Snowflake 
Our sweet little angel
( We love and miss you and still hope you'll come back to us one day )

Snowflake was our sweet baby parakeet. He was small for a parakeet and that's one reason we loved him so much. He was our "little angel" because he was small, sweet, and white with little angel wings.  Our angel is in heaven now. 

We got Snowflake from a pet store in January 2000 so that Foo Foo would have a friend to play with.  The cockatiels were ignoring Foo Foo at the time and she was feeling lonely so we got her Snowflake to play with.  All was going well until one morning in February 2000, Snowflake was found on the bottom of her cage unable to walk.   At first, we thought it was Foo Foo that maybe attacked him and bit him on the toes.   But the vet didn't think so.  She concluded that he had a mild stroke or blood clot and this cut off the circulation of blood to his tiny toes.  Dr. Antinoff gave Snowflake medicine and wrapped his feet in bandages to enable them to heal properly.  Snowflake wore "snowshoes" for about two weeks.  Unfortunately, poor Snowflake lost several of his toes and all of his nails, but the little plucky bird paid no mind to it at all.   He ran around after Foo Foo with his little snowshoes (so cute ! ) with no problem.  The bandages were taken off, and he adapted to perching without his nails very well.   He was able to sit in the "singing tree" (our indoor Ficus tree) and play with no problem.

Some of these pictures show Snowflake with pink and yellow medicine stains under his beak   He hated medicine time, which we had to administer twice a day, and he squirmed around like a little worm when we tried to give it to him. Yech!
Snowflake loved Foo Foo and started screaming when she wasn't within sight.  He liked to eat from the honey stick and occasionally groom Foo Foo.   Snowflake's hobbies included freaking the other birds out with loud shrieking warning sounds (which sent the other birds flying) and chopping all the leaves off the Ficus tree.  He could also be very bossy.  Snowflake's nicknames are Snowfrake, Soo Soo and Snowshoes.  He is a very sweet little bird and we miss him very much.  I think of Snowflake every day.

Snowflake Flies away
   We are heartbroken.  Snowflake accidentally flew away on Thursday, June 29, 2000 when Kinan was cleaning his cage.  He flew out the back door when Kinan moved the cage outside to wash it down.  One second he was sitting next to Foo Foo and the next he was out the door.  We called and searched all day Thursday, but there was no sight of Snowflake.  We even took Foo Foo and Tiger outside in their cages hoping that Snowflake would see or hear them and come back.  We spent all weekend driving around the neighborhood and walking the golf course trying to find him.  We are heartsick.

That Friday, I made 500 color flyers and 1500 b/w flyers and posted them in all nearby businesses.  We also drove around the Sugar Creek subdivision (Sugar Land, TX) and placed a flyer outside every mailbox in our neighborhood.  We got a few calls from people who spotted (or thought they spotted) Snowflake and also some very nice sympathy calls, but we still have not seen Snowflake ourselves.  Hopefully someone has found our sweet Snowflake and is taking good care of him, not knowing who he belongs to.  That is our best hope.  Our worst is that he is dead.  It has been very hot here in Texas and I'm not sure if he can take care of himself.  Does he know where to find food or water, or which animals are predators, or whether to stay in the shade and out of this intolerable heat?  Budgies cannot survive too long without water.  We also left his cage with food and water outdoors in the back yard hoping that he would see it and come back.  But Snowflake didn't return so after a few weeks we took the cage back indoors.  We hope that someone has found  our little angel and is taking good and special care of him.  We love and miss our Snowflake so very much.

If you spot Snowflake or have found him, please email us at marnouk@hess.com  or arnouk@worldnet.att.net.  We live in the Sugar Land, Texas area.  There is a REWARD if he is found safe and sound.

Finally in mid-July 2001, I spotted the small parakeet the neighbor lady had called me about.  Alas, it was not Snowflake, but another very similar looking bird.  I think it's a young female as she has all her head banding still close to the cere (nose) and a very short tail.  I tried coaxing it to come but it did not want to come to me.  I hope she survives.  We also spotted a normal grey cockatiel eating from wild bird feeders on the golf course.  So many lost birds!

Today's pet birds have been bred so long over time in captivity and hand raised by people, they no longer would know what to do once they're out in the wild, nor have they the fear of predators or how to obtain food and water.  If you have a pet bird, please keep it safely secured in your house or cage and do not let it loose thinking you're doing it a favor.  If you no longer want the bird, bring it back to the pet store or give it to someone who will have the time to love it and give it the attention it deserves.