Hello-
I am new to the forum and anxiously awaiting my two redfoot hatchlings. After reading that torts love Opuntia cactus and knowing that they are abundant around these parts, I went and collected several pads. I have been trying my hand at de-spining them. After much frustration (and annoying glochids everywhere!), I did a search on the archived forums and found that some tort keepers feel that it is not necessary to remove the tiny glochids, as they would be exposed to them in the wild anyway. I understand that for a desert tortoise like a Leopard it may be no big deal to munch down on them, but does that also apply to tropical species like Redfoots? I did manage to actually peel a few of the pads, but it is a lot of work- as in this will be a RARE treat for the little buggers if I can't find a better way.

I have found that if I burn the pads (or singe (sp?) rather) I can remove the large sharp spines. I cannot get rid of the glochids without peeling. I know that many of you purchase the pads at a supermarket and they are already spine-less and ready for human consumption, and others have it growing in their enclosures and let the torts figure it out for themselves. I've spoken with a Redfoot owner who feeds Opuntia that is store bought, and it is well recieved. The Ca:P ratio is very desirable so I would really like to feed this to my little guys when they get here, plus it is free if I am willing to go on a hike and harvest some! But they are very time consuming if I have to remove the glochids.

Any thoughts on the matter? Have any of you fed them to your Redfoots with the glochids still attached? I've included some pictures which show what they look like before and after getting burned. Please let me know if you know of a better way to de-spine also...

Thank you so much!

p.s. I don't know how to rearrange their order, but what you see are:
After burning
Before burning
Both species I collected

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