Added photos! Wouldn't let me attach to original post

If the branches are still firmly attached to the plant, leave it be to repair and regrow. If in doubt you could try to propagate a branch or two as a backup. If you continue to water only once a month you will kill it. Water well and rewater when it has dried out. This may be more than once a week in hot weather.

It should also be repotted into a cactus potting mix rather than the mix it is currently in. This helps drain excess water when you do water it.

...and the pot...it has a drain hole, yes?

Thanks all! The pot it came in does not have a drainage hole but the cacti is still in the original plastic pot and can be easily taken out. I will do as suggested and transfer into another similar sized pot with a drainage hole. I'll post an update.

Thanks @socks, both blue pots (from Dollarama) have drainage holes but probably not the best suited soil.

Here is a picture of my year old propagated burro tail! I was debating about transferring it to a bigger pot with some jade plants I've propagated. But it looks happy and has grown about 3-4 inches this summer. What do you think?

I think you got a deal on that pot! I would not transplant it to be with the jade. It looks too happy where it is. If you are out and see smaller burro tails, I'd add in a couple more to fill out the pot. I've read you can propagate from fallen leaves but have never done it. If any fall, let them rest on the potting mix and maybe that will work.

This is just my 2 cents and others might not agree, but I don't like to see succulents/cactuses in two pots (i.e., and outer decorative pot and an inner one). I think it creates too much moisture around the inside pot and moisture can collect inside the outer pot. If you do it, when you water, make really sure all water has drained out. Maybe leave it overnight on some newspaper which can wick out moisture. Have fun with your plants. And try not to sit on them any more!

Thanks @socks! Ahah I was surprised no one made a comment about me sitting on it. I did have some leaves fall off but they haven't grown into much and has been about a year. There is some jade leaves in there that I find more successful. Anyways, I love talking about plants! Thanks for your opinion.

Sarah, before you repot your cactus give it a good drink because it is very dehydrated. Water from the bottom up, fill a bowl with about 2-3 inches of water, let it sit in there until the top soil looks damp. Should take a few mins, if you try to water from the top, it‘lL take forever because the soil looks rock hard.

Give the cactus about a week to absorb water, then repot into a faster draining mix. Be sure to get all the old soil off the roots before you put into new mix.

Lastly, Fairy Castle cactus/ Acanthocereus tetragonus cv. Fairytale castle like a little more water than arid type cacti. Don’t water everyday, but water as soon as the mix it thoroughly dry. This cactus also prefers morning sun afternoon shade.

All great commens. I would just add that you should avoid any soil containing lots of peat. That is what original soil looks like, and I am sure it is very hard. Soil you have in other pots looks better, I see much more perlite in the mix. Using lots of perlite (sifted or rinsed) is a good thing to do.

I see other leaves rooting besides jade in your pot. That is great. If I may suggest, jade would grow faster if they were touching the mix. They don't need to be in the mix (but could); but it is better if they touch it. Not the whole leaf, just the end where leaf was attached to the stem. I think they will grow roots anyway (many succulents do even without any soil), but you may see plantlet faster.

Your burro's is ok, you did well with a cutting. But, IMO, it should have grown more in a year. Maybe you keep it in spot that isn't bright enough? It could be bit more compact too - leaves growing closer together. That is also sign of plant preferring more light than it is getting. You could also cut the stem and pot up cut off piece to have more faster. It will also branch from the spot you cut. They look great in a hanging pot, and when pot is fuller. Just about any fallen off leaf will grow into new branch. Here are few cuttings, potted into small pots, and repotted into 4" pots few months later. From cuttings into full 4" pots (top pic) is about 7-8mo:

Also, any leaves that fall off could be tossed back into original pot. Almost all of them will grow into new plants. Burro's leaves fall off very easy, that is well known about this plant. And comparing with most succulent leaves that shouldn't be wet before they grow roots, they be just fine in original pot - with mature plat, that is getting watered.

If I may, I would comment on one 1 more thing: your pots should be filled more with the mix. All your plants are to deep inside of the pots. That keeps low parts too dark, and air circulation is not the best. These may be little things, but one by one they add up. Besides - and that may be JMO - it doesn't look that great. So when potting, fill pots with more well draining mix so plants are not 'lost' inside. They will thank you for it :)

I also like your pots. And with just few small improvements, your plants will grow very well.

Thanks @Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA!! I put it in water as you said and it looks 100% better! Still needs TLC obviously but thank you! :)

Thanks @rina_Ontario,Canada 5a! I have tried putting my jade leave tips in the soil and last time they got mushy and didn't sprout. I'll try adjusting them to touch the soil more, thanks for your tip! (haha pun?).

My burro tail leaves don't seem to be growing further than what they are but I suppose its always a toss up - I added a few to the pot to see if they will root in there. You have beautiful burro tails! Which method do you use to sprout roots? I have an east facing window so I think I'm limited to adding more light unfortunately (I'm in a condo). I did see one or two sun spots on my burro tail so I actually thought it was getting too much sun? I think you are right though, especially comparatively, it could be growing more under better conditions. I agree, I do need to add more soil to that pot (and others) but not sure how to go about that without taking the plant out? as I don't want to burry the bottom of the plant or disrupt it.

