Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food - All Natural Adult Rat Food - Veterinarian Recommended- Made in the USA- Rich in Natural Vit

4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars | 6,202 ratings

Price: 12.74

Last update: 12-27-2024


About this item

ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS FOR A HEALTHY, ACTIVE LIFESTYLE: Balanced protein, fat, and carbohydrates provide energy for daily function and performance
SUPPORTS IMMUNE SYSTEM HEALTH: Made with antioxidants & prebiotics to support the immune system health of your adult rat
PERFECT FOR PICKY EATERS: Uniform kibble prevents selective feeding
FORTIFIED FOOD: Fortified with vitamins and minerals for optimum health
VETERINARIAN RECOMMENDED: Formulated with the guidance of top veterinarians and nutritionists
FEEDING INSTRUCTIONS: Adult Rats (over 4 months) Unlimited pellets daily. It is recommended to feed a limited amount of appropriate vegetables and fresh fruits in addition to unlimited grass hay for foraging and nesting.
COMPLEMENT BY ADDING OXBOW GRASS HAY: Offer fresh grass hay to support your pet's burrowing and nesting instincts.

Product information


Top reviews from the United States

Al
5.0 out of 5 stars My rats love it!
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2024
My rats really love this food. It has everything they need to thrive. It is perfectly bite sized and they look adorable scooping up the pieces and holding it in their little hands. The package arrived quickly and had clear feeding instructions on it. Would definitely purchase again!
Moon
5.0 out of 5 stars They LOVE this food!
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2024
The daily excitement over me pouring this into their bowl is ridiculous they eat it well and it seems to be sustaining a very healthy animal! Of course we also offer fresh fruits and veggies for balance. Resealable bag, helps keep it fresh!
Piotr Fraczek
5.0 out of 5 stars My rats loves it !
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2024
Great quality food for rats.
Madison H
5.0 out of 5 stars My rats love it and it's easy on the wallet
Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2024
Affordable without sacrificing quality. My 3 girls go crazy for it. We have had no complaints
Usagisan604
5.0 out of 5 stars Best rat food
Reviewed in the United States on March 3, 2024
Only thing you should give the rats it really is good quality wish they had big bulk bags tho
Dawne
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for fussy ratties
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2024
My rats have turned their nose up at just about every commercial food there is. They absolutely love this brand.
Martin Selbrede
4.0 out of 5 stars Speaking for the rats....
Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2011
Gus said, "I generally grab the Oxbow and hoard it, along with the Mazuri cubes. I prefer to eat fresh food. But it's nice to have something to fall back on .... Assuming Laslo doesn't plunder my stash, the twit."

Laslo said, "My pen mate doth protest too much. He wasn't gonna eat that other stuff anyway, and if he wanted to protect his hoard, he should hide it better. And don't listen to anything he said about the vet weighing him 80 grams lighter after a couple of months. It had NOTHING to do with my, uh, borrowing his Oxbow pellets."

Fawn said: "My owner drops the Oxbows all over the cage for me to 'hunt and gather,' so I do. When push comes to shove, I eat 'em -- especially when my owner cuts off the food supply to get me hungry enough to eat yogurt stuffed with yucky-tasting medicine. Don't need meds, don't want meds. I hate the vet. But Oxbow is okay. They say it has all my nutritional needs met. Hmmph. I still prefer cooked salmon and yam balls sweetened with brown sugar. Yum. Hey, was there medicine in that yam ball?"

Ears said: "First, I want to object to my owner changing my name from Dot to Ears, just because I'm the so-called 'Dumbo' breed of fancy rat. Nuff said. Oxbow's good stuff. I'll eat it as a snack, but since I know my owner is cooking up some REAL food, it's never my first choice. I'm SO glad she doesn't take the writing on the box seriously that says something like 'Complete nutrition source for your rat -- you need not feed anything else.' Now THAT is a dangerous piece of advertising."

Flo said, "Our owner didn't rename me, 'Ears'. Ha! I was Flo, and I'm still Flo. And I like Oxbow. But like Ears said, it's kinda my backup food when I'm hungry and need to hit my stash of hoarded pellets. Some Mazuri, some Oxbow. Oxbow's kinda nice because they're sorta heart-shaped, while Mazuri is like a block of ... well ... Mazuri-stuff, I guess. My owner gets upset if I accidentally bite her taking an Oxbow out of her hands, cuz they're smallish compared to Mazuri cubes. But by mealtime, I'm hungry, so all civility goes out the window. I'm a rat, hear me roar!"

Xena said, "Flo, Dot, and I came in to our owner's possession in the same cage -- we were rescued from Austin's animal shelter from certain death. And my name stayed the same -- until the vet techs decided to nickname me "Xena the Warrior Rat," after some TV show. It's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Oh, yes, the Oxbow. Oxbow okay. I eat it when I'm done with everything else. It's on the same level as, uh, day-old lettuce. If I have a choice, I'll eat the Oxbow instead of the wilted lettuce (which is usually on the verge of being thrown out of the cage anyway by my fastidious owner). Oxbow keeps longer than lettuce -- but I'm not sure that's a total plus. They say Twinkies last for centuries. Hmm... "

Oliver is out being fostered by a friend, but we (the owners) left the foster parent with plenty of Oxbow and Mazuri. Our two late rats, who passed away this year (Showboat and Snowplow) also liked Oxbow. We have three rats that we captured from Garrison Park in Austin and are using Oxbow to help socialize them and get used to eating out of our hands (without actually EATING our hands). We've named them Striipe, Spott, and Starr (named after distinguishing features on their fur pattern). Once they learn English, they'll post their own reviews of Oxbow. Should be interesting to hear.

