Hi Kathryn, Thank you for contacting Droll Yankees. We are sorry to hear you are experiencing issues assembling your feeder. Based on your feedback, it sounds like you may have ordered the wrong part for your feeder. This replacement tube is for the green, blue and yellow Ring Pull feeders (please click here for the instruction manual). If you own a silver Ring Pull feeder, then you will want to purchase this replacement tube. If you own a blue, green or yellow Ring Pull feeder and continue to experience issues reassembling your feeder, please call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-352-9164 and any one of our Customer Service Reps will be happy to assist you. Our hours are 7 am – 4:30 pm Mon-Fri (EST). Thank you for flying with our flock!