Why feed only new prickly pear pads?

[Leddagger16]

I have some prickly pear pads I was going to plant and feed to my desert tortoises but I was told I can only give them the young pads. Why is this?

 

[Sosakan]

Nope, actually the older the better! The older ones have more fiber, which is very good for torts, the younger ones are more tender and tasty, but torts love both. I feed opuntia to my tort that are 6mo old, no worries!

Also, plant those up, look at the prickly pear propagation thread at the top of the food forum, great info!

Hope my 2p helps!

 

[Blakem]

You don't have to only give them young pads, the mature ones are good too. I give the new pads because they're just on top, and they're much softer and the spines aren't so bad. But, the older part will continue to produce, as well as the young if ypublet them.

The young pads are supposed to be rich in calcium, which increases with the age of the pads. They also "can be a rich source of soluble fiber during younger ages and show increased insoluble fiber content at older ages". Soluble fiber is a good fiber found in oatmeal, barley, fruits and veggies. A member once posted some information on the young cactus, but I couldn't find it.

My source came from the US national library of medicine.

www.ncbi.nom.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3108109/

 

[Blakem]

@Cowboy_Ken

 

[Leddagger16]

Thank you both for the help!

 

[Tom]

Smaller tortoises will have trouble eating older tougher more mature pads. I feed the older pads to my bigger sulcatas and I save the new-ish pads for the smaller tortoises.

 

[Sosakan]

That's what this place is for!
anytime!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

My Tidgy loves old and new pads and especially the fruit.
Yuuummmyyy!!!

 

[Sosakan]

My Tidgy loves old and new pads and especially the fruit.
Yuuummmyyy!!!

LOL, how do you prep the fruit? Aren't there too many seeds?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Peeled, sliced and seeds mostly knifed out.
Some varieties here have few seeds.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Yes. Don't forget the cactus pears.

 

[turtlemanfla88]

I am not trying to start a war ,but i feed the spineless ones and take a small butane torch from harbor freight to the ones with hairs and spines.I know there is another name for the hairs. Some people believe the spines are ok to leave on i do not ,but that is my opinion because in nature prickly-pears/ Opuntia only occur in the Americas not in Asia,Africa,ETC. again these species of tortoises and turtles eat them in nature.