OPUNTIA QUESTION
- Thread starter DeanS
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Every few days for my yearlings. It's a matter of time first thing in the morning to make some Opuntia fajita strips and then cut them length wise to expose the juicy sweet centers. I wish they would relish the Opuntia over the fast food (pre-cut spring mix).
Once a week or so for me.
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I will make sure there's some fresh cut pad in thier enclosesure every morning
every day.5 pads for 1.50 at the mexican food store.
Yes , I feed Oputia almost every day, I buy a bulk box from Rivenrock in CA every month it is shipped to my house asutomatically, I try to feed it so by the time the box is empty the next one is on the way!! my torts love it! and its great for them....I walk around the enclosure and slice it up julien style and drop it around so its like an easter egg hunt for my torts, by the end of the day when I get home, there is not one peice left!
fel1958 said:
You would think considering the amount of migrant workers here in the summer, we would have it more readily available at least part of the year, but no, all I can find is the canned stuff, and it has jalapenos and preservatives in it, so I won't use it...
Once I have a Sulcata to feed, I will start growing my own.
Please folks! Realize that any opuntia or aloe vera that you buy at a Vallarta (or any Latin market for that matter) is product that comes from Mexico. That means reclaimed water...that means higher bacteria count...that means salmonella (among other things)!
NEtorts has the right idea...go to RIVENROCK.com for the best quality you can find...you can even sign up for automatic shipments...excellent for feeding or growing.
NEtorts has the right idea...go to RIVENROCK.com for the best quality you can find...you can even sign up for automatic shipments...excellent for feeding or growing.
The cactus pads I buy are a bit floppy, but they shouldn't be soggy (if they are soggy I don't buy them, as they won't last even a week, vs. about three weeks I can get normally if I keep them dry). They are quite cheap, so as long as they don't look really bad you might want to give it a try. I wish I could get them organic. Its one of the only things I can't. But, I don't imagine cactus is grown with many pesticides. If I do buy conventional produce I tend to get the greens and such that are a bit more ugly looking (less pesticides), and of course its stuff grown for humans (not nursery plants, which scare me).
I feed a couple pounds a day to my adult sulcata along with mazuri (a medium size pickle jar full) and what he grasses on in the yard during the summer.The opuntia is the last thing he eats in the evening.I cut it despine it and feed it to him, can't get no fresher than that. All the other tortoises get it at least 3 times a week.
Here's a few picsDeanS said:Len said:
pictures please?
Len said:Here's a few picsDeanS said:Len said:
pictures please?
Walker is a BEAUTE! My Morty would eat opuntia every day---all day---if he could. Always had to slice it in "bite-size" pieces [more for my piece of mind]. Great stuff!
We have TONS of the spined varieties on our property, and a few clumps of some spineless variety in our front yard...been planting a few spineless ones, some of which Brother Len was kind enough to send me, so, as I use up the spined variety near the house, I'll eventually have a lot more spineless opuntias for tort-chow.
I generally feed 'em opuntia every other day, so 3-4X per week...It never ceases to amazed me that a 4.25" Hermann's and a 5.5+" Iberian can literally polish off a 10" pad between 'em in just one day!
I generally feed 'em opuntia every other day, so 3-4X per week...It never ceases to amazed me that a 4.25" Hermann's and a 5.5+" Iberian can literally polish off a 10" pad between 'em in just one day!
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