So recently it looks like it has been getting slimmer like as it is loosing water and it had no roots! It also had about 6 inches of cactus below the ground (i dont know why) and several slits in the side (im guess just from me being a bad kid and not caring about cacti ... i regret it now o_o) so i cut off everything bad and put on root growth hormone ... hopefully it recovers ...

I believe we are in 5a or 5b zone. I got the little thing from Kent Building Supplies in an outside part of the building, but it was warmed up. The weather here is cold somedays, warm other days. For example, we had snow a few days ago, but yesterday it was considerably warmer (but not 20 degrees C or anything). I just repotted the plant, and the root system seemed okay (but I'm no expert). The pot it came in was extremely tiny and the roots were wrapped around to the sides of the pot (and even coming out the hole in the bottom). I bought a pot, the next size up, and potted it last night. The roots seemed white and I never saw any bugs (I was looking for them because I didn't want to infect the rest of my plants). Hopefully the link will work this time and you can see what I'm talking about. Thanks! Here is a link that might be useful:

I honestly have no idea what soil it's in, I just popped into my mums green house and found the driest soil I could find, woops! I'll defiantly look into getting some decent stuff for it, It's survived 10 years with my plant-killer mother so i'd hate to be the one that kills it! Any idea how long it'll take for it to go back to a healthy color if it is just deprived of sunlight? and how long it'll take to grow back into a normal shape? (it looks a bit patchy)

Vanessa From your description of mix it sounds that it does get properly moist - only you can judge that. Sand is usually very fine and typically decrease drainage rather than increase - it clogs up any spaces available between larger particles. But if it is coarse, it would work. And there are ppl that grow succulents in sand very successfully - but they have lots of knowledge and experience... Grit in the mix is desirable ingredient; pebbles are usually too large (what's visible in your photo is too large for the mix, but good for top-dressing) Grit should be about size of aquarium gravel, and any other additional materials too. Many of us use a gritty mix. There is very good and quite detailed info on this forum if you search for "gritty mix". There could be some adjustments made to it using suitable substrates - whole idea is to create well-draining and airy mix. Perlite, grit, scoria, turface, pumice are some that are used most often. Small bark is used too. I use mix of grit (chicken grit), perlite and turface - these are quite easy for me to find. And I use top-dressing a lot, sometimes just chicken grit, sometimes pebbles and/or rocks - they help to anchor newly planted plant (and my hope is that they deter at least some digging by squirrels - just a little - since I keep plants outdoors). Rina