Shallow dishes/ feeding plate?

[Ellie]

Does anyone know of a decent feeding dish for budgies that is actually shallow? Preferably stainless steel?

I currently have 5oz hanging stainless steel coop cups (the smallest I could get ). They are fairly small, but still, they seem too deep for a budgie. Poor Benji practically falls in to them when he tries to eat.

I was out for the day yesterday, and noticed that he didn't really eat anything. I moved the cups up higher at night like I normally do, gave him more seed, and covered him for the night. In the morning, again, no seed eaten.

I would think that something was wrong with him, except that when I spent a little time with him this morning, he gobbled up seeds and pellets from my hand. So I tried holding a paper plate with some seeds and pellets, and again, he ran around eating them up (after he got over the fear of the sound of his own feet tapping on the plate).

So I'm inclined to think that he has a preference for eating off something flat or shallow. Problem is, even the dishes that are meant for budgies, seem to have the "shopping cart" feeding approach (filler-up and change every few days). I prefer to place a little food at a time so I can keep track of how much he's eating, as well as waste less food when I change it out every morning.

I've looked high and low, and haven't found anything stainless steel or otherwise. I would place something like a shallow pie plate or cat dish, or even a stone croc down on the cage floor, but it's so far down in a flight cage that he will not go down there. I'm also thinking it would get pooped on.

Any suggestions anyone?

[birdguhl]

Ellie, I use these to feed my buds germinated seed which needs to be in a shallow dish - www.haiths.com/cage-and-aviary-bird-seed/egg-drawers/

You might be able to find something like this available in Canada.

They only work with cages with horizontal bars.

Tony has a great time tipping the dish until it falls off and then gets a great fright when it goes down

[tweetiepiesmom]

I have these that I found on Amazon. They are shallow and I use them for treats or fresh foods like sweet potatoes that I only am giving them a small amount. They are plastic and I do wish they were stainless steel but I don't leave them very long in their cage and then I clean them. My guys perch on the edge of the cup or on a perch beside the cup to eat their seeds. Benji maybe needs more practice or try filling it up more until he gets the hang of it.
www.amazon.com/TOKYO-T-Pet-Feeder-Shallow-Gouldian/dp/B01FA89O4Y/ref=sr_1_178?crid=2EF8TEKK5ELRA&dchild=1&keywords=parakeet+feeding+cups&qid=1597763559&sprefix=parakeet+feeding%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-178

[Ellie]

birdguhl You seem to have a better selection over there in the UK! I haven't found that one in particular, but I'm searching for something like that in general. I don't have horizontal bars though, except for the cross bars. And I hear you on the dish tipping - one of my mothers birds is like this and it seems her life goal is all about tipping the food dish. She got to the point of using a clip to hold it down (otherwise they'd have no food - ever).

tweetiepiesmom I saw the acrylic ones from the link on amazon.ca, but they are $72 for 2 (but hey, the shipping is free lol). Looks like your stainless steel dishes are about the same size as the ones we have (Benji is just smaller). I'll try filling the dishes up more for now (I should probably also move them closer to a perch). His perching skills aren't too bad, although a few days ago he got stuck hanging upside down and had no idea how to upright himself lol

[birdguhl]

Also check out finger drawers in case these are more easily available - www.haiths.com/cage-and-aviary-bird-seed/finger-drawer/

They work with vertical bars.

[tweetiepiesmom]

Amazing the price difference between countries! As he gets older hopefully Benji's perching skills will get better. If you ever get him a new cage, look for one with horizontal bars - so much better for them to climb on. My guys' cage has two sides with horizontal bars and two sides with vertical bars. I couldn't find one with all horizontal bars.

[Deleted]

I have this problem. The smallest size I can get are deep. I got a video of Yuki getting right in it to eat.

I have shallower ones but they're too wide for the hoops, and if I put them in the platforms meant for them then Indie and Yuki hang out on them with their bums over the bowls!