Would you mind speaking more to this part? "u could also cut the stem and pot up cut off piece to have more faster. It will also branch from the spot you cut"

Thanks everyone for your knowledge and help! I'm sure my plants will appreciate it.

When you cut the stem, many plants will branch up. They will grow 2 or more new 'arms'. Sometimes only 1, but more often more. So you can cut your plant, leave about half of it (part with the roots) in the pot. Clean off few leaves from bottom of cut part to get bit of stem, and stick into dry mix. Roots will start growing pretty fast, and new branch or few growing from where it was cut. You may have new plantlets growing along the part left in the pot (part with roots - see pic below), Here is a photo - sorry, not very sharp! - showing cut stem circled in red. There are 2 new stems that grew (yellow arrows):

Photo on right is showing new growth along the stem.

Most often, I propagate by stem cutting. Photo in my previous post shows few cuttings. I just stick them into mix and let them be :). I do not water until they start growing roots - No Roots- No Water. This is usually about 10 days, 2 weeks or so. The success rate is 99% with cuttings. Some ppl recommend misting, but I don't. This is the way I root all my succulent cuttings (leaves or stems).

You say the leaves you stuck into soil to root have rotted. IMO, that is because they were wet. Either you watered soil, or leaves. I don't believe extra water is needed: succulents store lots of it in the stems and leaves to supply enough moisture for plantlets and roots to grow. I keep all my rootless cuttings dry until they start growing roots - that is usually 10 days - 2 weeks or so (depends on type of plant, time of year/temps). Remember, this is the way I do it and some ppl disagree and mist. I would try rooting leaves in shallow container, or even in small, individual pots. But not burro's leaves - they will do fine if tossed back into pot with original plant (as I said, I do not bother rooting them anymore since I have plenty of stem cuttings. But it is ok to do it.) I often prop leaves against side of pot, so only base is touching the mix. I have rooted many this way, or just having them laying on to of the mix, or sometimes inserted into mix. Either way works.

Thanks so much @rina_Ontario,Canada 5a! I didn't know too much about burro tail propagation so that was all very helpful. I may try cutting the stem to propagate and make a bigger plant. Although I am nervous that it won't do well after I cut it.

To clarify, you are saying you don't water the new cut stem, would you suggest I put it in a different pot? Since I am watering the current burro tail, it wouldn't do well together?

I did propagate the current stem by putting it in water and letting roots grow, then transferring to soil. The woman who gave me the stem told me to do it that way and had a few on the go in her office. I'm open to the dry method though!

Thanks again :)

PPl try different methods of rooting; some work very well, some so-so and others don't. Rooting succulents in the water, that is done by some, may work but I do not do it. First, they do not need so much extra water, and ofen rot. And I find it much easier without all that work: You have to put it in the water; sometimes (if too long) water may need changing. Then you wait for roots to grow. Then you need to plant it into mix. Sometime, water roots are weaker than roots grown in the soil, and may not survive. Than you need to be careful with watering...So, to save time, I often pot up cuttings into dry mix and small, individual pots. I also eliminate chance that if any of them starts rotting, it doesn't infect others. If in small pots (like cuttings in top photo), they do not need to be transplanted for about 2-3mo, after they get big I put them into 4"pots.

Here are some of the cuttings (there are few more rays...) I just did within last 5-6 days. There are some offsets too but none have roots, so they are treated as cuttings

Only gasteria (bottom photo, upper left) has roots. All other don't. They were potted into a dry mix and have not been watered yet.

Here I did same thing with the leaves. This was done in Oct or Nov. 2019, plant is slower growing than some other. You can still see 'mother' leaves on most, I marked them with red x. Some grew more than 1 plantlet. Leaves were put on the mix in same pots:

Burro's tail seems to like just a bit more water than many other succulents, so it may work if you stick a cutting into same pot. BUT, since I recommend more soil, you need to eventually repot original plant. So this is what I would do: to save time and effort: if you have any fresh cuttings, pot them into dry mix in separate pot. Let it grow for about 2-3 mo. By then, get a hanging pot. Repot original plant from blue pot + new, well rooted cuttings into new, hanging pot. Fill it with more potting mix than previous pots. That way you will have plant that doesn't need repotting for quite a while, and you can let it grow much longer (as it wants to).

Btw, I found old photo of some burro plantlets growing from leaves:

DISCLOSURE: I described what I do with rootless cuttings. That doesn't mean everyone should do it same way...As I mentioned few times, many recommend misting freshly potted cuttings. Others root them in water. I don't either. I gave reasons why not. I grew dozens and dozens (altogether few hundred) plants from cuttings same way as I described, with high success rate. So find a way that works best for you.

Thanks @rina_Ontario,Canada 5a!! I'll try what you suggested. Thanks for the photos and detailed descriptions :)

I’m glad to see the cactus plumped up, that means the roots are doing there job. If it hadn’t plumped up then that would have been an indicator there is something wrong with the roots.

That was a great suggestion Kara. The plant looks so much better.