Peeling prickly pears?

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morloch

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This might seem like an odd question but,,, why do we need to peel prickly pears or cactus pads?. Nobody does it in the wild for them. I would think the skin on a cactus fruit would be good for them, ? Other than washing it,, For pesticides,, etc. any opinions?
 

BeeBee*BeeLeaves

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No. Not an odd question and no, no peeling needed. By golly, that is where all the fiber is! I do cheat a little and use scissors to cut it up a little to make it easier on my little leopards.
 

morloch

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Thankyou,, I'm no longer peeling! I've been doing it for two yrs! Ha, stupid me.
 

wellington

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Hehe, Sorry dont mean to giggle. But I picture you doing all that work, while the rest of us are just wacking off a piece and tossing it in to the torts. :D I bet they appreciated it though:p :D. We or most of us anyway, do remove the spines.
 

morloch

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Lol... The funny thing is,,, my son just eats the whole fruit!!,,then today he is standing right in front of me (eating Morlochs food btw).like I'm in a trance, I stare at him and think ,,,,why do I bother peeling it?. It hasn't killed my kid!![SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]
 

ZombiiePoopp16

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You are just suppose to despine the cactus to make it easier for them to eat.
 

morloch

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I'm a little slow k ! Lol[SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH][SMILING FACE WITH SMILING EYES][SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH]
 

BeeBee*BeeLeaves

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Funniest keeper story ever. Especially because you did it for years. Aren't ya glad ya found TFO?
Lotta good karma for all that extra effort you did on behalf of your tortoises. You were being kind. Too kind. : )
 

wellington

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It is a very funny story. Very sweet too.:D. And it all done for a big fella too. :D
Thanks for the laugh. :)
 

morloch

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I got a good laugh too!! [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND SMILING EYES][SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND SMILING EYES][GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]
 

BeeBee*BeeLeaves

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Oh wait a minute? You did this all for a sulcata? Not a teeny weeny something but a sulcata? Just saw your avatar. Nope, this is not just good karma folks. You are going straight to heaven for that! : )
 

reticguy76

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If its any consilation, I peel them for my little "Cooter". He hasnt even showed remote interest in them. That way they are peeled and ready for when I intervene and eat them for him!!
 

Terry Allan Hall

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ZombiiePoopp16 said:
You are just suppose to despine the cactus to make it easier for them to eat.

Actually, de-spining cactus only benefits the tortoise owner...the torts will happily eat it "as is", just as they do in the wild... :cool:
 

BeeBee*BeeLeaves

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Oh no no no Terry. That one is hard for me. I feel like they are eating needles. I take a knife and scrape those off. But you are right, in the wild they do eat those needles, I mean, spines.


reticguy76 said:
If its any consilation, I peel them for my little "Cooter". He hasnt even showed remote interest in them. That way they are peeled and ready for when I intervene and eat them for him!!

You are also going straight to heaven! And I thought I spoiled and coddled my tortoises. Y'all beat me by a mile.
 

DevilsLettuce

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BeeBee*BeeLeaves said:
Oh no no no Terry. That one is hard for me. I feel like they are eating needles. I take a knife and scrape those off. But you are right, in the wild they do eat those needles, I mean, spines.


reticguy76 said:
If its any consilation, I peel them for my little "Cooter". He hasnt even showed remote interest in them. That way they are peeled and ready for when I intervene and eat them for him!!

You are also going straight to heaven! And I thought I spoiled and coddled my tortoises. Y'all beat me by a mile.



BeeBee, have you tried burning the needles off? I just move a pad over the stove gas burner and it quickly burns all the needles off, don't know if that will be faster than your knife method.
 

morloch

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So here's morloch trying to eat the skin of prickly pear. Not too happy stillImageUploadedByTortForum1381081223.237084.jpg. Or back to the good old days!!ImageUploadedByTortForum1381081254.505989.jpgImageUploadedByTortForum1381081269.402703.jpg, hand feeding it is!!
 
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