# "No spill" food bowls



## Lore (Dec 5, 2016)

So, we all know that cockatiels are pretty messy eaters! Some more so than others, which in my case means Indy (still getting used to seed-pellet mix) is a lot more messy than Puck. I think he even deliberately throws out pellets?
I can't be the only one frustrated with a 'tiel that throws his food everywhere 

So are there any people who use or have used any type of "no spill" food bowl? Or is there a way to possibly make one myself?
I've provided some pictures off the web of possible ideas, would love to hear if anyone has tried any!


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## Lore (Dec 5, 2016)

I would like to add that I live in an old house, and every winter we have at least one mouse running around... We're doing our best keeping them out, putting food in storage boxes, cleaning, et cetera. But having a bird throw a lot of his food out the cage is no help. I know it can't be completely stopped, but there is a very significant increase in the "spilling" since Indy came home, so I'm looking for a (hopefully at least partial) solution.


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Google "seedmate". I am in Australia and I have these bowls for all of my birds! I have two cockatiels and two eclectus parrots, all of whom are MESSY eaters. These bowls have saved my floors and walls, and also saved me from having to vacuum multiple times a day.

You could probably make one yourself or find a cheaper alternative, but I swear by these bowls!


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## Lore (Dec 5, 2016)

Shaenne thanks for your reply! A quick image search delivered very similar designs to one of the images I sent in my attachment. I'm glad to hear they work 

Are they easy to clean?

Besides being a messy bird, Indy also tend to "chill" on the seed bowl and poops in it when he sits there! Hopefully that will be solved as much as possible with a feeder like that, too!


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

Mine are because I put them in the dishwasher lol!


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## Lore (Dec 5, 2016)

Haha, good to know they are more or less "dishwasher safe" then! I found the seedmate bowls on Aliexpress for 15 USD a piece. Seems like a good price for these?

Will have to see if they fit on the outside of the cage. I have bowls that slide into a frame from the outside, through a little door. Hopefully unscrewing the frames is easy enough, and the bowl will fit the opening!


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

I find having a bowl on the floor of the cage is the best thing to stop food being thrown out. It seems silly that they put bowls so high up the cage. Also I would set a mouse trap at night but no humane traps use the kill traps. As when you release a mouse it needs to be miles away but then a new one moves in. Seal all entrances outside the house and just keep checking your trap. If you use a kill trap you can either put the dead mouse in the bin, burry it or leave it somewhere for wild animals to eat it. Don’t use poison.


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## Lore (Dec 5, 2016)

Thanks for the tip about the food on the bottom of the cage! Sounds like a goos idea, but sadly I don't think it's an option for my birds. Puck neatly poops in one or two places, but Indy tends to just poop whenever, so I'm afraid it wouldn't solve part of my problem

As much as I do love animals, when there is a rogue mouse in the house, I do set kill traps. 
They've been set for about 3 or 4 weeks now with no results, although I caught 2 in a span of 2 weeks before that. 
I live with 14 flatmates (yes really! Our house is huge and we have 3 bathrooms, showers and kitchens. One of each on each floor) so possibly my room is not the only "contaminated" area. I'm ordering extra traps tonight to place in others' rooms and our common areas.


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

I find the best bait for mouse traps is chocolates and ones with a gooey sticky centre as it’s harder for mousy to get off the trap lol they can’t resist it! I have found when placing bowls to also rearrange the perches so that they don’t over hang the bowl which stops them pooping on everything. I have a similar issue in the aviary I have feeder on the side mesh which gets chucked out a lot and mice scavenge it out side the aviary but I also have a cat litter tray in the floor where I place the bowls and some of my birds poop in the same spot so you get little mountains of poop lol or there are the little ones who poop everywhere! I think I’ve perfected where my bowls for food and water go now but still someone poops in the food at least once! Even the bowls on the walls! Lol


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## Oztiel (Sep 5, 2014)

Its a very good idea but my cockatiel "Matey" is a serial dunker. Matey takes crumbles from the the feedbowl bowl over to the water bowl and plunges them. I take it he finds crumbles a bit hard or prefers the mushy texture to the crisp texture of dryfood.

The birds are just plain messy when they eat .I set fresh green vegetables up in the center of the table and they take it to the edge and always "accidentally" drop their food on the floor.


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## Fran.bath89 (Jun 12, 2016)

Your birds sound cheeky lol unfortunately all birds are messy when they eat it’s probably the only bad thing about pet birds


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## shaenne (Apr 19, 2014)

$15USD for the seedmate bowls is an excellent price! Also mine came with hooks that can be screwed into the front or back of the bowls (and pre-drilled holes for the screws) so you can have them on the inside or outside. I have mine on the inside but sometimes I put one on the outside as well!

Both of my eclectus parrots are serial dunkers. I HAVE to have two water dishes in each of their cages - one next to the food bowls and one as far away as possible so they have at least one bowl of clean drinking water


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