Feeding cactus to Tortoises?

Dinosaur_Owner

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Hi I would imagine that spineless cacti are ok for tortoises but what about the ones with spines? I've seen pictures online of tortoises eating spiny cacti in the wild. How are they able to do this? Is this purely out of food desperation or do they like eating cacti spines and all?
 

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Many members leave the spines on and report that the tortoises couldn't care less.
For mine, I grow the "spineless" type and either just use the new, tender growth or wipe off the spines with leather gloves.
Yes. The spineless also have some spines.
 

CharlieM

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Most keepers feed spineless, especially if you're in an area it can be grown. Others may scrape off or burn off the spines. I see you're in Florida. Spineless grows really well down here.
 

Dinosaur_Owner

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Would you guys say cactus is a good staple food or as more of a treat? I know the diet needs to be varied put I'm talking about using cacti as one of the regular foods given. I have an excess of Christmas cactus plus prickly pear grows wild all over the place where I live as a weed.
 

BabyJack

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Mine eat nopal like crackers!! Also the spineless has tiny hair like spine, cant be seen easy.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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Many years ago I planted a small cactus with 3 inch spines on it with in a couple of hours my Leopards had eaten the spines right off but the cactus was good and I figured it would grow ! But the next day they had eaten the cactus to the ground. So I don't remove any spines .
 

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Would you guys say cactus is a good staple food or as more of a treat? I know the diet needs to be varied put I'm talking about using cacti as one of the regular foods given. I have an excess of Christmas cactus plus prickly pear grows wild all over the place where I live as a weed.
Is this a Redfoot?
No. It's not a suitable staple.
 

kathyth

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I give my Tedfoots cactus about once a. I think. I burn the spines off the cactus.
 

CharlieM

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I feed lots of cactus.
Some other easy to grow Florida plants are hibiscus, mulberry and cranberry hibiscus. I planted several double red hibiscus plants and have a great supply of full flowers and young leaves. You can also grow mulberry trees in a container to keep control of the size and have a constant supply of leaves til late fall. Cranberry hibiscus is a bit harder to find but they love the leaves and it flowers in the fall and self seeds or you can collect them. It's also simple to grow from cuttings.
These make up the majority of the foods I feed.
 

Greta16

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I feed lots of cactus.
Some other easy to grow Florida plants are hibiscus, mulberry and cranberry hibiscus. I planted several double red hibiscus plants and have a great supply of full flowers and young leaves. You can also grow mulberry trees in a container to keep control of the size and have a constant supply of leaves til late fall. Cranberry hibiscus is a bit harder to find but they love the leaves and it flowers in the fall and self seeds or you can collect them. It's also simple to grow from cuttings.
These make up the majority of the foods I feed.
Do you get the mulberry tree at a nursery or take a cutting from a tree? I can grow anything indoors. I'm Maine it would be handy to have a mulberry tree right in the house.
 

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I took this photo this morning as an example of what my babies are eating for breakfast.
A hibiscus leaf, hibiscus flower pedal, grape leaf and tender cactus sprout chopped.
Cactus a few times a week, but not as a predominant food source.
 

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Dinosaur_Owner

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I feed lots of cactus.
Some other easy to grow Florida plants are hibiscus, mulberry and cranberry hibiscus. I planted several double red hibiscus plants and have a great supply of full flowers and young leaves. You can also grow mulberry trees in a container to keep control of the size and have a constant supply of leaves til late fall. Cranberry hibiscus is a bit harder to find but they love the leaves and it flowers in the fall and self seeds or you can collect them. It's also simple to grow from cuttings.
These make up the majority of the foods I feed.
That's great I have a Rose of Sharon tree (close relative of hibiscus) that I will start giving him flowers and leaves from.
 

seanang168

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Is this an example of Cactus I could feed my Star Tortoise? I have a lot of them and I am from South East Asia
 

Pearly

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Is this an example of Cactus I could feed my Star Tortoise? I have a lot of them and I am from South East Asia

Not sure about this one, but opuntia type (with flat pads) is the kind most of us like to use as a great ADDITION (not a STAPLE) to the diet. They are very nutricious, loaded with calcium. Opuntia fruit (prickly pear fruit) makes an awesome treat to my RFs. They love it. Their taste /texture is a bit similar to melons, sweet, very juicy with LOTS of seeds! I’d be careful with other cacti, there are species that are known to be very hallucinogenic or even toxic to humans
 

seanang168

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Is this an example of Cactus I could feed my Star Tortoise? I have a lot of them and I am from South East Asia


I want to update that I did took one of these, de Spine it and fed to my tortoises. Because someone broke one of the pots and I got some broken cactus. One ate it readily, while the other hesitated at first and then also ate it. Once de spine, they are like some kind of cucumbers. Anyway it is the fourth day now, my tortoises seem fine.
 

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My spineless have just a few spines as mentioned previously.
But once your cactus plant or plants reach a very large size, youll be able to just pick and feed the small pads. These have immature soft spines. No harm to your hands at all
 

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