Keeping in mind how PICKY rats are (they're totally snooty aficionados), you might not get immediately buy-in with Oxbow, but once they get the hang of this full-nutrition food, they ... uh ... hoard it, pretty much. Unless they're REALLY hungry and can't wait for fresh food. Then all bets are off.
Amber Kerr
5.0 out of 5 stars My rats actually like these healthy pellets!
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2022
My rats' veterinarian recommended that I switch from a "foraging mix" (with various grains, seeds, dried vegetables, pellets, etc.) to this Oxbow Adult Rat Food, which is simply homogenous pellets. She said the rats would get better nutrition and have healthier body weight if they didn't feed selectively (i.e., pick out all the good stuff and leave the rest).

I imagined my rats squeaking "Nooo, don't do it! We like to pick out tasty seeds! We hate yucky pellets!" But, knowing that the best decision isn't always the most comfortable one, I composted the remainder of their foraging mix and started feeding them Oxbow instead.

To my surprise - and perhaps their surprise too! - they actually liked the Oxbow pellets. They eagerly eat them whenever I refill their dish. They even prefer the Oxbow over some of their fresh foods (it ranks below banana and avocado, but above cucumbers and carrots).

Oxbow is probably better value-for-money than foraging mixes, because I always ended up having to discard a large fraction of the foraging mix that was uneaten (especially alfalfa pellets... why does anyone put those inedible things in rat food mixes?).

One word of caution: the package directions say to feed an unlimited amount of Oxbow pellets, but in my experience, that would be a BAD IDEA. My three boy rats are already pretty chubby (despite the fact that they are fed modest quantities of healthy food and have abundant opportunity to exercise). Problem is, they are so lazy that they never burn off any calories. So, I feed them a strictly limited amount of Oxbow (about 1 tsp per rat, twice a day, supplemented with fresh fruits and veggies). Your mileage may vary.

Here's to happy and healthy ratties! (Photo: My boys getting VERY EXCITED that I am about to feed them chocolate chips. They do not get quite that excited about Oxbow.)

PS. The Oxbow food is not vegetarian. Fish meal is one of the top 5 ingredients. I have mixed feelings about that; although the rats like it and it is healthy for them, we aim to be a vegetarian household. Also, the fish meal imparts a strong smell to the food. The odor doesn't bother me if it's just a few pellets in the dish, but if I accidentally forget to zip the bag closed, I go "Whew, what's that smell? Oops!" <zip>
Customer image
Amber Kerr
5.0 out of 5 stars My rats actually like these healthy pellets!
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2022
My rats' veterinarian recommended that I switch from a "foraging mix" (with various grains, seeds, dried vegetables, pellets, etc.) to this Oxbow Adult Rat Food, which is simply homogenous pellets. She said the rats would get better nutrition and have healthier body weight if they didn't feed selectively (i.e., pick out all the good stuff and leave the rest).

I imagined my rats squeaking "Nooo, don't do it! We like to pick out tasty seeds! We hate yucky pellets!" But, knowing that the best decision isn't always the most comfortable one, I composted the remainder of their foraging mix and started feeding them Oxbow instead.

To my surprise - and perhaps their surprise too! - they actually liked the Oxbow pellets. They eagerly eat them whenever I refill their dish. They even prefer the Oxbow over some of their fresh foods (it ranks below banana and avocado, but above cucumbers and carrots).

Oxbow is probably better value-for-money than foraging mixes, because I always ended up having to discard a large fraction of the foraging mix that was uneaten (especially alfalfa pellets... why does anyone put those inedible things in rat food mixes?).

One word of caution: the package directions say to feed an unlimited amount of Oxbow pellets, but in my experience, that would be a BAD IDEA. My three boy rats are already pretty chubby (despite the fact that they are fed modest quantities of healthy food and have abundant opportunity to exercise). Problem is, they are so lazy that they never burn off any calories. So, I feed them a strictly limited amount of Oxbow (about 1 tsp per rat, twice a day, supplemented with fresh fruits and veggies). Your mileage may vary.

Here's to happy and healthy ratties! (Photo: My boys getting VERY EXCITED that I am about to feed them chocolate chips. They do not get quite that excited about Oxbow.)

PS. The Oxbow food is not vegetarian. Fish meal is one of the top 5 ingredients. I have mixed feelings about that; although the rats like it and it is healthy for them, we aim to be a vegetarian household. Also, the fish meal imparts a strong smell to the food. The odor doesn't bother me if it's just a few pellets in the dish, but if I accidentally forget to zip the bag closed, I go "Whew, what's that smell? Oops!" <zip>
Images in this review
Customer image

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