Making Lunches For Snoball

Every week or so I take a day and prepare a week's worth of food for the birds and the rats and sometimes I'll make some special treats for the bunnies. It's a difficult day involving shopping, cooking, cleaning, packing and storing. But it makes the rest of the week a hundred times easier. Each morning or evening I can just "grab and go" since I keep everything in refridgerated, air-tight containers. I just thought everyone might be curious as to what Snoball's plethora of goodies will include this week.

Of course there are grapes and blueberries in the center of the photo - those are pretty much a constant in Snoball's life. But other than that I try to vary things. Last week he had oranges, apples, kiwi, sweet potato, banana, flax seed crackers, and I can't even remember what else. This week he's having (starting at the upper left corner of the photo and going clockwise around the grapes/blueberries) mashed potatoes, apples, canteloupe, cherry tomatoes, pistachios, animal crackers, and pasta.

Snoball also gets Zupreem brand fruit flavored pellets daily and a dried fruit/nut mix as a treat.

I'd say he's a well-fed bird, wouldn't you? -lol-

-Haylee

I think Snoball felt a lot like that little boy today. He started his day by screaming his lungs out when I brought him out to play. He yelled and screamed while we swept and mopped the floors. After wearing himself out he settled down for a nap. Well, of course once the store opened he couldn't nap in peace because everyone wanted to hold him. That made him grumpy, so I tried to put him back in his cage to rest but he started screaming when I tried to walk away. So I took him back out and left him up front with one of the baby umbrellas. They were fine at first but then the baby tried to play with Snoball and he got mad. That made the baby mad so then they started fighting and Snoball jumped off the perch and ran to another where he finally fell asleep.

Later in the day I took him outside for photos - I was working on photographing tree stands for the website and Snoball was modeling. He enjoyed that - so much so that he screamed when I brought him back in again. I finally put him up on the shelves in the boarding room where I thought he would settle down, but of course he had other plans. Snoball spent probably thirty minutes rearranging all of the bowls on the shelves and putting them all in the wrong bins. Then he started throwing them out onto the floor, one by one. I was trying to wash the dishes in the sink under the shelves so every time he threw one down I'd be hit on the head or the back. I kept having to dodge falling bowls. And then if he threw one and I didn't make a big stink about it and give him attention he'd hang upside down and try to bite my nose.

The end of the day was no better. I took Snoball and Misty (my cockatiel) into the employee area to wash handfeeding equipment. As soon as I turned my back on him, he started making these loud, long screams. I gave him some cheese and he quieted down for a bit. Katie and I went onto the main floor to pick out a toy for the Severe Macaw that I'm fostering, and of course Snoball thought the toys were for him. He kept grabbing them from Katie and trying to play with them, then throwing a fit when she took them away! So we had to buy one for Snoball too... No, he's not spoiled... *rolls eyes*

Thank goodness he actually quieted down and tried to go to sleep when I put him to bed. I think it had something to do with the handful of almonds I put in his bowl, though... -lol-

Hopefully Snoball won't be a spoiled brat tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

-Haylee

Image credit goes to: http://kayjensen.deviantart.com/

Snoball Has Made Lots Of New Friends!

The picture above really has nothing to do with Snoball, but I thought it was a sweet photo. Much like this man, Snoball has been making lots of new friends lately. It took him all of a week or so to figure out that he could get love from strangers if he just did something cute. And if there's one thing Snoball is good at, it's being cute.

In the last few days, Snoball has gained so many fans and admirers at the store, that people come in and ask, "Where's Snoball?" I had a family offer me more than a thousand dollars for him. Much to their dismay, I told them that Snoball was absolutely priceless and was not for sale. He won the hearts of several little girls who brought him papaya by the handful once they found out that he liked it. He had so much papaya at his feet that he didn't know what to do with it all! He's made friends with men and women, both young and old. No one is too small or too big to be Snoball's friend. He even seems to have overcome one of his fears. In the past, Snoball has been a bit, well ... racist. It seems that he had a bad experience with a black male, and ever since then he's been frightened of people with dark skin. But the other day we introduced him to one of David's friends, who happens to be black. Snoball willingly, and of his own accord (without any help from us) stepped onto his shoulder, and began to investigate him. Of course, I'm sure it didn't hurt that Anthony (David's friend) was eating french fries at the time - one of Snoball's favorite foods. -lol-

Anyway, Snoball is doing very well at the store and spends most of his day bouncing on the swinging perches and luring people in with an outstretched foot and a "Hi Snoball." They fall for it every time, and once he's on their arm he makes it impossible for them to put him down! He really knows how to ham it up and work the crowd. He steals treats and toys from customers' baskets and they don't even get mad at him. -lol- I don't think Snoball could possibly be happier.

Snoball Visits His First Family!

I was going to let Snoball write this blog post, but there was so much to say that I thought it would be better if I took over. Snoball and I both had a very busy day, and so did his baby brother (sister?), Carli - the African grey congo. Snoball's first family purchased Carli from where I work not too long ago, and since they were nice enough to bring Snoball ALLLL the way down to see me, I offered to bring Carli ALLLL the way up to them once he (she?) was weaned. So, today was the big day and it all revolved around two very long car rides. (Roughly 2 and a half hours each way!) Snoball decided he wanted to drive so I could rest a little bit...

