Oxbow Essentials Rat, Hamster and Gerbil Food is a complete, stabilized feed with optimally balanced nutrients that help maintain proper nutrition, weight, digestive function, dental health and quality of life for active pets.

Overall rating:

4.6

(16 reviews) 16

16 of 16(100%)customers recommend this product.

Reviews for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Review 1 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

Perfect nutritious balance for small pets

April 17, 2013

by 4hgurlly

fromEdmonton, AB

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?3

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

Reviewer Images

I have looked high and low for a good food for gerbils and hamsters. Other brands are full of artificial colors, ingredients that offer no nutritious value (corn), high fat sunflower seeds, and bits of artificially colored bits that likely offer not nutrition either.

Hamsters are at a high risk for developing diabetes and having a premature short life span. This is due to poor diet!

Oxbow has hit all of the important ingredient elements for small rodents using whole ingredients such as timothy hay and flax seed. My hamsters coat is beautiful, soft, and shiny (likely due to the omega 3's in from the added flax seed). Both my hamster and gerbil are healthy, active, and love this food. They eat all of it to. I do not constantly have to throw out the bits they don't like.They eagerly take this food from my hands and run off and eat it. Thank you oxbow for finally giving small pet owners a healthy option for our pets that will maintain their health and happiness. I no longer have to worry about them not getting the vitamins and minerals they need because they are added to the food.

Pros: high quality, smell, taste

+1point

1of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 2 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

Very Satisfied

March 23, 2013

by HeidiLunaRoxy

fromNiagara Falls, ON

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

Reviewer Images

Just purchased this item for my 3 rats. They love it! Went right to it and started eating. The smell doesn't bother me. It smells like dry dog food. The kibble shape is great, there is no waste. Seed brands end up scattered all over the cage and floor. This product is much more tidy. I no longer have to vacuum daily around the cage. Nutritionally, this food is complete and not as fattening as seeds. Only complaint is the price. But, you get what you pay for. Overall, very happy though.

Pros: high quality, smell, taste

Cons: price

0points

0of 0voted this as helpful.

Review 3 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

2 / 5 16 reviews

Made cage smell awful

March 4, 2013

by crittermom1

fromFlorida

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

Reviewer Images

I usually love Oxbow food (I use it on my bunny) but I really did not like this product. My flying squirrel eats some rat food as part of her diet. I had her on Kaytee rat blocks. Since this food was tiny/easy for her to hold, made with quality ingredients and simply because I like other Oxbow products, I figured we would give it a go. After a few days, her cage smelled incredibly bad. I change her bedding daily and she has a big cage, so I was quite shocked. I kept her on it for 2 months, hoping the odor would decrease. I ended up changing her bedding twice each day but nothing helped. And the odor was not necessarily the typical dirty rodent cage smell. It was very strong and musky. You could smell her cage standing 6 feet away from it. Also, she got super fat but I am not entirely sure if that was a result of this particular food. Anyway, within two days of switching her back to Kaytee, the odor was gone. I am sure that this food is great nutritionally but it is not the right food for us. We will stick with Kaytee or Mazuri.

Pros: high quality

Cons: smell

0points

0of 0voted this as helpful.

Review 4 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

Wonderful!

March 3, 2013

by Anonymous

fromLebanon IL

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

Reviewer Images

My rat Remington loves this food. It has all of the needed nutrients and doesn't have any corn or alfalfa which is bad for rats. I also does not contain seeds, seed mixes are awful for rats. Since he's been on it his coat has been softer and he is much more active. I would never feed him anything else!

Pros: high quality, taste

Cons: price

0points

0of 0voted this as helpful.

Review 5 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

I love this product

February 9, 2013

by Oreoteddyginger3

fromCanada

How many pets do you have?4

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

This is the best type of hamster food you can find and it's the healthiest. My hamster likes this food better than seeds unless they are in a sugary treat bar. My hamsters vet recommended this food when my first hamster had cancer so I decided that with my present hamster that I would put her on this brand. The month of changing her diet over was worth it. I highly recommend this brand.

Pros: high quality, smell, taste, price

+1point

1of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 6 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

4 / 5 16 reviews

No pellets here!

January 18, 2013

by BlueTonguedSkink

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fromBroomfield, CO

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

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My rats are super picky and won't eat pellets or certain seeds. I've tried nearly every food out there but I normally end up settling for the cheapest stuff, but then half of it goes uneaten in the trash. I just bought this Regal Rat today to try it out on my two male rats (One is a Dumbo Rex and the other is a Dumbo Himalayan) and so far it's good! They both rushed right towards the food dish and grabbed a piece to eat without hesitation. I like how this brand has less fillers and less sugar since rats do get health issues just like people do. I thought the food smelled a little strange, but since it's not for people I suppose that doesn't matter. Thank goodness this was on sale when I bought it, but it's still alot more than I would like to spend, especially since my boys eat a ton of food so I'll be rebuying this often. Let's hope this works out!

Pros: high quality, smell, taste

Cons: price

+1point

1of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 7 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

Worth the extra cost

January 13, 2013

by Hamsterific

fromNiagara Falls, ON

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

My rats love this food. I initially bought a cheaper brand filled with "junk food" like sunflower seeds, which isn't particularly good for rats. They barely touched it so I went back and got Oxbow Regal Rat. I tried feeding them by hand and they snatched it up happily right away!! Now I need to fill up the food bowl much more often and I'm happy knowing they're getting a proper diet.

