What kind of cactus?

JaySparks

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I live near a market here in London that sells cactus pads, and I decided to buy one. The problem with this pad is that I have no idea of where it came from as the lady that sold it to me was not certain of the species or the common name of these pads. She calls them cactus. Most of the cactus pads sold on eBay come from Cyprus or other parts in the UK. The market or the people living in that area are heavily Caribbean, mainly from Jamaica - the lady had a strong Jamaican accent. I hope that helps narrow down the locale of this pad. The place I bought it from was a small grocery store that had a fruit stall right outside and the pads where in a crate, and they are incredibly cheap.

c1.jpg c2.jpg c3.jpg c1.jpg c2.jpg c3.jpg c1.jpg c2.jpg c3.jpg
 

Maro2Bear

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Looks exactly like the type of Opuntia cactus that we all feed to our Sulcatas...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia

You could give it a quick rinse, scrape off any large spines, chop up a few pieces and offer to your tort.

What kind of tortoise do you have?

Depending on type/size of your tort, a small piece might be good, or an entire pad.

Good luck happy Torting
 

Toddrickfl1

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I agree looks like opuntia. Ok to feed.
 

JaySparks

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Looks exactly like the type of Opuntia cactus that we all feed to our Sulcatas...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opuntia

You could give it a quick rinse, scrape off any large spines, chop up a few pieces and offer to your tort.

What kind of tortoise do you have?

Depending on type/size of your tort, a small piece might be good, or an entire pad.

Good luck happy Torting

I have a 2 year old almost 3 Hermanns.
 

Blackdog1714

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I learned that when you cut it store it on the counter and it self seals. Cutting pieces makes it last for days.
 

JaySparks

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I'm thinking of planting this any ideas of what type of soil I need?
 

Blackdog1714

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Regular potting soil and plant it one 1/3 deep. It will be slow going but once it gets going it will outgrow my Russian
 

JaySparks

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Before I start feeding this, just making sure - are all cactus safe? Or in other words is this one 100% safe? People eat these so it should be fine in terms of the chemicals used to grow this right?
 

RosemaryDW

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Jay, if that market is accessible to you, it’s going to be just as easy to buy the occasional pad for your one tortoise.

When and if it that pad does grow to a decent size, it will end up as much more than you need.

I have a couple of cacti someone potted for our tortoise but would not have planted any myself; it’s too easy to buy where I live and it stores well.
 

TammyJ

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Speaking as a Jamaican in Jamaica - yes, that's opuntia cactus and it's great for your tortoise! It grows in my garden and they love it.
 
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