cactus?
- Thread starter Maddoggy
- Start date
There are plenty of varieties of cactus (Opuntia type) growing in Florida. The exact type of urs, who knows really, but yes it’s definitely something you can feed. Most folks select pads that have few(er) large spines & mini glochids. But that one looks pretty good.
What kind of tort do u have & size? I have a large Sulcata, i just toss entire pads in & they are gobbled. Smaller torts, you can cut small bite size bits. BUT, be careful. It’s easy for a bite size piece to get stuck in the throat - so entire large pads encourage biting off appropriate size.
What kind of tort do u have & size? I have a large Sulcata, i just toss entire pads in & they are gobbled. Smaller torts, you can cut small bite size bits. BUT, be careful. It’s easy for a bite size piece to get stuck in the throat - so entire large pads encourage biting off appropriate size.
That is a type of opuntia and it is safe to feed to your tortoise. I would try to grow some too. Can't have too much opuntia around.
Looks like spineless prickly pear. my torts love it.
Maddoggy
Active Member
Thanks guys ,It seems like it has very small spines that get stuck in your skin. Similar to fibers in fiber glass. I was concerned about the fibers getting lodged in the soft parts of my torts digestive trac.It grows very easily here and I have several 6 ft plants
Those are glochids and while they are ouchy to us they shouldn't be a problem for your tortoises. I never take them off for my Russian. Our desert tortoises out here—cousins to your gophers—eat cactus as a primary food, the ones with full spines.
Plenty of people do remove them, however. Some burn them off; others use a kitchen scrubber and give them a once over. Nothing wrong with that approach if you prefer to be cautious.
Plenty of people do remove them, however. Some burn them off; others use a kitchen scrubber and give them a once over. Nothing wrong with that approach if you prefer to be cautious.
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Actually.....
Be careful what you wish for. This used to be one pad
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No joke. I could feed out 5 full to the top 5 gallon buckets of those every day, and they would still need more.
Maddoggy
Active Member
Thanks I have goth three or four 5 ft plants. Lots of cactus. The spines kinda make it undesirable to have around. I also heard that after it flowers the seeds are bothersome. I planted some Optuntia seems like it's easies to deal with.
I have to buy my opuntia pads in, but my tort loves it. The first time I fed it, the tiny spines did bother him and he kept pulling his head in suddenly as if he had been hurt, so now I just scrape them off before feeding to be cautious.
