I found 2 worms in a christmas cactus i left outside for about 2 wks or more this summer.The first worm was a big fat green worm sitting on the potting soil.I had to clean the plant where he had been living in it for a good while evidently.Then had to remove top layer of soil which was full of tiny chewed up pieces of the plant and the plant after being digested and secreted back out (worm poop).About a week later i just by chance lifted a limb up on the plant and to my surprise was a very small (compared to the 1st) green worm.I removed it,checked the plant again and used BATS on it.Anyone not familiar it's a systemic insecticide so i thought i had fixed the problem until the Christmas cactus next to it started dropping limbs.I checked it to find bite marks and that the limbs that had fallen had been chewed off.I treated that plant as well.

I now am wondering if it will hurt the plants to mark the old bites,with maybe a permanent marker and just put a dot next to all i can find?I seen 2 today and i am not sure if they are new ones or not.I haven't checked the plants in a couple days so the bites are calloused over.I would only put a dot on the plant,but i need to use something that will stay through watering & misting!!

I will take some pictures of the bite marks i am talking about and post them tomorrow.My computer froze and i lost a lot of my pictures i hadn't put on a memory card or disc.Of course the pictures i took when this first start,i lost!!

Picture to be posted tomorrow.

If anyone has any advice or thoughts about using a permanent marker to just put a small dot next to old injuries please let me know.
Hopefully after seeing the pictures i can get some idea's on what could be doing it.I just can't see a worm making some of these marks.Could i have a lizard that hitched a ride inside in my plants.I have had to put a tree frog back outside that i found in the soil of a plant and i know it wasn't in that plant the day before.My profile picture is of my frog in a pot.

I don't think permanent marker would hurt it as long as the marker itself doesn't puncture the plants growth. I'm not an expert but I've received cuttings with their name in permanent marker before.

I use Sharpie pens, not the really strong smelling types of markers. I don't think it will hurt them any more than the creatures chewing on them. The first caterpillar was most likely some kind of moth or butterfly. There are lots of bugs that hitch hike indoors on plants that have been outside for a while - they know a good thing when they see it!

I never did post any pictures but we have thrown 2 lizards out that must have hitched a ride in.I thought i checked my plants good but i have one picture of a jade plant that's so cute,



I haven't noticed any new bite marks since the creatures all 3 went out,I think maybe the lizards didn't have bugs so they settled for my christmas cactus.

Ack! I understand lizards chew on succulent leaves to get the moisture out of them and usually only if they can't find other sources of water.

JoJoe,
I don't think the ink will bother anything. But where you gonna find "Permanent Ink" markers? If you do, Let me know I've been trying to find something for years now.. Chinese Historians must have rewrote their history books every 6 months cause they sure don't know how to make Perm. Ink.
The big bites on your CC, probably was from the lizards for moisture & food.(Big treat for my varmits) but my problem outside is squirrels. they eat & tear everything up. Between a bag of stones from Dollar Tree and a Mama hawk that had a nest backside of my house i did manage to put a little dent in their population!!
cliff

I know this is a really old forum, but another option for something eating the cacti is stink bugs. I don't know what part of the country you live in, but I know stink bugs are found in a very large range. I had a problem with stink bugs eating my Christmas Cacti for the longest time, but I what I have found to work is steeping crushed mint leaves in freshly boiled water for a few minutes and then spraying that on the plants every day or two will keep them off. It might work for worms as well, because there are a lot of bugs that are repelled by the smell of mint. Again I know this post is from 5 years ago, but if the problem reoccurs, you could always see if some mint works.