Spineless prickly pear with tiny irritating hairs- ok for tortoise to eat?
- Thread starter Owllea
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It's not, but I always knock as much off as I can. Even the regular spines are not suppose to be a problem, for adults anyway, but I still take them off either by burning them or just grinding the whole pad up in a processor or cutting/scraping them with a knife
In that case, don't give them to your torts!
I have to agree with Tammy, if they don't know ask them if they could check. I too wouldn't. I purchase cactus chips from @Kapidolo Farms. All organically tested.
I will ask, have to start growing more in my yard, I use to have a large plant in my yard. I got rid of it because I was afraid Sammy was going to get stuck in his eyes. In Dec. I purchased some spineless cactus pads to plant in the yard, but they died when I was trying to get them to root. I will purchased some more when the weather breaks.
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Tortoises can eat those with no problem.
When you plant new ones, don't water them for at least a month. And don't plant them until the cut scar end "heals" for a couple of weeks.
My goodness, if a plant is safe for a human it's safe for your tortoise.
Your tortoise has very strong jaws that are going to crush the heck out of those tiny spines, they are fine to feed. How do you think desert tortoises manage?! There is no harm in scraping but it is not required. I'm not comfortable with big spines but that's a worry about them getting near an eye, not a mouth.
As mentioned by another poster a Mexican market will sell them cleaned up—for the benefit of humans and their weaker than a tortoise's mouths. They are used in a particular salad. They will also likely sell them unscraped for much less.
Your tortoise has very strong jaws that are going to crush the heck out of those tiny spines, they are fine to feed. How do you think desert tortoises manage?! There is no harm in scraping but it is not required. I'm not comfortable with big spines but that's a worry about them getting near an eye, not a mouth.
As mentioned by another poster a Mexican market will sell them cleaned up—for the benefit of humans and their weaker than a tortoise's mouths. They are used in a particular salad. They will also likely sell them unscraped for much less.
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That's how I initially got mine.
I think I bought four pads. I planted two and about 3 years later I had a plant that broke out of a giant pot, fell over and started growing in my yard.
Probably 3 to 400 pounds of cactus.
My started with 3 pads, got so big that you couldn't walk pass it without getting thorns in your clothes.
If you get overrun by cactus just put an ad on marketplace or craigslist so crazy people like my wife and I can come pick it up.
If only you could sell each pad, you would have a small fortune.
Sometimes people try to get us to buy it from them but usually they are just happy to have it taken away.
In addition to looking on marketplace we have flyers made up that we leave in the mailboxes of houses where we see overgrown stands of it.
That’s our small truck, given the opportunity the tortoises we care for could eat that in 1-2 days.
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I made an entire post documenting my chopping it up and tossing it out.
But it was not as much as what's in that photo.
Took several days.
I still have several smaller plants. They're descendants of those pads
