Oxbow Essentials Healthy Handfuls Gerbil & Hamster Food, 15-lb bag

This is the best pellet we found for our Syrian hamster. However if you have Celiac, don't use pellets for your hamster. It is dusty and you will get gluten from cross-contamination. Instead, ask your local animal clinic for suggestions on what to feed your hamster. Here is what we are doing for our Syrian hamster: 2x/day we offer vegetables in a food bowl (no iceberg lettuce, no avocado) - her favorites are kale, green leaf lettuce, and spinach. She also likes broccoli, carrot and sugar snap pea. Sprouts gave her an upset stomach (even though she liked the sprouts, commercial sprouts are often contaminated w/ bacteria so best to avoid). We leave raw oatmeal, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds scattered in her cage for her to forage for (not in a food bowl). There is an empty food bowl in her cage, which she uses as a toilet (we clean it 2x/day). We occasionally offer Beech baby food (carrot or green bean) in a little bowl. 1x/wk we offer a tiny bit of protein (boiled egg white, or boiled chicken) and a tiny sliver of fruit (she likes raspberry. no citrus. apple seemed to give her upset stomach.). We put a tiny amount of unsalted, unsweetened natural peanut butter (no sugar) on her chew toys and pinecone to encourage chewing. We got her to stop chewing on the cage bars by placed a toilet paper roll through the bars of the location where she was chewing. Do not give the hamster any food that has sugar or salt added. Cheers

I have a gerbil missing all four front teeth and only has molars left. I have had to feed my gerbil a special diet of raw beef and thawed vegetable to keep him alive while searching for a more nutrient rich alternative. I have tried other food with pellets in them and they either turned to mush or didn't absorb enough water to be edible for him. The Oxbow Essential kibbles have a perfect texture when wet to pick up but not fall apart or be too firm to chew which makes it possible for him to still eat and keep hydrated since using a traditional water bottle is also difficult for him. Being that this food is balanced makes me feel so much better since he get all his nutrients from one source now.

I'll start this review off by saying, I DO NOT recommend this food as a STAND ALONE! Please, pretty please, only use this food as an addition to a staple diet. The food simply does not have the protein needed for a hamster nor gerbil. Oxbow feeds pocket pets the same as rabbits and guinea pigs, herbivores, which hamsters are simply not. That being said, the fiber content is fantastic! Have a hamster or gerbil with allergies? Want to keep your pocket friends "regular"? This food is very helpful with those needs.