Pros: high quality, taste

Cons: price

+1point

1of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 8 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

Best Food You Can Get!

January 1, 2013

by PootMow

fromSterling, VA

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

Oxbow is hands-down the best brand of food you can get your small pets. There's no drama about your rats choosing the "pieces they like" that normal fruit and seed foods provide because every Oxbow pellet is the same perfect size (not giant lab block sized) and crunchiness, and every pellet has all the vitamins and nutrients needed to keep your rat healthy. It's a great solution to picky rats who normally eat only half of their food provided. The pellets can be easily broken into bit-sized pieces if your rats prefer, and they don't make a crumby mess.
My rats used to have a lot of trouble with the other brands (if you're having problems, it could be the same "fancy" brand you're using *hint hint*) where they'd only eat certain pieces and leave the rest in their bowl. They'd rather starve it seemed than eat the gerbil chow-looking pieces and tiny rice-sized seeds. Once I switched to Oxbow, they eat ALL of their food!

Pros: high quality, taste, price

+2points

2of 2voted this as helpful.

Review 9 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

HEALTHY!

October 29, 2012

by Brandy333

fromCalifornia

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

My Syrian hamster loves this. I wanted to get him something healthier than the mixed junk that he was eating before. I was worried he wouldn't like this but he loves it! He still gets dried fruit and vegetables and seeds as treats occasionally, but I want my hamster to live more than the standard 1000 days!

Pros: high quality, smell, taste, price

+2points

2of 2voted this as helpful.

Review 10 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

My rats love it!

October 18, 2012

by trueloveis4u

fromMaplewood, MN

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

I tried the kaylee forti-diet but they barely nibbled. I also bought seed mix and I was told it was bad for rats to eat and they barely picked at it anyway. When I got oxbow they already ate half of what I put in last night. I did try to keep the forti diet but they just eat around it. I recommend this product for your rats :)

Pros: high quality, taste, price

+3points

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Review 11 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

Hamster Loves These

October 3, 2012

by SweetStar

fromNorth Carolina

What is your gender?F

My syrian hamster can't get enough of these! They're donut shaped kibbles although she prefers I break them up into smaller pieces for her. I love them because I know she's getting complete nutrition from them. The bag lasts for a while, so the price isn't bad, either.

Pros: high quality, taste

+1point

1of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 12 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

3 / 5 16 reviews

Great Food, But Rats Do Not Like It.

September 30, 2012

by heavenslittleangels

fromFreedom, WI

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?3

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

I bought a bag of the Oxbow Regal Rat food, because I want to get my rats on a healthy diet, and this is supposed to be the best rat food out there. When I opened the bag, I noticed it did not smell very good. It has a strange smell that I can not explain. Well, none of my rats will eat it. I am disappointed, because I expected my rats to like it especially for the price I paid for it. It must have a pretty bad taste, because rats are usually not picky when it comes to food. At least not my rats. If it tasts anything like it smells, I can understand why they wont eat it. It is very expensive, and was a waste of money. I will not buy it again. They need to do something to make it more appealing to rats. I do recommend this because of it having excellent ingredients. If you can get your rats to eat it, then it is worth it.

Pros: high quality

Cons: price, Taste, smell

-1point

1of 3voted this as helpful.

Review 13 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

Best Rat and Hamster Food

August 29, 2012

by Wyvernfire22

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fromLafayette, IN

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?A few times a year

Reviewer Images

I own both a hamster and two rats. My furry family absolutely loves Oxbow.
I used to feed them Kaytee pellets, and then tried Purina pellets. They never ate much of either but since I switched them to Oxbow they eat every single pellet. They love Oxbow pellets so much they stopped eating every other brand of food. They even prefer an Oxbow pellet to a sunflower seed as a treat!
Not only is this food the healthiest small animal food out there, it is a great price for such a quality product. I am so happy it is now carried in the store and I no longer have to buy it online.
The pellets are perfectly sized to be held in little paws and when I clean out the cages I no longer find half eaten pellets in the bottom.
I am definitely an Oxbow brand lover for life.

+5points

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Review 14 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

<3 oxbow!!!

August 13, 2012

by Pheonix

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fromNH

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?5 or more

My syrian and dwarf don't really like to eat this. They prefer the junkier brands. But they will eat this over alfalfa pellets found in seed mixes. But I know that this is healthier for them and am stone still when they beg for junk food. Well maybe I slip in some treats.
This is a bit pricey but way better for your hammy than alot of other brands out there.

+3points

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Review 15 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

Great!

July 22, 2012

by xFindingxNemox

fromEden, MD

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

My two picky girls love this food! I use it with a homemade mix I make. They gobble both all down! This has everything your little rattie needs.

Pros: price, high quality, taste

+4points

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Review 16 for Oxbow Animal Health Food for Hamster, Gerbil and Rats

Overall rating

5 / 5 16 reviews

The Rats <3 It!

July 20, 2012

by RoseHollowRats

fromUSA

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

This is the best food ever! My rats absolutely LOVE it.
I used to feet them the Kaytee FortiDiet, but when I changed to Oxbow, they won't eat the FortiDiet.
The food is delicious to them. When I give them a little piece, they snatch it eagerly and gobble it up.

What I like about it is the looks. It looks sort of like dog kibble! It comes in neat triangular pieces that are perfectly sized for them. I wish it were just a tad cheaper, but it's totally worth it.

Your rats will love it!

Pros: high quality, taste

Cons: price

+1point

2of 3voted this as helpful.