prickly pear catcus

[Jennica]

My aunt just sent me a beautiful prickly pear cactus with roots and a cutting from Arizona. I live in Ohio. Can someone please give me feeding pointers? I have a small sulcata. 4.15oz small. Any advice on how to feed to my sully and care for this cactus would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DeanS]

If the pads are new growth (and tender), you can feed as is! I prefer to give all pads a quick spin or two in the food processor! Babies love the gruel!

 

[Jennica]

Can you slice and freeze? Its a large pad and i dont want to waste it. I potted the whole cactus and took a cutting to replant later.

 

[Len B]

Freezing doesn't work, it will turn to mush. What I would do is cut small strips from the top of a pad as needed to feed, and go ahead and plant the cut off pad. I'm pretty sure that type of opuntia will not survive a winter in Ohio without some type of protection or moved inside. It should grow well outside during summer though.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Put it in a flower pot with some soil give it 4 oz of water every week but in the fall move it to the car port so it's in the dark and only give it a shot glass of water per week and you will get a very preaty flower in the spring


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[Jennica]

He loves it! I used my little kitchen chopped and sprinkled a little calcium in it.

 

[Aunt Caffy]

He loves it! I used my little kitchen chopped and sprinkled a little calcium in it.

That baby is precious!

 

[Jennica]

Thank you Aunt Caffy. He was started dry by the pet store so i am working hard to get him to where he needs to be. He even squeeked at me for the first time last night while i was petting his head.

 

[DLEvergreen]

I've read that prickly pears can be diced and served fresh to tortoises if they are spineless varieties/few glocchids. But to get rid of the oxalates, if you're worried about them building up, I imagine they could be microwaved/heated briefly before serving, as heat is supposed to break them down. As far as storing, more cold hardy cactus varieties may be able to be kept in a garage over the winter without rotting or turning to mush-- it works with the fruit for me-- I'm in zone 7-- about 0 degrees F is the lowest we usually get. If anyone is interested in buying small quantities of spineless prickly pear pads that are more cold hardy that can be fed to your tortoises, I sell small bulk packages of Opuntia Cacanapa (up to about 24 pads) for the lowest prices that I know of, at least on eBay. There are even more cold hardy varieties than this, but the pads are usually quite a bit smaller. Check out my profile on here or on ebay "dlevergreen." Or you can email me at [email protected] if you have any requests/questions (as I may not be on here that often).