Not my brightest moment!

EllieMay

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I have been looking for cactus pads in stores and almost ordered some online today but I backed out last minute because I couldn’t just order a small amount. Most evenings, my son and I go on a “treasure hunt” for tortoise food and I thought I remembered seeing some cactus near my property, so that was our goal today. Well we hit jackpot.. I looked at it closely to see if I saw anything prickly and then not knowing any better, I picked! I just spent a good hour picking needles out of my hands so I hope it was worth it! :tort::tort:

Anyone know a quicker way to remove the prickly from the pear???
 

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EllieMay

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Ouch. I think I've heard u can burn them off.
I’m not sure Which is the lesser of two evils! Lol.. I’m usually a pretty intelligent person but the tortoises keep getting the best of me :p
 

wellington

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I did that on the spineless variety. Spineless right, should be safe to grab right? WRONG! It still has those tiny little spines.
I burn or scrape the spines off. Burning them is easier and the preferred method. I will also use the food processor with dicing blade then I will take the pieces and blend them
with the regular blade. Chops the spines up smaller where they are a big problem.
 

wellington

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If you talking about taking the pad off the cactus plant, I use tongs and either bend it back or cut with knife.
 

EllieMay

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If you talking about taking the pad off the cactus plant, I use tongs and either bend it back or cut with knife.
I was talking about removing the spines from my hands :confused: but all info will be useful.. in the future I will be sure to wear gloves, use tongs, build bonfire, etc...:D:D
 

Diamond

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oh, I did not know u meant from your hands. sorry. Put elmers glue on your hands and let it dry, then peel the glue off, the spines will come up with the dried glue. My husband fell into a cactus one time when he came off our horse, That trick worked pretty well.
 

EllieMay

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Thanks y’all! You can bet I will handle them with respect from now on:)
 
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