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

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About This Item

Details

  • Specially formulated to mirror a hamster/gerbils diet. This will ensure that your pet lives a healthy lifestyle. Completely balanced and nutritious.
  • Fortified with stabilized Vitamin C, A and B12. This helps ensure that your pet's health and immunity system are in tip-top shape.
  • Includes high-fiber Timothy hay meal that promotes healthy gastrointestinal health. Keep your pet's health at optimal level.
  • Hamsters and gerbils are omnivores, which means they eat meat and plant material.
  • This product uses farm-fresh timothy hay to provide the fiber content necessary to maintain intestinal health and prevent digestive upset.

Ingredient Information

Feeding Instructions

We Are Big Lovers of Small Pets

From the beginning, we set out to celebrate and inspire the love and care of small animals with quality products, sound education, a supportive network and a groundswell of good deeds.

Mix & Match Our Variety of Hays

70% of your pet’s diet should be fresh, natural hay. Grass hays like Timothy, Orchard, Oat, and Alfalfa provide the fiber essential for the digestive and dental health of rabbits, guinea pigs, chinchillas, and other small herbivores.

The Right Food for your Pet

All Oxbow foods are formulated with guidance from leading veterinarians and nutritionists to provide everything your pet needs, and nothing it doesn’t. Explore our species and life stage-specific foods to find the right fit for your pet.

Comfort, Treats and Daily Wellness

Keep your pet comfortable and cared for with clean, cozy bedding, wholesome treats made with natural ingredients like fruits, herbs, veggies, and hay, and Natural Science supplements formulated with premium herbs and high-fiber hay to support digestive, joint, and urinary health.

About Oxbow

We’re on a mission to grow happy customers, healthy pets, big love, and a better world. Through enrichment, balanced nutrition, education, and acts of good, we strive to bring more good into the life you share with your pet.

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Questions & Answers

12 Customer Questions

Can my Netherland Dwarf eat this

So I feed this to my hamster and every time i check his food bowl, the pellets are dust. Is that normal? I know he eats it but then after all I see is this bunch of green stuff

Answer by Chewy • May 18, 2018
Since this food is made with natural ingredients, the consistency of the pellets may vary. This food is made with ingredients such as oats, grains and hay making the pellets soft and easy to crumble. Hamsters are known to hoard and hide their food, particularly females or those housed with other hamsters. Be sure to check for stockpiles of food and adjust daily rations as required.

Is the Canola Meal and Canola Oil genetically modified?

Answer by Chewy • Oct 02, 2019
The canola meal and canola oil used in this hamster and gerbil food is non-GMO, however, not all of the ingredients in this recipe are certified non-GMO.

How many cups per bag?

Answer by Chewy • May 04, 2023
This package is filled based on weight, due to this and the slight variations in pellet size the amount of product in cups may vary a bit but generally it will be between approximately 3-4 cups.
Reviews
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4.5
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
283 Ratings
Terms & Conditions

157 Customer Reviews

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase
By boxerlove on Oct 21, 2018
Top 1000 Contributor

Best quality food

It took our little hamster a week or so to adjust to changing her food. She was used to junk food with all the colorful not-so-good for you pieces in her food. But

It took our little hamster a week or so to adjust to changing her food. She was used to junk food with all the colorful not-so-good for you pieces in her food. But she adjusted and eats this wonderful now. I feel better about feeding her this high quality food. From the things I've read this is one of the best. We bought the one pound bag since we have one hamster and honestly I see this lasting us a really long time! It's a lot of food for one pound. I highly recommend and chewy prices are the best

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase
By Caron on Nov 27, 2016

Healthy Hamster food

My motto has always been, to feed your pets the best quality food possible. Oxbow has been a trusted brand for years, and I was so happy to see they also have a

My motto has always been, to feed your pets the best quality food possible. Oxbow has been a trusted brand for years, and I was so happy to see they also have a hamster food. Chewy.com has the best price. It was almost 3 dollars a bag cheaper, than the box store, pet supply, that is near our house

