World Camel Day: Treats Your Camels Will Love!

IT’S WORLD CAMEL DAY – yes an actual day dedicated to camels, how cool is that? It’s a really cool thing for us here at Camel Channel HQ – a whole day dedicated to The CAMEL!

22nd of June is World Camel Day. The day was designed to give recognition to the fact that camels are a very important creatures to many people around the world as most people rely on camels for their own survival (even us camel pet camel owners - camel’s steal our hearts and take over our lives - surely that counts too)!

I wanted to dedicate this blog to, well Camels, since they add so much value to our lives in a variety of ways - ways we don’t even know about, so I thought what’s more fitting than Treating Thy Camel, after all they are the ones bringing us joy (ever seen a camel sneeze & fart at the same time!? You have not lived until you do, it is L.O.L!!!)....companionship (always there for you to lean into), challenges that change you into a better person (hello training, handling). 

Not to mention Camel’s can offer us humans some life changing by-products like camel’s milk, wool, dung (yes, poo!) & even urine (which is believed in some cultures to cure some illness’). 

Camels are A-mazing and if you’re a camel owner or caretaker you’ll have your own definition of what’s amazing about the camels you spend time with which adds a beautiful complexity to how amazing camels are.

So how can we treat camels in a way where they feel...Well, ‘treated!?’ Remembering that camels are NOT humans, so you can forget the cake! 😉 🍰 

This is not going to be an entire podcast about food treats for camels, rather a variety of things your camel will find enjoyable do to WITH you for a deeper connection and expression of your appreciation for them.

Side note: Make sure you keep listening to the end, because, of course, I have a World Camel Day sale happening that you won’t want to miss out on.

 Or... 

TRANSCRIPT: 

Let’s start with food treats, which is easy, mostly hands off and ideal for people short on time, but still want to show their camel some World Camel Day lovin’:

Option one: Prune some branches off their favorite tree or shrub that you know is safe for them to eat. Wattles & Acacia’s tree family are safe, also prickly pear (the cacti 🌵), citrus & apple tree branches & leaves. Anything deemed non-toxic to camels. If you’re not sure, hold off until you know for sure (I have a whole lesson on Toxic Plants for camels in The Academy).

Option two - Fruits & Veggies like Apples, oranges, mandarin, banana, watermelon, pumpkin, carrots… Remember to not overdo it, in other words don’t give them kilograms of these things. 

Some tips for feeding treats to camels: avoid doing it by hand, use the drop and leave method (they will certainly still enjoy the treats without having to take it from your hand). Hand feeding treats can cause camel’s to be pushy and ‘mouthy’ as they will tend to look for treats every time they see a human and given they are such a large animal (and, for the most part, camel’s don’t realize their size) they will accidently hurt someone.

And that’s it with the food treat, note that there’s no mention of any grains, because grains are not good for camels as they mess with their gut bacteria which a Camel Vet explained to us Academy in her Camel Nutrition & toxic Plants with us (recording is in The Academy membership portal).

I’ve got a couple more ways to ‘treat’ your camels that’s a little more hands on, but can be super enjoyable for both humans & camels.

1. Take your camel for a walk: like dogs, camels love the stimulation that walking offers. They like the smells, the visual stimulation & the movement. Camels, by nature, are long distance walkers, mainly to forage for food & water. 

From a human perspective walking your camel is a wonderful bonding experience & trust building exercise as you demonstrate to The Camel that you’re a trusted leader by ‘leading the way’ on your walks. Of course only do this if you've taken your camel through some camel training - safety first people! 

Pro tip: never take a single camel for a walk on its own, take, preferably, another camel or whatever animal the camel is housed with. Camels are herd animals for survival, don’t try to mess with their inbuilt evolution, so Bring a Friend - everything is more fun with friends ;-)

1. TLC: Touch, Love, Comb. 

All camels have a desire to connect with something or someone, whether that be another camel or other species of animal or a human, they have deep emotional intelligence to the point where they can feel feelings. So how can you TLC your camels? 

First: Touch. 

If your camel is trained & handled through connection & trust you’ve set yourself up for long term success, because now your camel loves to be touched and it’s an incredibly bonding experience for human & camel connection. 

Camels prefer long strokes over ‘pats.’ Try stroking your camel’s long neck and you might find they lay their head down & fully take in the experience. Camels (who trust humans) love a good massage too, firmly moving your hands through their wool or hair you’ll find makes them super chill - I do this for my camels every time I un-saddle them, they looooove it! 

Second: Love.

In India The Camel symbolizes ‘Love’ so I think it’s fair to say, and some of you will know exactly what I’m talking about, camel’s give a lot of love! Sometimes I feel my camels give more than they get from me, but they are always unconditional about it. 

To show your camel love back is to let them love you. Sounds weird huh, but seriously! Simply spend time ‘hanging out’ with your camel in their prime area (safely of course! Don’t go hanging out with a camel that’s timid & scared or a bull camel in rut!). Just… ‘be’ there without asking anything of them and let them sniff & breath on you and ‘camel kiss’ you (and I’m un-ashamed to say: of course I kiss my camel's back!)

Thirdly: Comb, which means brushing the camel in an enjoyable way for both human & beast.

Safely is paramount, so only do this on camels you have done trust, bonding & connection building exercises with (and you know the safety triangle <<< link: How to be Safe Around Camels on YouTube). 

Tools: any horse or laundry brush, even a plastic garden rake can feel like a massage to camels! I personally like to brush my camels with a large horse tail & mane comb, with a large circular head, as well as using my hands especially in the winter months when they have wool layers. And in summer I like to use a horse Dandy Brush and again, my hands for that massage effect - such lucky camels *winks*

So there you have it, some ways to treat your camels on World Camel Day! 

Talking about treating your camels, I have a World Camel Day Sale happening right now where you can get  ½ price off your first month in The Camel Channel Academy membership, which means you’ll be showing your camels some love by learning All The Camel Things with access to an entire library of camel information on camel handling, psychology, husbandry, equipment, forum and even a camel vet! Your camels will be stoked that YOU are ‘Their Person’ armed with The Academy knowledge available to you in The Academy. 

CLICK HERE NOW to grab your first month at ½ price now, before sale ends soon.