While many kids dream getting a puppy or a kitten for Christmas, other children want to stand out from the crowd.
From long walks on the beach to rides in the family car, nothing is off limits for 15-year-old Matt’s pet alpaca, Chewpaca.
‘He comes in my room a lot and noses around,’ Matt told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I take him for walks, we give him treats … in a lot of ways he is part of the family.’
From long walks on the beach to rides in the family car, nothing is off limits for 15-year-old Matt’s pet alpaca, Chewpaca (pictured)
Matt got Chewy, as he’s affectionately known, for Christmas almost four years ago
He may be a traditional farm animal, but Chewy is treated like royalty at his Adelaide home
Chewy was brought home when he was seven-months-old (pictured) and is expected to live until up to about 25-years-old
Just like many pet dogs, Chewpaca comes to his name, runs on the beach, plays with other dogs and even goes on occasional holidays.
Matt said Chewy is a sociable alpaca who loves being around people although he is ‘pretty stubborn’.
‘He’s a bit nosey … he likes getting his own way,’ he said.
‘When he’s not happy, I’ve been spat on a few times.’
As with training a pet dog, Matt said they started training Chewy when he was seven-months-old but it took a bit of hard work.
‘It was a bit of a process, he was a bit stubborn towards it but we got there and now he’s fine,’ the 15-year-old told Daily Mail Australia.
Perhaps even better trained than some dogs, Chewy always comes back when he’s frolicking off lead at beaches and never leaves his family’s sight.
Being a herd animal, Matt said he has to give his pet alpaca heaps of attention.
Just like many pet dogs, Chewpaca comes to his name, runs on the beach (pictured), plays with other dogs and even goes on occasional holidays
Matt said Chewy is a sociable alpaca who loves being around people although he is ‘pretty stubborn’
Being a herd animal, Matt said he has to give his pet alpaca heaps of attention which was easy because Chewy loves people
While going for drives isn’t his favourite thing, Matt said they often take Chewy for drives and they even drove from South Australia to Melbourne with him
The affectionate alpaca may seem like a rare suburban pet, but Matt said they met another pet alpaca at a caravan park after Chewy joined their Adelaide family.
The caramel coloured farm animal even encouraged Matt’s family in Victoria to jump on board.
‘We’ve took him to Melbourne when he was really young,’ he said.
‘When he gets bored he moans – when he’s in the car for too long he won’t stop moaning so we open a window.’
While living in suburbia may not seem like the obvious choice for an the South American camel species, with a huge backyard and regular walks to rid boredom, Matt says Chewy just eats and sleeps all day.
While living in suburbia may not seem like the obvious choice for an alpaca, he has plenty of yard space, regular walks to rid boredom and even the odd backyard swim to cool off
The affectionate alpaca may seem like a rare suburban pet, but Matt said they met another pet alpaca at a caravan park after Chewy joined their Adelaide family
The four-year-old alpaca turns heads everywhere he goes, even when he’s enjoying the beach
Just like many dogs, Chewy frolics along the beach (pictured) and plays with the other dogs
‘He loves being with people,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘He gets so much attention … he does get a bit freaked out when everyone is coming up to him and touching him.
‘Hes not the biggest fan of people touching him when he’s in a bad mood.’
With surprising similarities to a pet dog, Chewy enjoys watching the television in the lounge room and eating any food that’s left within reach, including chips, however the quirky pet ‘basically feeds himself’ and is pretty quiet.
‘I think he suits his name, he literally chews through everything,’ Matt said.
‘When we go for walks he’s always chewing on other people’s plants.
‘My fly screen door is demolished, he’s chewed through the whole thing.
‘He’s just getting past his teenager years.’
‘When we go for walks (pictured) he’s always chewing on other people’s plants … he’s just getting past his teenage years,’ Matt said
‘I think he suits his name, he literally chews through everything,’ Matt told Daily Mail Australia
Standing at five-feet tall and expected to live for up to another 21 years, the alpaca has become a local celebrity in his home town, and an even bigger star on Instagram.
After getting Chewpaca for a Christmas present almost four years ago, despite Matt’s father being a ‘bit iffy’ at the start but soon warmed to the idea, the cute alpaca has more than 52,000 followers who revel in the life of Chewy.
‘It was funny when we got him, shocked about the change from the farm … but we became friends,’ Matt said.
‘He’s grown up a lot, it’s been cool to see it.’