# water hyacinth



## chairman (Jul 1, 2010)

This thread here says that water hyacinth is tortoise safe. http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-7531.html

Anyone know how good it is for tortoises? I've seen conflicting reports about Ca to P ratios, etc. During the summer I have a LOT of the stuff grow in my pond, to the point where I remove pounds of it every month. I would love to dump them in with my sulcata to provide a nice, edible, humid pile to play in, but I don't want to upset the dietary balance by doing so. (I still provide spring mix daily, mazuri weekly, and there is a wide variety of weeds/edible plants growing in the pen.)

Any thoughts?


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## Jacqui (Jul 2, 2010)

"This is what I found:
Water hyacinth analysis (% fresh weight) :

water = 90.2; N = 1.03; P = 0.42; K = 1.81; Ca = 0.02

The authors point out the high P content in water hyacinth compared with 0.24% in alfalfa."

So the phosphorus level is high, but keep in mind your using this as an added small part of the diet and not an everyday addition (correct?). In the big picture, it should not hurt, if your basic diet is sound. Diet should be a rough standard to follow, not an absolute. Look at the overall balance.


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