Help. War has been waged on my cacti.

[lagirafa]

Please help. Large chunks have been taken out of my cacti...along with alot of slime in a short timeframe. Which at first I thought was honeydew from insects because there was a pool of slime on one of them. It will not budge or come off even when putting the cacti upside down. It looks like bubbles kids play with, vwry shiny. None of the tissue is soft, just ravaged. It seems to be targeting the less spiny types, but both kinds show tracks. It's been rainy here, my cacti are under covered awning. I've only found two snails I could see in the area. Recently brought home aloe, which I've quarantined, and the dark green cacti in the photos, most damaged. Please help, I don't want to use the neem oil unless absolutely necessary. But I cannot have this get to my prized pair of ferocactus latispinus, or favorite euphorbia buddies. I've had snail problems at my old residence, but never once did they bother my beloved nopales/cacti These are all sitting next to a blood orange tree, untouched from bites.

[lagirafa]

[ElieEstephane]

That sounds a lot like slug damage. They will eat through literally anything. You probably didn't see them because they come out at night. They are a lot of baits for slugs and they are very effective. If you want something non chemical you can use wood ash, broken glass (or anything abrasive) or copper wiring

[lagirafa]

I am hoping that's what it is, as recovery from snails and slugs should be better than with bugs. Time to go shopping for bait!! Do you think surgery is necessary for the middle of the one on the pic in post 2??? The brown area?

[ElieEstephane]

Yes definitely. In these areas i would do the job with a hot knife to sterilize and seal

[lagirafa]

Thank you!!

[RichR]

Have you considered rodents? I've had a lot of damage to my plants from rats and mice that looks similar to yours.

[ElieEstephane]

My initial thought but a slimy trail was mentionned

[greenknight]

Definitely slugs or snails.

There is a type of bait availble now with iron phosphate as the active ingredient. It's non-toxic to other creatures, breaks down into fertilizer. It causes the digestive system of slugs and snails to shut down and they stop feeding immediately, crawl off somewhere to die. This is much better than the old metaldehyde bait, which is very toxic and causes slugs and snails to produce massive amounts of slime to try and rid themselves of the toxin.