Cactus (Opuntia) Question

[shimaza1]

I was looking over the food chart last night, and noticed that both cactus paddles and fruit are recommended. Have any of you had experience feeding these? If so, how do you go about prepping them? Assuming I can get my hands on the spineless variety, do I just chop them up or grate them? Should I peel them?

[hurricanejen]

I've fed it before!

You just chop up the spineless variety. If you have any mexican grocery stores near you, they tend to have them. They're tasty for people, too. Sweet and gooey.

Tortoises go BANANAS for it, but I found skinks to be ho hum. Some like it, some don't, but they rarely like it enough to have it as a constant part of their diet. Makes for a great treat for variety, though.

[kingofnobbys]

I think it's called nopals (prickle pear cactus)


Hard to find here in Australia , though some people still grow it in their gardens and you still come across clumps of it along rural dirt roads. Was a huge problem here in the early half of the 20th century because it's invasive and took over huge areas of farming land until the CSIRO developed a biological control for it and released these insects.

[shimaza1]

I've fed it before!

You just chop up the spineless variety. If you have any mexican grocery stores near you, they tend to have them. They're tasty for people, too. Sweet and gooey.

Tortoises go BANANAS for it, but I found skinks to be ho hum. Some like it, some don't, but they rarely like it enough to have it as a constant part of their diet. Makes for a great treat for variety, though.

I don't think I'll be going out of my way to look for them, but if I do come across them, I'll try them out. I did feed George some reconstituted freeze-dried cactus, and he really liked those, so I bet he'd enjoy some fresh ones.

[splashy07]

That indeed looks like what I've seen offered in grocery stores, see if you can locate a Spanish/Latino market, they always have! I used to buy it when I kept Cyclura iguanas.

[Janella]

My beardie used to love this. My skinks seem to like it too. I usually just finely chop it up with everything else I mix up for my skinks. I got mine from a Hispanic store and even Kroger occasionally has them.