Looking for a specific style of feeding cup..,

[artgecko]

Mods: If I put this in the wrong forum please feel free to move it. This seemed the closest fit to the topic.

I have been using my double critter nation cage without many issues for my canaries and budgies so far. I have, however, had a tremendously hard time finding feeding cups that work on closely spaced horizontal bars... The bars are 1/2" apart and I have tried several styles and most have utterly failed or are so hard to remove, that I end up spilling water or seed everywhere when changing them out.

So far, the only style that has worked are plastic "D" shaped cups with long thin metal wires on the back to "hang" the cup off of the horizontal bars. I'd say the metal wires are about 3/4" long. My problem is that I purchased two of these cups while at the bird show and have not been able to find them anywhere online or in stores.

If you know of any online source that sells cups with long metal hanging wires at the back I would greatly appreciate your help. The next show isn't until November and that is a long time for me to be flinging seed / water while changing it out every day.

Thank you for your time / help!

[Sally]

Here is one supplier, there are several cups with hooks on this page:

http://redbird.coffeecup.com/viewcategory.php?groupid=5

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

Hi Art,

The large size JW Pet Clean Seed Silo from Petco works pretty well for me. I have a continuous bank of 12 double breeding cages used for a few months during the canary breeding season. I bought the tall silos to make seed feeding easier from the outside of my breeder cages.

This feeder works fine on a horizontal bar cage as well. My picky birds can empty a silo in just a few hours so the on-off feature is really useful to me. You can actually adjust the flow by turning the silo. I use a catch tray (a clear plastic butter dish) under each feeder so they still have some seed available if the feed box runs out. The silo has a cap on top so once it's installed you never have to remove the feeder. I just go down the line with a 2-cup container and top up each silo while I replace the ceramic veggie and egg food dishes with fresh supplies, check the water and empty the catch trays. This feeder eliminated the need for all the square feeders in the above pic. Thinking about using the large size JW Pet Clean Water Silos next year because they seem to be easier to clean and refill than the system I’m now using.

Paul

[artgecko]

Sally- Thank you! The yellow ones they have are the ones I am using right now.

Paul- Thanks! I had tried one of the JW feeders and it did not work, but I think the unit was defective (I returned it). I am using one of their water towers now, but am unsure how easy it will be to clean.

I will look for the tower feeder you mentioned and see if it will work for my cage. Thanks again for the recommendation.

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

I see that the JW feeder gets mixed reviews but this season it worked fine for me, saved a lot of time and prevented a lot of wasted seed. The small tabs are easy to break off when installing it but once it's in place it couldn't be easier to service from the outside of the cage. I tested a few of the JW water towers and they were very easy to remove and refill. You just need two size bottle brushes to clean it up periodically.

My set up might look a little sterile in the pics but the place is really quite a natural green habitat for my birds. In designing this space, it was all about efficient maintenance so I have more time to enjoy my birds and other hobbies.

P

[cindy]

try this site too: http://glamgouldians.com/shop-cage.php

[cindy]

another site.... http://www.thefinchconnections.com/cate ... d-Feeders/

[artgecko]

Thank you cindy!

[Sally]

What is really great about your setup, Paul, is that each cage is set up the same. It is so much more efficient to have each cage have the seed, water, nest, whatever else in the same place. You can go right down the line servicing the cages quite quickly. A sure way to overlook one cage is when there are different seed cups, different waterers, easy to miss one. Plus it looks nice and organized!

[Paul's Amazing Birds]

Sally, Yes... some of my friends say my aviary is organized to the point of being ridiculous! You can see how the the paper rolls work but the floor, for example is slopped to a central "creek" drainage system that makes cleaning the place very fast and easy with a high pressure hose. All this is very important when you keep over 200 birds.
Behind the camera shot is a fold up computer table and a flat screen monitor on the wall where I can keep electronic records of all the breeding cages on a spreadsheet. My laptop is WIFI connected so I can also select certain types of music out there and receive work mail which sometimes includes new notifications from the forum while I'm in the aviary.

TMI...I know...but like most people here, I'm kinda into my birds.

P

[Sally]

My bird room is just the opposite--single HQ flights, a double HQ flight, some 34x18x18 cages from Quality Cages, some 38x19x19 from Corners Limited, and some HQ 40x20x20 stackers. What an assortment! But, I got almost all of them used, which is why I have so many different styles and sizes.