to illustrate how I spent 17 hours of my life, over three days, to create a bot fly larvae from alpaca fibre. Don't worry, I've condensed it to under 2 minutes.
Enjoy!
Your step-by-step parasitology learning environment. Collect and analyse faecal samples from your own camelid herd. No more waiting for results, no more blanket treatments, you take control of the timeline.
From the fundamentals of solution choices, testing protocols, microscope choices, parasite identification of major gut roundworms and Eimeria species of veterinary importance, and count calculations, it's all covered.
Featuring videos with detailed commentary, presentations, high-quality colour microscope images from real camelid samples, PDF checklists to download and quizzes to test your understanding
NOW LIVE!
Gut parasite images from alpaca faecal samples to help you confidently identify what you see down the microscope.
Pack of 10, full-colour identification postcards.
Size A6 105mm x 148mm
Your lab notes can be written with a pen on the back!
Multiple full colour images on the front.
What’s included?
Cover page
Faecal analysis grading card
Worm eggs x 2 cards (6 images)
Eimeria specific to camelids) x 1 card (3 images)
Tapeworm x 1 card (3 images)
Fungal spores x 1 card (3 images)
Common pseudo-parasites x 1 card (3 images)
Common pollen x 1 card (3 images
Attachments and hooks x 1 card (3 images)
FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING
Join me for a short video tour of the must-have equipment to analyse faecal samples from your camelid herd — and yes, it works for other grazing animals too!
In addition to the movie, you'll also receive a handy PDF checklist with expert tips to help you avoid common purchasing mistakes and buy only what truly matters.
Download the video and the checklist. Start testing with confidence.
Knowledge of the parasite status of your alpaca herd is vital to keeping them healthy. Healthy alpacas produce stronger fibre, are reproductively more successful and produce more thrifty cria. And that's just the beginning. I often receive samples from breeders when an alpaca becomes unwell, which, as we know with stoic camelids, can be too late. People avoid routine testing with labs and vets because of the costs and often, long wait times for results. The problem is compounded when they receive a report but find it difficult to understand and interpret. It can seem attractive just to treat the herd with a wormer twice a year and hope for the best. But as the number of farms with anthelmintic resistance grows, this is not the attractive solution you first thought...
Anthelmintic resistance means that some worms inside your alpacas are no longer affected by worming medicines.
When a worming product is used, it usually kills most worms, but a few may survive because they have genes that make them resistant to the treatment.
These surviving worms then reproduce, passing on their resistant traits to the next generation.
In time, the wormer that once worked no longer does, even if you increase the dose or change the brand within the same chemical group.
If you can avoid over-medicating, you will decrease the chance of resistance developing on your farm. Test and treat only the alpacas that require help.
Learn to perform your own herd gut parasite testing. Face-to-face Courses are available in my laboratory in Lyme Regis, UK. Alternatively, if you are unable to travel or you farm outside the UK, Online Courses will soon be available. If you're interested, you can just register for the waitlist below
Routine worming might seem like the easy answer — but it often leads to anthelmintic resistance and unnecessary treatments.
A Test, Don’t Guess approach means you make well-informed, husbandry decisions based on evidence, not habit.
There is a simple way to test your herd samples to assess whether you have resistance, and then you can adapt accordingly.
The Introduction to Parasitology Course teaches you, step by step, how to conduct gut parasite testing on your herd, quickly and accurately, giving you data on every animal to inform both your treatment and breeding decisions.
Knowledge is power!