I don't know why my cactus has gone limp?

[niclovesherplants]

Okay so, I've had this little cactus since October 2011 and it's had its ups and downs and it is currently having one of its "downs". It's been limp for a while now, and I don't know whether it's because it's so long, that it's naturally bending, or if it's something else. To the touch it's a tiny bit soft I guess, when you touch the little pricks they don't hurt (they never really did anyway) and I've watered it a tad the past few days cause the soil is rock solid. I don't want to water it anymore, in case it's not the water that it wants. It is kept in a bedroom, which is mostly hot throughout the nights, due to the heating being on. It is on a shelf, away from the heater though.

I've included a pic!

Thanks everyone.

[teo]

The plant (to the right) looks like some Opuntia - and it's etiolated (stretched out of too little light). The soil is probably peat-based - and this tends to get like that after a while - and not soak up any water for the roots. If that is the case a switch to better/more suitable soil is probably a good idea (see articles on this site on soils)

[Aiko]

Severely etiolated, I must add. Open up those curtains, or better yet put the plants on the other side of it! The 'flowers' you might want to remove. They are fake. And probably pinned into the plant. And at the looks of it the fluffy whites I think I see on the plant could be mealy bugs.

All in all this plant is in terrible shape.

The most intense sunlight you can get might rescue it. Depending on your local climate, but you might consider to place it outside throughout the summer. Even in risk of overwatering if you don't shield it from rains, it will probably still have better days then than where it is now. And you probably really should do a repotting. Removed all the (peat?) soil and clean the roots. Mix sieved garden soil (so the big parts are out) with rocks, about 50% of each, and place the plant in this mix. The current pot seems to be a good size, so I would advice you to stick with the same pot.

[niclovesherplants]

The plant (to the right) looks like some Opuntia - and it's etiolated (stretched out of too little light). The soil is probably peat-based - and this tends to get like that after a while - and not soak up any water for the roots. If that is the case a switch to better/more suitable soil is probably a good idea (see articles on this site on soils)

Thank you!

[niclovesherplants]

Severely etiolated, I must add. Open up those curtains, or better yet put the plants on the other side of it! The 'flowers' you might want to remove. They are fake. And probably pinned into the plant. And at the looks of it the fluffy whites I think I see on the plant could be mealy bugs.

All in all this plant is in terrible shape.

The most intense sunlight you can get might rescue it. Depending on your local climate, but you might consider to place it outside throughout the summer. Even in risk of overwatering if you don't shield it from rains, it will probably still have better days then than where it is now. And you probably really should do a repotting. Removed all the (peat?) soil and clean the roots. Mix sieved garden soil (so the big parts are out) with rocks, about 50% of each, and place the plant in this mix. The current pot seems to be a good size, so I would advice you to stick with the same pot.

I did open the curtains up, I couldn't leave them open when taking the picture due to the light shining on the camera.
I know the "flowers" are fake, but they've been on the cactus ever since I got it and gotten used to them.
The fluffy whites have also always been on it too. They're not bugs.
It rains quite a lot where I live and it is quite cold so I can't leave it outside - and there are squirrels and cats running around that could potentially kill it completely! I do put it in the sun when it IS out though.

Thanks!

[niclovesherplants]

UPDATE: It's fine now, today was a sunny day so it's shot right up again!