Simple DIY Cactus Feeder for Tortoises

kameya

Well-Known Member
10 Year Member!
Joined
Mar 18, 2010
Messages
282
Location (City and/or State)
Orange County, California
For tortoise keepers, cactus pads are the best food source we can get for our tortoises... it's inexpensive, has a lot of nutrition, and it can last for a few days in tortoise's outdoor pan. However, if you just leave the cactus pad flat on the ground, it's one of the harder food for the tortoises to chomp off the ground. When I did a bit of searching online, I can either lift the pad off the ground by sandwiching the cactus pad by big bricks or simply just chopping up the pad to make cactus salad. I found both methods have pros and cons. The brick idea requires a bigger habitat since you need really big brick/stone to hold down the pad, and it just takes up too much space in my small habitat. The cactus salad require additional time to prepare and it will dry out more quickly then the whole pad.

So after a few brain storming, I've found a real EASY solution to create a cactus feeder with will enable your tortoises to chomp the whole cactus pad in a proper position...

You can get the following items pretty easily from your local hardware store... you will poke the garden ground stake through the cactus pad, then lift the pad off the ground with the PVC pipe, make sure to use the desired height for your tortoises.
IMG_20190829_170809837TEXT.jpg

Then pound the cactus feeder into the SOIL in your tortoise habitat...
IMG_20190829_171407778.jpg

Here is the cactus kebab setup...
IMG_20190829_180205317TEXT.jpg
Your tortoises will find it very easy to chomp away the cactus pad without breaking their neck muscle...IMG_20190829_181140751.jpg

So there you go... you can place multiple cactus kebab in one habitat so every tortoise can have its own feeding station... Happy Feeding...
IMG_20190829_181800265.jpg
 

Lyn W

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5 Year Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
23,497
Location (City and/or State)
UK
Great idea.
I just wish we could get the cactus pads in the UK, I have yet to find a supplier of decent sized plants.
 

Kighill

New Member
5 Year Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2016
Messages
1
Great idea.
I just wish we could get the cactus pads in the UK, I have yet to find a supplier of decent sized plants.
Great idea,
I have attached an eBay item number for a chap in the uk who sells Opuntia Cactus Pads. I have loads and hope to be self sufficient.
Please type this into eBay
223656978809

They are very easy to grow and also very quickly eaten. I keep mine in a cold greenhouse but the chap states they can be kept outside in the uk.
 

MPappagallo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2019
Messages
368
Location (City and/or State)
Myrtle Beach, SC
For tortoise keepers, cactus pads are the best food source we can get for our tortoises... it's inexpensive, has a lot of nutrition, and it can last for a few days in tortoise's outdoor pan. However, if you just leave the cactus pad flat on the ground, it's one of the harder food for the tortoises to chomp off the ground. When I did a bit of searching online, I can either lift the pad off the ground by sandwiching the cactus pad by big bricks or simply just chopping up the pad to make cactus salad. I found both methods have pros and cons. The brick idea requires a bigger habitat since you need really big brick/stone to hold down the pad, and it just takes up too much space in my small habitat. The cactus salad require additional time to prepare and it will dry out more quickly then the whole pad.

So after a few brain storming, I've found a real EASY solution to create a cactus feeder with will enable your tortoises to chomp the whole cactus pad in a proper position...

You can get the following items pretty easily from your local hardware store... you will poke the garden ground stake through the cactus pad, then lift the pad off the ground with the PVC pipe, make sure to use the desired height for your tortoises.
View attachment 280245

Then pound the cactus feeder into the SOIL in your tortoise habitat...
View attachment 280247

Here is the cactus kebab setup...
View attachment 280248
Your tortoises will find it very easy to chomp away the cactus pad without breaking their neck muscle...View attachment 280249

So there you go... you can place multiple cactus kebab in one habitat so every tortoise can have its own feeding station... Happy Feeding...
View attachment 280250
What a clever idea! Thanks!
 

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