Are all cactus edible to tortoises?

Justin Dinh

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Hi I am new to Tortoise forum and nice to meet you all. So I was wondering are all of cactus edible for sulcatas and cherry head tortoises? I bought a spineless prickly pear for my them but so far haven't been growing much. Therefore i noticed there are spineless cactus around my neighborhood. And im not sure if i should ask my neighbors for some to feed to my tortoises or could it potential be toxic to my tortoises..
 

Yvonne G

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Most cactus is edible, however many succulents are not. The opuntia family is ok to feed. Try to use the younger pads as they're easier for the tortoise to bite.
 

Blakem

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The cactus to the left is opitunia cactus. It's pretty common to see where I live in the central valley. My girlfriend cut off three pads, planted them and three years later it's much bigger than the image you see here! Probably one foot taller.
 

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N2TORTS

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This is a list of edible plants in the family Cactaceae.
  1. Carnegiea gigantea, the Saguaro,
  2. Cereus repandus - California and Florida
  3. genus Corryocactus (also known as Erdisia), the tasty berrylike
    1. C. brevistylis, C. pulquiensis, and C. erectus
  4. Coryphantha
    1. C. robbinsorum and C. recurvata.
  5. genus Echinocereus ("Strawberry Cactus")
    1. E. engelmannii, E. bonkerae, E. boyce-thompsonii
    2. E. enneacanthus, E. cincerascens, E. stramineus
    3. E. dasyacanthus, E. fendleri and E. fasciculatus
    4. E. brandegeei, E. ledingii and E. nicholii
    5. E. engelmannii ("Strawberry Vanilla")
  6. genus Echinopsis
    1. South American species
  7. genus Epiphyllum, the Orchid cactus
    1. E. anguliger (also called Phyllocactus darrahii, said to be like gooseberries)
  8. genus Epithelantha (the fruit of all species said to be edible)
  9. genus Ferocactus
    1. Ferocactus hamatacanthus
    2. F. histrix ("borrachitos") and F. latispinus ("pochas")
  10. genus Harrisia (of Florida and the Caribbean), the "Prickly Apples"
    1. NOTE: The following 5 are said to be "endangered endemic" :
      • H. aboriginum, H.simpsonii, H. adscendens, H fragrans and H. eriophora
    2. Argentinian H. balsanae
    3. H. undatus and H. triangularis (aka "Dragon Fruits") - SE Asia and China
  11. genus Mammillaria ("chilitos" as they look like tiny red chili peppers)
    1. M. applanata, M. meiacantha, M. macdougalii, M. lasiacantha
    2. M. grahamii, M. oliviae, M. mainiae, M. microcarpa, M. thornberi and many others
  12. Myrtillocactus geometrizans ("garambulos", taste like less-acid cranberries)
    Cultivated prickly pear grown for food
  1. genus Opuntia, the prickly pears
    1. Opuntia ficus-indica
    2. Opuntia matudae
  2. genus Pachycereus,
    1. Pachycereus pringlei, the Cardon
    2. P. schottii, the Senita and P. weberi, the Candelabro
  3. genus Peniocereus,
    1. Peniocereus greggii, the Arizona Queen of the Night
    2. P. johnstonii and P. serpentinus
  4. genus Pereskia
    1. P. aculeata, the "Barbados gooseberry"
    2. P. guamacho
  5. genus Stenocereus (quite sweet, but prone to ferment; hence the "agria" [="sour"]))
    1. S. fricii ("Pitayo de aguas"), S. griseus ("Pitayo de Mayo"), S. gummosus ("Pitahaya agria"
    2. S. pruinosus ("Pitayo de Octubre"), S. montanus ("Pitaya colorada")
    3. S. queretaroensis ("Pitaya de Queretaro"), S. standleyi ("Pita Marismena"), S. stellatus ("Xoconostle")
    4. S. thurberi ("Organ Pipe Cactus", "Pitayo Dulce") and S. treleasi ("Tunillo")
  6. * This list comes from the forum website Marmaro, John P (Sun, Sep 30, 07).
 

N2TORTS

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LOL.......that's too easy!......Better to dig deep and research ~;)
Here this morning ...Tyrone....the baby Galap enjoying some Cacti....
 

