okay awesome, thank you so much! do you think i could take it off like when they propagate them? or should i just leave it alone all in all?

Moon Cacti do not propagate- the top, colorful part is a cactus grafted onto the green part(another cactus) since without the green cactus, the moon cactus could not live. It may propagate if youre lucky but it won't live long.

oh, okay. well good thing i didnt take it off then lol! thanks again!(:

You can take off the dried-up pup, it will look better.

Plants without any chlorophyll can't survive since they can't produce food...sometimes, the rootstock plant (the green part) either rots (if over-watered) or dries up (if kept too dry for too long) or it may even start growing some offshoots of it's own (not that often if there is a grafted plant - but if this happens, then it will outgrow the colorful, grafted plant).

rina has said it perfectly like always! Whenever this little cactus dies, it will always be easy to find another. I tell you, these are everywhere!:)

okay cool thank you! hopefully it stays alive for a while longer!

and ive definitely noticed its a pretty popular type! im just bummed i wont be able to grow another from this plant itself!

Look for one with a purple Gymnocalycium grafted to it. I think purple is less commonly grafted than red, yellow, orange, or pink, but can survive on its own, so you could try degrafting and growing them separately.

really? thats awesome! I've never seen a purple one before. I'll definitely look into that and give it a shot! ive been reading about degrafting a little bit but not a whole lot. When you take it off do you just dip the sap part in chlorophyll and sit it in the dirt? if so do you know how the watering goes?

I've never degrafted and rooted anything, but my understanding is that after separated, the top cactus will need to be set in a dry shady place to callus for several days then placed on dry substrate to root, which can take some time. Some people use rooting hormone, but I can't comment on that since I've never used it. No water until roots form. I assume the stock plant can just be left alone to continue growing.

If there is any green on the plants - even just a bit - it has much better chance of survival. Rooting hormone is not neccessary, some ppl use it. Plain red, pink or yellow seldom survive and if they happen to grow some roots, they usually live for a very short period of time. Google Gymnocalycium mihanowichii variegata and see many beautifully colored plants - these will grow on their own roots.

Few different plants are used as a rootstock; one of them is Hylocereus undatus - pitaya or dragon fruit. It grows into quite a big, and quite prickly plant. If you don't have lots of space, it could be too big...