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
By Joanna on Sep 8, 2019
Top 100 Contributor

Some misinformation about this product

I see a lot of people claim this product is completely nutritionally void for hamsters. This is untrue, the issue is just that hay is not as easy for a hamster to

I see a lot of people claim this product is completely nutritionally void for hamsters. This is untrue, the issue is just that hay is not as easy for a hamster to absorb nutrients from. I like to feed this in combination with other products to create a balanced diet. My hamster eats a mix of about 50% oxbow 50% Higgins seed mix, and a couple Mazuri lab blocks. This cuts down on him being able to pick through the seed mix and only eat what he likes (most hamsters wont eat the hay pellets in seed mix, which do contain essential nutrients, but these oxbow hay pellets seems more palatable to them) and the addition of the Mazuri blocks boosts the protein. I find this to be the best mix for making sure your hamster gets a complete diet :)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase
By HamsterLady on Apr 16, 2019

Worth The Value

For years I have been buying Oxbow for my hamsters. I recently bought the largest bag, of 15lbs and I definitely recommend everyone do the same. I was shocked to

For years I have been buying Oxbow for my hamsters. I recently bought the largest bag, of 15lbs and I definitely recommend everyone do the same. I was shocked to see that the bag was so large. I have three hungry hamsters, and they go through a bag of food (1lb) in about a month and a half, if not two months. This large back will last me for a year, easily. and I would recommend anyone who buys oxbow to stop getting the little bags and get the large 15lb+ bags. It is a great value and even if you do the math, 15lbs of the small bags equals out to $82.80. But the actual 15lb bag itself is $36.54. An automatic savings of $46.26! (As of this date 4/16/19) The same goes for any of the oxbow food for any small pet. Rabbits, Guinee pigs, Rats, Ferrets, you name it! I am buying the Large 25lb Rat food for my pet rat on my next purchase. Now if only they made the Garden select in the bulk packaging, then I'd be a happy rodent mom.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase
By cora on Jun 15, 2017

This food was a life saver...

A couple months ago, i noticed my hamster wasnt eating reguarly or wasnt even eating at all. She got very picky about the ingredients that were in her food. I noticed

A couple months ago, i noticed my hamster wasnt eating reguarly or wasnt even eating at all. She got very picky about the ingredients that were in her food. I noticed some dramatic changes in her. She was losing weight, and she was barely active. I figured since my hamster loves the oxbow treats so much, id start giving her this food. Instantly, my hamster DOWNED this food like there was no tomorrow. She was so happy & within a few days she was back to her normal self again. Highly recommend this product to anyone whose hamster isnt eating because Oxbow definitely works wonders!!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
By Ella868 on Mar 27, 2020

you need to know this

This food is pretty good but not alone. It is not of the nutrition that the hamsters need but I have a way to solve that. Well use tropical carnival select seeds

This food is pretty good but not alone. It is not of the nutrition that the hamsters need but I have a way to solve that. Well use tropical carnival select seeds with the food. But DO NOT give this to your hamster alone and try searching for the other brand. Thank you for reading this advice.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase
By Sabrina on Jun 10, 2016

Fresh and good quality

Ever since I got my hamster back in March, I've been feeding him this brand and I have to say that I like it a lot better than the past seedy foods I've gotten from

Ever since I got my hamster back in March, I've been feeding him this brand and I have to say that I like it a lot better than the past seedy foods I've gotten from kaytee. If it's left for a week or two because he stashes it, it starts to mold. While many may see this as a problem, it just shows me this product is much fresher than any food I've gotten for my hamsters so far. I clean his cage more regular now to avoid that but I can feel good about feeding him oxbow.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase
By hamster2020 on Apr 21, 2020

Have Celiac? Don't use pellets for your hamster

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

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase
By Mary on Feb 17, 2022

Good for toothless gerbil

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

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.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars
By MaesAnimals on Feb 27, 2019

Great diet addition

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

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.