Justin Dinh

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Thank you all for all the helpful replies. The cactus around my neighborhood looks exactly like the pictures in your post. It turned out that it infact had little hairs on the cactus so i just torched it but and the tortoises seems to love it. So im going to start some of those too and provide them with my spineless prickly pear and this cactus. Thank you again for the replies.
 

Obbie

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This is a list of edible plants in the family Cactaceae.
  1. Carnegiea gigantea, the Saguaro,
  2. Cereus repandus - California and Florida
  3. genus Corryocactus(also known as Erdisia), the tasty berrylike
    1. C. brevistylis, C. pulquiensis, and C. erectus
  4. Coryphantha
    1. C. robbinsorum and C. recurvata.
  5. genus Echinocereus("Strawberry Cactus")
    1. E. engelmannii, E. bonkerae, E. boyce-thompsonii
    2. E. enneacanthus, E. cincerascens, E. stramineus
    3. E. dasyacanthus, E. fendleri and E. fasciculatus
    4. E. brandegeei, E. ledingii and E. nicholii
    5. E. engelmannii ("Strawberry Vanilla")
  6. genus Echinopsis
    1. South American species
  7. genus Epiphyllum, the Orchid cactus
    1. E. anguliger (also called Phyllocactus darrahii, said to be like gooseberries)
  8. genus Epithelantha (the fruit of all species said to be edible)
  9. genus Ferocactus
    1. Ferocactus hamatacanthus
    2. F. histrix ("borrachitos") and F. latispinus ("pochas")
  10. genus Harrisia(of Florida and the Caribbean), the "Prickly Apples"
    1. NOTE: The following 5 are said to be "endangered endemic" :
      • H. aboriginum, H.simpsonii, H. adscendens, H fragrans and H. eriophora
    2. Argentinian H. balsanae
    3. H. undatus and H. triangularis (aka "Dragon Fruits") - SE Asia and China
  11. genus Mammillaria("chilitos" as they look like tiny red chili peppers)
    1. M. applanata, M. meiacantha, M. macdougalii, M. lasiacantha
    2. M. grahamii, M. oliviae, M. mainiae, M. microcarpa, M. thornberi and many others
  12. Myrtillocactus geometrizans ("garambulos", taste like less-acid cranberries)
    Cultivated prickly pear grown for food
  1. genus Opuntia, the prickly pears
    1. Opuntia ficus-indica
    2. Opuntia matudae
  2. genus Pachycereus,
    1. Pachycereus pringlei, the Cardon
    2. P. schottii, the Senita and P. weberi, the Candelabro
  3. genus Peniocereus,
    1. Peniocereus greggii, the Arizona Queen of the Night
    2. P. johnstonii and P. serpentinus
  4. genus Pereskia
    1. P. aculeata, the "Barbados gooseberry"
    2. P. guamacho
  5. genus Stenocereus(quite sweet, but prone to ferment; hence the "agria" [="sour"]))
    1. S. fricii ("Pitayo de aguas"), S. griseus ("Pitayo de Mayo"), S. gummosus ("Pitahaya agria"
    2. S. pruinosus ("Pitayo de Octubre"), S. montanus ("Pitaya colorada")
    3. S. queretaroensis ("Pitaya de Queretaro"), S. standleyi ("Pita Marismena"), S. stellatus ("Xoconostle")
    4. S. thurberi ("Organ Pipe Cactus", "Pitayo Dulce") and S. treleasi ("Tunillo")
  6. * This list comes from the forum website Marmaro, John P (Sun, Sep 30, 07).
Thank you so much, I was just thinking of googling that ! Saved me a lot of work ?
 

ZEROPILOT

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Thank you all for all the helpful replies. The cactus around my neighborhood looks exactly like the pictures in your post. It turned out that it infact had little hairs on the cactus so i just torched it but and the tortoises seems to love it. So im going to start some of those too and provide them with my spineless prickly pear and this cactus. Thank you again for the replies.
I actually also remove the spines (glochids) before I feed them to my group. But it isn't necessarily.
I pull the pads off and wipe the spines off with leather gloves.
It makes ME feel better.
 

AmandaTX

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Location (City and/or State)
Houston, TX
Depending on where you live, prickly pear pads may be sold at your local grocery- normally with the spines removed. It's darn easy to get in south Texas, but then, lots of folks here use it in recipes. Sometimes our HEB has nopales pre-sliced and in a bag, but they go bad quickly. My red-footed also LOVES tuna (prickly pear fruit) as an occasional treat.
 
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