# Are all cactus edible to tortoises?



## Justin Dinh (Jun 7, 2015)

Hi I am new to Tortoise forum and nice to meet you all. So I was wondering are all of cactus edible for sulcatas and cherry head tortoises? I bought a spineless prickly pear for my them but so far haven't been growing much. Therefore i noticed there are spineless cactus around my neighborhood. And im not sure if i should ask my neighbors for some to feed to my tortoises or could it potential be toxic to my tortoises..


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## Yvonne G (Jun 7, 2015)

Most cactus is edible, however many succulents are not. The opuntia family is ok to feed. Try to use the younger pads as they're easier for the tortoise to bite.


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## Blakem (Jun 7, 2015)

The cactus to the left is opitunia cactus. It's pretty common to see where I live in the central valley. My girlfriend cut off three pads, planted them and three years later it's much bigger than the image you see here! Probably one foot taller.


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## N2TORTS (Jun 7, 2015)

This is a list of edible plants in the family Cactaceae.

_Carnegiea gigantea_, the Saguaro,
_Cereus repandus_ - California and Florida
genus _Corryocactus_ (also known as Erdisia), the tasty berrylike
C. brevistylis, C. pulquiensis, and C. erectus

_Coryphantha_
_C. robbinsorum_ and _C. recurvata_.

genus _Echinocereus_ ("Strawberry Cactus")
_E. engelmannii_, _E. bonkerae_, _E. boyce-thompsonii_
_E. enneacanthus_, _E. cincerascens_, _E. stramineus_
_E. dasyacanthus_, _E. fendleri_ and _E. fasciculatus_
_E. brandegeei_, _E. ledingii_ and _E. nicholii_
_E. engelmannii_ ("Strawberry Vanilla")

genus _Echinopsis_
South American species
_E._ (or _T._) _atacamensis_, _E./T. coquimbana_ and _E./T. schickendanzii_


genus _Epiphyllum_, the Orchid cactus
_E. anguliger_ (also called _Phyllocactus darrahii_, said to be like gooseberries)

genus _Epithelantha_ (the fruit of all species said to be edible)
genus _Ferocactus_
_Ferocactus hamatacanthus_
_F. histrix_ ("borrachitos") and _F. latispinus_ ("pochas")

genus _Harrisia_ (of Florida and the Caribbean), the "Prickly Apples"
NOTE: The following 5 are said to be "endangered endemic" :
_H. aboriginum_, _H.simpsonii_, _H. adscendens_, _H fragrans_ and _H. eriophora_

Argentinian _H. balsanae_
_H. undatus_ and _H. triangularis_ (aka "Dragon Fruits") - SE Asia and China

genus _Mammillaria_ ("chilitos" as they look like tiny red chili peppers)
_M. applanata_, _M. meiacantha_, _M. macdougalii_, _M. lasiacantha_
_M. grahamii_, _M. oliviae_, _M. mainiae_, _M. microcarpa_, _M. thornberi_ and many others

_Myrtillocactus geometrizans_ ("garambulos", taste like less-acid cranberries)
Cultivated prickly pear grown for food

genus _Opuntia_, the prickly pears
_Opuntia ficus-indica_
_Opuntia matudae_

genus _Pachycereus_,
_Pachycereus pringlei_, the Cardon
_P. schottii_, the Senita and _P. weberi_, the Candelabro

genus _Peniocereus_,
_Peniocereus greggii_, the Arizona Queen of the Night
_P. johnstonii_ and _P. serpentinus_

genus _Pereskia_
_P. aculeata_, the "Barbados gooseberry"
_P. guamacho_

genus _Stenocereus_ (quite sweet, but prone to ferment; hence the "agria" [="sour"]))
_S. fricii_ ("Pitayo de aguas"), _S. griseus_ ("Pitayo de Mayo"), _S. gummosus_ ("Pitahaya agria"
_S. pruinosus_ ("Pitayo de Octubre"), _S. montanus_ ("Pitaya colorada")
_S. queretaroensis_ ("Pitaya de Queretaro"), _S. standleyi_ ("Pita Marismena"), _S. stellatus_ ("Xoconostle")
_S. thurberi_ ("Organ Pipe Cactus", "Pitayo Dulce") and _S. treleasi_ ("Tunillo")

* This list comes from the forum website Marmaro, John P (Sun, Sep 30, 07).


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## teresaf (Jun 7, 2015)

Would it be easier if we had thread with a list of BAD cactus? Suculents? Mushrroms? etc?


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## N2TORTS (Jun 7, 2015)

LOL.......that's too easy!......Better to dig deep and research ~
Here this morning ...Tyrone....the baby Galap enjoying some Cacti....


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## teresaf (Jun 7, 2015)

It's so funny how they just bury their face in their food sometimes. lol


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## Justin Dinh (Jun 8, 2015)

Thank you all for all the helpful replies. The cactus around my neighborhood looks exactly like the pictures in your post. It turned out that it infact had little hairs on the cactus so i just torched it but and the tortoises seems to love it. So im going to start some of those too and provide them with my spineless prickly pear and this cactus. Thank you again for the replies.


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## Obbie (Apr 2, 2021)

N2TORTS said:


> This is a list of edible plants in the family Cactaceae.
> 
> _Carnegiea gigantea_, the Saguaro,
> _Cereus repandus_ - California and Florida
> ...


Thank you so much, I was just thinking of googling that ! Saved me a lot of work ?


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## ZEROPILOT (Apr 2, 2021)

Justin Dinh said:


> Thank you all for all the helpful replies. The cactus around my neighborhood looks exactly like the pictures in your post. It turned out that it infact had little hairs on the cactus so i just torched it but and the tortoises seems to love it. So im going to start some of those too and provide them with my spineless prickly pear and this cactus. Thank you again for the replies.


I actually also remove the spines (glochids) before I feed them to my group. But it isn't necessarily.
I pull the pads off and wipe the spines off with leather gloves.
It makes ME feel better.


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## AmandaTX (Apr 2, 2021)

Depending on where you live, prickly pear pads may be sold at your local grocery- normally with the spines removed. It's darn easy to get in south Texas, but then, lots of folks here use it in recipes. Sometimes our HEB has nopales pre-sliced and in a bag, but they go bad quickly. My red-footed also LOVES tuna (prickly pear fruit) as an occasional treat.


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