Spikes on cactus?!?!

[MichaelNguyen7396]

I have grown some cactus in my garden but i want to take it out and plant it in my tortoise enclosure so he/she has some greens to it, but shall I cut of the spikes or leave it on?

 

[wellington]

If you plant it in the torts area, they may get to it before you can get the spikes off the new growth. I wouldn't plant it in their enclosure. Keep it where you can pick the pads off, remove the spines and then feed.

 

[jmhoesch]

We're in southern AZ and have a lot of cacti. the only thing we have in our enclosure that has thorns on it is our tall Ocotillo but my husband shaved 8 inches of it from the bottom, so our torti can't get stuck. Anything else w/ thorns, we've kept OUTSIDE of the enclosure and have cut and shaved the thorns off before we give him any part of it.