Whilst having a google a few months back I came across a few articles on feeding cacti to Tortoises (I think they're called Turtles in America)
Being a cactus grower I was interested in these, it turned out that Tortoise keepers were having problems sourcing cacti that hadn't been treated with pesticides. Most cacti growers at some stage will have problems with both Mealybugs and Spidermites. Both of these are big problems and can distort and kill off cacti. Mealybugs love cacti, especially Opuntias or Prickly Pears. So most commercial cactus collections, including cacti destined for sale, will have been sprayed with pesticides.
Having given this some thought, I realised that although I have sprayed the stock that I have for sale, I've never sprayed the beds in the ornamental cactus house. There is no doubt about this as I built the cactus house myself in 2021.
In the beds are two large Opuntias, Austrocylindropuntia subulata and Opuntia quimilo. Both ideal Tortoise food plants and both with ample cutting material available to start a pesticide free cactus plant concern.
I've made a couple of videos explaining this enterprise, the first one about what and how much to feed, and the second about the cultivation methods.
I hope to have these plants available in a few months time. Once they are in cultivation it will be a lot easier to produce more from the prunings of the first ones (they won't all sell at once unless there's a stampede
)
I've also put my feelers out for a cutting of the Galapagos Opuntia (Opuntia galapageia) which is one of the plants eaten by the famous Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos Islands.
en.wikipedia.org
These cacti are hard to obtain as seed or cuttings can no longer be taken from the Islands.
Being a cactus grower I was interested in these, it turned out that Tortoise keepers were having problems sourcing cacti that hadn't been treated with pesticides. Most cacti growers at some stage will have problems with both Mealybugs and Spidermites. Both of these are big problems and can distort and kill off cacti. Mealybugs love cacti, especially Opuntias or Prickly Pears. So most commercial cactus collections, including cacti destined for sale, will have been sprayed with pesticides.
Having given this some thought, I realised that although I have sprayed the stock that I have for sale, I've never sprayed the beds in the ornamental cactus house. There is no doubt about this as I built the cactus house myself in 2021.
In the beds are two large Opuntias, Austrocylindropuntia subulata and Opuntia quimilo. Both ideal Tortoise food plants and both with ample cutting material available to start a pesticide free cactus plant concern.
I've made a couple of videos explaining this enterprise, the first one about what and how much to feed, and the second about the cultivation methods.
I hope to have these plants available in a few months time. Once they are in cultivation it will be a lot easier to produce more from the prunings of the first ones (they won't all sell at once unless there's a stampede
)I've also put my feelers out for a cutting of the Galapagos Opuntia (Opuntia galapageia) which is one of the plants eaten by the famous Giant Tortoises of the Galapagos Islands.
Galápagos tortoise - Wikipedia
These cacti are hard to obtain as seed or cuttings can no longer be taken from the Islands.