Silo feeders are so much better than cups. Less wasted food. Good seed doesn't get wasted hiding under hulls. With the seed so visible, no forgetting when to re-fill it, and that would be less often than with cups. Helps eliminate "poops" getting into the seed.I bought 4 for my breeding cages....to use for seed. They didn't attach well to any of the 4 different style cages I have.... so I just set them on the cage floor. I prefer that anyway. Eating is about the only thing my birds do at the bottom of the cage so why waste precious upper "flying & playing" space with food? The little ring wasn't needed as the silo was very stable on the cage floor (I made a toy out of them).I was pleasantly surprised to find that they held water beautifilly too. I am going to order more.