[Ellie]

birdguhl I'm thinking they might be called something different here. I wonder if they are what they call biscuit or egg cups here?

tweetiepiesmom I wish I could have gotten one, even with some of the sides horizontal. But it seems like there wasn't anything available in the flight cage size that fit the bill. I even tried looking for ferret or small animal cages, but of the few I found, either the bar spacing was too wide, or it was a full opening front which I didn't think was a great idea with a dog in the house. Maybe one day I'll find something though. To be honest, I have two of these cages (long story). It would be awesome to join them together, but unlike the next size up in this line, the side panels are welded making joining them difficult (look up prevue hendryx F050 double setup - would have loved to do that!). On another note, adding more food helped some with the dishes. It means I'm wasting some, but that's okay... I don't go through a lot with one budgie anyways.

@sillycat84 I was thinking the same - find something shallow for the hoops, but no luck. Then I considered a platform setup like you tried, but would prefer something I could attach like a full shelf. The pooping thing is a concern, but Benji does it anyways when he perches on his dishes. I just take a little plastic spoon and scoop the poop if I see it in there during the day.

[birdguhl]

Have a look at this Ellie - looks like they ship to Canada

www.ebay.com/itm/10-X-LARGE-FINGER-DRAWS-FOR-CANARY-FRONTS-CAGE-AVIARY-BIRDS/113045535969?_trkparms=aid%3D1110006%26algo%3DHOMESPLICE.SIM%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131231084308%26meid%3D498771ba656044d68549a7b3537e58ea%26pid%3D100010%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D7%26sd%3D124199973281%26itm%3D113045535969%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2047675%26algv%3DDefaultOrganic&_trksid=p2047675.c100010.m2109

[birdguhl]

I was looking for these - I have one and it is good but could do with a couple more.

Would work on cages with vertical bars as long as there is a suitable horizontal somewhere.

www.ebay.com/itm/5-X-9cm-Cage-Feeders-For-Aviary-Birds-Finch-Budgie-Canary-etc-/282648513844

[Hezz]

It is a commonly repeated old wives' tale that horizontal bars are the best for budgies. Personally I think it makes them lazy, as most buds seem to love abseiling down the sides of their cage to reach something lower down. It is also easier to fit perches with vertical bars if you make your own - whittle down the ends so that they fit snugly between the two bars and sit on a horizontal strut and they won't move. Horizontal bars don't give you that option.
Even my disabled hen has no problems getting around her vertically barred cage.

[Ellie]

birdguhl thanks for the links!

Hezz I never thought of it that way (re perch fitting). Does your hen have more difficulty flying now? I remember seeing a fantastic setup for an older linnie that had arthritis and could no longer fly (they also tend to be climbers). The person who set up the cage did a great job of weaving branches and platform perches/cork etc. It gave me some good ideas for variety in our setup (although I will personally leave plenty more flying space since Benji can and loves to zip around)

[Deleted]

Hezz I agree regarding the laziness. Munchy would never fly inside his cage. If the perches were more than a jump apart he would climb.

[Hezz]

Ellie, my little hen can still fly, but her legs/hips don't work as they should, one in particular, and on the wonky leg she also has two toes that don't do what they should - one in front doesn't bend at all and the other, back, is permanently bent now at the wrong angle, so she is not in a good place with that particular leg. She seems to do better on thinner perches, ladders because she can grip these with her bent toe, anything too thick and the toe is just in the way. She also has a platform perch, ladders and a few thinner perches aligned together so that she can sit over them, she uses her beak a lot to get around, and her wonky foot can be of some use to her. She climbs around her cage rather than use her ladders, though.

[elysianblight]

They might not fit with your existing clips, but my favorite thing I found for mine is a set of sauce/condiment dishes.

Wide but shallow and they come in a set so I always have spares for cleaning.
Also they recognize the bowls so well now, I can put the extras around the house (like on a playstand) and they will still be comfortable eating from it.

Mine are these porcelain ones..
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07G9CR2X4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title