# Cactus skeletons



## fredito (Oct 14, 2014)

Hope this is the right forum for this question. I have a ton of prickly pear cactus in my yard and got the bright idea to try to get the skeletons out to send them ooff to be cast. I tried basically filleting them, soaking them in a borax concoction and boiling them. I ended up with no skeletons and lots of pokes in my hands. Tried to find some stuff online, but it's pretty limited. Anyone have any pointers?


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## Wildthings (Oct 15, 2014)

I've got 5 1-gal ziplock baggies full of them . I tried the same approach as you and ended up with the same results. Got frustrated trying to get them clean and left them in a large cardboard box under the carport for a couple 3 months. Then one day I said I need to do something with that crap. Man there were all mushy and gooey yuk. Took a couple of them over to the water hose and blasted them with a jet from one of those spray nozzles I have on my hose and it washed away all the deteriorated flesh and left the skeletons intact. Laid them out in the sun and let them dried. Voila prickly pear cactus skeletons. Some of them I took and soaked in peroxide and set them in the sun. Voila white prickly pear cactus skeletons. I got some for sale! $10,000 per bag!


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## fredito (Oct 15, 2014)

I may have to give that a try. Did they mold or anything nasty like that, or just got goopy?


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## Wildthings (Oct 15, 2014)

They were all just goopy and ooey


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## fredito (Oct 15, 2014)

I will go have to chop some up in the yard and see how it goes. I assume you skinned them before setting them out? I just need to figure out how to explain a box of cactus sitting the garage to my wife....


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## Wildthings (Oct 15, 2014)

nope no skinning or nothing - just pile them in a cardboard box and set them aside to ferment!


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## SENC (Oct 16, 2014)

Wildthings said:


> They were all just goopy and ooey


Boy, I woulda never thought of Sitting Bull using the words "goopy and ooey". Might be time for a new avatar, Barry. Something more like this:

Reactions: Funny 3


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## APBcustoms (Oct 16, 2014)

Wildthings said:


> I got some for sale! $10,000 per bag!



how big is the bag


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## Wildthings (Oct 16, 2014)

SENC said:


> Boy, I woulda never thought of Sitting Bull using the words "goopy and ooey". Might be time for a new avatar, Barry. Something more like this:
> 
> View attachment 62000


OK



APBcustoms said:


> how big is the bag


1 gallon ziplock - shipping included

Reactions: Funny 3


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