Which among these cacti can i feed to my sulcatas?

[franz_see]

Good day,

My wife just bought 3 cacti from the market place. I'm now planning to grow a little cactus garden. But I'm curious, which among these can be fed to our sulcatas?

Candidate#1:


Candidate#2:


Candidate#3:


Thanks,
Franz See

 

[lismar79]

Here is a good site to help I.d plants
http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp

 

[Blakem]

I've only seen those before, but I have never fed them. A SUPER easy growing cactus is opitunia. My girlfriend cut and planted 3 pads and it now is 3 feet tall, with 12 or so pads on it. I also feed aloe Vera that as part of the succulent family that's great for sulcatas!

 

[franz_see]

Here is a good site to help I.d plants
http://m.thetortoisetable.org.uk/m/plants_19.asp

Great. Thanks!

If I ID'ed them correctly, my cactus #1 is an Opotunia (SAFE TO FEED), while my cactus #2 is a Jade Plant (FEED IN MODERATION), while cactus #3 is a Europhorbia (DO NOT FEED).

Did I get that right?

Thanks,
Franz See

 

[franz_see]

I've only seen those before, but I have never fed them. A SUPER easy growing cactus is opitunia. My girlfriend cut and planted 3 pads and it now is 3 feet tall, with 12 or so pads on it. I also feed aloe Vera that as part of the succulent family that's great for sulcatas!

Hi @Blake m , is my first cactus an Opotunia? Also, approximately how long before it grew to 3 feet tall? ..and what's your experience so far with growing and feeding aloe vera to your torts ?

Thanks,
Franz See

 

[Blakem]

Hi @Blake m , is my first cactus an Opotunia? Also, approximately how long before it grew to 3 feet tall? ..and what's your experience so far with growing and feeding aloe vera to your torts ?

Thanks,
Franz See

I've never seen opotunia cactus look like that. I searched in Google images "young opotunia cactus" and these varieties came up I personally prefer a cactus with the least amount of thorns. I scrape mine off with a knife. My cactus started growing in a pot and they were the size of my hand. This was three individual pads that were just partially put into the dirt. That was one year ago.

I believe they should be mature When you cut the pads off. It would be taller but I've pulled off quite a few young pads from it. The firmer, mature pads are harder to eat, and they aren't as rich in nutrients as the young ones. @cowboy Ken may be able to clarify if I said that incorrectly.

I only feed aloe to my sulcata. She will be 3 years old in March and is only in the past 6 months eating just about anything. Until then, I would cut an aloe pad off and only 1-2 bites were taken. Now, she will eat about half of a 7 inch piece in two days that it lays around before I throw it away.

I'm still new to growing plants, so I do t know very much! Please correct me if I said anything incorrectly.

 

[Blakem]

I just looked back on your threads on how old/how many sulcata s you had. Your youngster MIGHT be able to bite into a young, soft cactus pad. Some people chop their pads up into tiny pieces, but another option is to put it in a blender. It's messy and really gooey...so my sulcata didn't eat much of it. She now gobbles a whole pad up like its a chip with no problem. I don't know where you're from, but here in central valley of California, my cactus grows well and I see it all over my town. You may need to experiment when you get some. It's great food for our sulcata!

 

[Yvonne G]

I think you have them backwards. If you stick a fingernail into the leaf on the first one do you get a white sap? Then #1 is the euphorbia and should not be fed to the tortoise.

#2 is gollum, a member of the jade family, and as such it would be edible.

#3 could probably be fed, but I can't remember the name of it. It is a cactus, though, not a succulent like the euphorbia family.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Find some "prickly pear" Cactus. It grows like a weed. In fact it's easier to grow it than to kill it! (True.) Tortoises love it and it also grows edible fruit. I purchased a few pads and just stuck them into the ground and they all just took off.

 

[Tom]

I don't know about any of those, so cant recommend feeding them.

I have at least 8 varieties of spineless opuntia, and all of those are good to go. Organ pipe cactus is okay too.

 

[franz_see]

@Blake m Thanks!

@Yvonne G I'll try that out. Thanks!

@ZEROPILOT I'll try to look for that in my area. Thanks!

@Tom Thanks. I'll avoid feeding these to my torts then and try to find more suitable cactus plants. Thanks!

 

[Iochroma]

I agree with Yvonne. Euphorbia, Crassula 'Gollum', and a cereus-type cactus.