I have started working on a new scale. The main difference is the way it is mounted into the walls of the birdhouse. With the old scale the base plate was inserted into small slits on the sides leaving the sides exposed on top. The new scale sides will disappear into the walls and will only leave the weight plate with the veneer for the little bird to step on. I hope this will produce more consistent weight readings even when the little bird leans on to the wall while sleeping.