Is Oxbow Essentials Hamster & Gerbil Food Good

[arora]

I am trying to make sure I am on the right track with getting my future gerbils the right kinds of food...is Oxbow Essentials Hamster & Gerbil Food a good food source for their main diet?? Or should I be looking for something different

[betty]

Oxbow usually make some of the most popular foods - and many keepers and breeders love their range - but I am aware that one of them was rather hay-based and was reported to have negative effects long term - however I am not very up-to-date on the Oxbow range myself so we might have to wait for someone a bit more brand-savvy to chip in - perhaps LilyandDaisy would be more knowledgeable on this topic when they are next online.

And welcome to the gerbil world for sure - there is plenty of chat and enthusiasm on here about everything gerbil!

[LilyandDaisy]

Yes, Oxbow gerbil food is quite heavy in hay which isn't ideal as gerbils tend not to find hay-based pellets palatable at all. Oxbow food is commonly recommended by vets who don't appreciate the difference between gerbils and rabbits or guinea pigs, but I think there is some doubt over how well gerbils can digest hay. They have some adaptations to help them digest a high fibre diet but they're not as well adapted as a rabbit or a cow would be.

If you are in the US, high quality gerbil foods can be difficult to find. I think Higgins Sunburst is among the better commercial options. Basically what I would recommend is:
- foods with different ingredients are better than pelleted foods
- a food with more whole, unprocessed ingredients is better than a food with more processed ingredients, including pellets, flaked/puffed grains, extrudates etc
- avoid foods with artificial colouring if possible (unnaturally brightly-coloured ingredients are a giveaway!)

There is a seller on Etsy called Robin's Gourmet Food who sells high quality foods for hamsters and gerbils. A high quality hamster food is also a very good option for gerbils. There are lots of other individuals starting to sell their own mixes these days (mostly on Etsy) but I do advise being very cautious here as there's a lack of quality control with mixes sold by private individuals, meaning they could be really good or really bad or anything in between. But Robin's food I know has been around for several years now with many happy customers so I feel comfortable recommending that one.

[arora]

Thank you both for replying ^_^ I'll look into the options you have given me!

EDIT: I'm thinking I will get the Higgins food, I can't afford the Robin's gourmet food :/

Also, with the Higgin's food..should I be concerned with picking any sunflower seeds or other things out of the blend?

[sparkbubble]

I've recently started Higgins (previously manna pro supplemented with seeds) and yes it is pretty high in the fats, like coconut slices, pumpkin/sunflower seeds, etc. There's also a lot of millet in there (although I feel more comfortable with millet as a filler then, say, soybean hulls.) I dilute the feed with lower-calorie things in my pantry: mostly grains, like rice, oats, or chia, and some lentils and dried peas to add more variety and nutrients (although there is already an impressive array already). edit: Apparently I shouldn't! see below...

[LilyandDaisy]

Jun 10, 2023 13:13:46 GMT -8 arora said:

Thank you both for replying ^_^ I'll look into the options you have given me!

EDIT: I'm thinking I will get the Higgins food, I can't afford the Robin's gourmet food :/

Also, with the Higgin's food..should I be concerned with picking any sunflower seeds or other things out of the blend?

Sorry for the late reply!

No, I wouldn't pick anything out because it's a complete mix and you risk throwing off the nutritional balance. 

There is a common myth that sunflower seeds are unhealthy but they actually have a lot of nutritional value.

[sparkbubble]

Really? ok, disregard my reply :-) Rechecked the nutrition facts and the fat is in the safe range. the protein is a little high but is that fine?

[LilyandDaisy]

Jun 16, 2023 16:21:51 GMT -8 sparkbubble said:

Really? ok, disregard my reply :-) Rechecked the nutrition facts and the fat is in the safe range. the protein is a little high but is that fine?

I think adding things in is much safer than taking things out, because the gerbils still have all the same nutritional components available to them plus more. Many people believe rodents have some kind of sense about which foods they need to eat to get the right nutrients, much like how most humans don't micromanage their macronutrient, vitamin, and mineral intake and yet most of us, if we have a sufficient variety of foods available to us, manage to eat more or less adequately. That theory works as long as you don't excessively ration your gerbils' food. Personally I don't measure out my gerbils' food, I just feed them as much as they will eat and if there's lots of food left over from the previous day I skip feeding them or feed them less.

This is one the issues I see with pellet diets such as Oxbow, that they don't offer the gerbils any choice or any opportunity to eat intuitively. If they were perhaps craving some specific nutrient, instead of seeking out the parts of their food which are high in that nutrient, they have no choice but to eat more pellets, which might result in them eating too much fat or too many calories.

I wouldn't focus too narrowly on the fat and protein ranges you find online as there isn't very good evidence for them. I find fat levels of 12-18% percent seem to be fine as long as the gerbils have adequate opportunity to exercise (so an appropriate sized enclosure and ideally a wheel).

[Markpd]

I list some commercially available foods here, along with their ingredients and nutritional composition, if that's any use to you .

This reminds me, I need to order some more food!