A pic of distorted & half gone segments :(

with buds

the 2nd plant (a little larger)

Yes, the buds develop slowly...and I think maybe you have a slug in the pot.

another closeup. This shows a weird long, narrow segment on lower left side too.

Yes, the buds to take a while to come into flower. Personally I think it's OK. The cuts and half leaves can be from mechanical damage i.e. rough handling at source. As for the distorted leaves, I shouldn't worry, some of my leaves are not identical. So now you need to carefully inspect each surface of each leaf for pests /clear sticky substances (poo)/ black mould (sooty mould which grows on pest poo) and check the soil. Slugs/snails would leave a tell tale slime trail of course.These type of jungle cacti are generally not pest magnets. However, that's not saying there may have been a pest at some point.

Gill UK

Thank you Gill

Hrmm....maybe I can blame the slits on a cat stepping on it, seems to match the rim of the pot. I think there are critters still... weird round edges and some tiny dots. For now, I'll use a q-tip with alcohol on suspicious areas.

I will try to be more patient with the flower buds. I don't know if it'll be pink or red flowers. So happy that I may not have to wait until next year to find out.... sure would brighten the winter.

Nancy

You could cover the soil and pot with cling film, hold it firmly around the stems between two fingers and spread your hand over the covered soil, tip sideways and wash the 'leaves under a stream of tepid water. It won't harm the plant and could flush off any pests, it may help.

Gill UK

dbarron...my apologies, I didn't see your comment until now... I've been scrolling past my pics for new comments. Thanks for the idea of a slug, but I didn't see any.

Here's an update from today... buds a little bit bigger :)

Gill, thanks for the great idea.... I did tilt the plant upside down and rinse under water in the sink. Then I took it to a bright room so I could see it better for closer inspection. There were some little white dots, and a few brown spots... the largest are in this photo. I think it's scale. (toward the center of the photo, and a little right)
I took a cotton ball & tooth pick to scrape them off (next time maybe a sewing needle) with diluted alcohol & drop of soap. I'm sure more are there though...
I may just have to use neem... perhaps during the snowstorm I will spray down my 70 other plants and use a mini spray bottle for this TC in order to avoid the buds.
Other good news are nice white roots that look happy.... it could use more medium, but until it flowers didn't want to mess with that too.

Thanks again,
Nancy

Don't use a sewing needle to scrape anything off, it is too sharp.
If scale, spraying or wiping with a q-tip is enough; scale usually have hard 'shell' and neem or alcohol solution will dissolve it. You will be able to just wipe off dead scale with cotton ball or tissue. It usually gets off easily if using the q-tip. (You will probably see little red blood to...) Scraping with the fingernail is usually done to see if it actually is a pest (sometimes there could be spots on the leaves that are not caused by pests).
The 2 brown spots you are referring to (I circled them in your photo) looks like scale, but photo is not clear enough for me to be 100% sure.

Gill gave you good advice how to check for pests. Rinsing plant in the water would help a lot, even with mild infestation. If you had serious spider mite or mealy bug infestation, you would be able to see lots of "white stuff", like webs. That is not visible in your photos.
Rina

Today, I carefully sprayed the neem, water, soap mix onto all my holiday cacti....but avoided the buds on these two.

Rina, I didn't see any spider mite or mealybug evidence. However on one of my huge TC plant there was a fungus nat (or an aphid) that looked dead from the spray. I'm not sure what their damage would look like... or if their eggs on a leaf are very tiny white dots...smaller than a pin head? Whatever they are hope the neem knocks them down. I'm sure I'll have to repeat again.

I will try the Q-tip method next time :)

I'll keep checking them... will report back if any discoveries

Thanks everyone,
Nancy

Update... this week a bloom!

I'm so happy to see a bloom in cold, snowy February.

I still find tiny white dots (eggs) the size of a pin head, I just sprayed the neem & soap on them 5 days ago, and I was finding a ton of eggs yesterday & today. I didn't show damage here on these pics. I was using Scotch tape to remove them tonight... better than nothing. It's not just on this TC, but a lot of my other plants.... I've been spraying about 70+ plants, and I am so tired of pests.

I've had scale and mealy outbreaks that have lasted the entire season on my cacti and orchids....until I began using permethrin as a spray. Have had total annihilation of pests since then. Still have to be diligent, but, it's been my headache free tool.

Thanks Aztcqn for the suggestion, unfortunately while looking up permethrin online, read it's highly toxic to cats..... so not going to risk it.

I am wondering if the pest are thirps.