"Here, Mom, I'll help!"
"Snoball, I don't think that's a very good idea..."
"Why not?"
"Well, because you can't really see over the steering wheel, and you can't really reach the gas pedals, and you don't actually have a driver's license, so..."
"Oh, but Mom, I can do it. Look! See? I just put my foot here like this..."

In the end, Snoball was not allowed to drive. I know, I know - poor Snoball. But to help take your mind off of snoball's disappointment, here are some nice photos of the views from the car:

So after stopping for two bathroom breaks (for the birds and for the humans) and driving for what seemed like an eternity, and nearly getting lost in the boondocks, we arrived at Snoball's house! The house is great and Snoball's family is so nice. They even went out of their way to have lunch ready for us. And not just any lunch, but a whole shmorgas board of vegetarian goodies for me and subs for David. Snoball got in on the action of course - swiping a little from this plate, a little from that plate, and so on. -lol- By the way, where did the term "shmorgas board" originate? What a silly looking (and sounding) word... What is its exact definition anyway? Even when its spelled correctly it doesn't look right... This is distracting me from the story. Anyway...

After lunch we got to see and play with their other birds, and I got a few photos of course. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any photos of their rescued Amazon parrot named Ceasar. He moves a lot and his green feathers reflected the sunlight a little too well, so every shot came out blurry and over-exposed. But I did get some good shots of the others. "The Twinses" are two identical Perfect Lories. They were born and raised together and they're quite small. I'd say they're roughly the size of a cockatiel, but without the long tail. Here's one of them in action - playing on a swinging perch:

And this is Carli - Snoball's new little brother or sister. We all think it's a boy, but we're waiting on the sexing results to come back.

And last but certainly not least is Nikki (I hope I spelled that right). She's a sweetie and believe it or not, she raps and sings and dances. I've only heard her do it once, so I'm waiting (very impatiently) for an encore performance. I brought the video recorder hoping to catch her doing it, but I had no such luck.

We had to leave shortly after that because David had to go in to work. We would've liked to have stayed longer, but, unfortunately, keeping our jobs is too important right now. -lol- Everybody gave Snoball hugs and kisses and spoiled him rotten before we left. He didn't want to get back in the car at first because he didn't understand why we were taking him after he'd just gotten back home. He was nervous when we first sat down and started the car, and when we pulled away from the house he started talking loudly - protesting, I think. So I started to talk to him and I explained that he would see them again soon, and that he was going to come with me and David. I explained to him (again) that he could have fun with us, too, and that his family still loved him very much and they wanted him to be happy. I told him that everybody loved him very much - including David and myself, and just generally tried to make him understand what was happening. (Even though logic says that birds can't completely understand us when we talk to them.)

However, I have always been told that I have a gift when it comes to animals, and a "sixth sense" of sorts. I am a very spiritual person - not necessarily religious, but spiritual - and while I was studying Reiki (the practice of using good energy to "heal") a year or two ago, my Master teacher (so-called because of the amount of time he'd spent studying Reiki) told me that I have a certain energy about me that is very good for animals. I've also been told by a genuine Psychic (David's sister) that I have "a way" with animals. It is as if I have the ability to "sense" or "feel" or "perceive" the emotions and sometimes the ideas/thoughts/perceptions of the animals that I come into contact with. I know it might sound a little crazy, especially depending on your beliefs. But I say all of this because you might not believe the following unless you understand what *I* believe...

On the way back from Snoball's house, when Snoball was speaking loudly, fidgeting, fussing, and generally causing a ruckus, and when I was speaking to him - trying to explain what was happening, I suddenly sensed a change in him. And right about the time that I sensed this change, he quieted down. I felt that at that moment, Snoball finally understood the situation. He'd had it explained to him several times before, and perhaps he thought he understood, but until then it hadn't really clicked. When we drove away from his house and I explained everything again, he was able to fully comprehend it. I suddenly felt so sad driving away from the house. But I had no reason to be sad - Snoball did. He got very quiet and seemed to be thinking of something. He stayed this way for a while, and I tried to comfort him by petting him and telling him that I loved him. A while later he climbed up onto David's shoulder and looked at me. This time I sensed another change: Snoball seemed to have accepted it. He was certainly still a little sad, but more importantly, he was ok with it. And it was as if he knew that although he was sad, things would get better. He stayed quietly on David's shoulder for a long time, and finally fell asleep there.

The fact that he fell asleep was very surprising because Snoball is afraid to ride in the car. He is very uncomfortable with it and he gets car sick. Never in a million years would I have thought he'd be comfortable enough to fall asleep in it. But he did...

It makes me sad to think about how Snoball must feel right now. I'm sure he is confused. He knows that he is loved - that much is for sure, but he's just very unsure of things for now. I know that he will adjust and I know that he will be happy with us, because he has been happy for the past week. Snoball really enjoys going out and spending time with us and playing at work with me. But it'll take him a while to get used to his new home. I was told not too long ago by David's sister (the psychic) that Snoball would be sad about the change, but that within two weeks or less he would be back to his normal, happy, bouncy self. She has definitely freaked me out on a number of occasions with her "psychic-ness" and has correctly predicted MANY events in our lives, so I have no doubt that she will be right about this, too.

Change can be very difficult for all of us - everyone in Snoball's life right now can attest to that. But I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, and I know in my heart that everything will turn out for the best in the end. If Snoball has already accepted and understood the situation, then it can only be a matter of time before he is loving life and laughing again. For now, I'll continue to show him love and help him to have a good time. I don't think it'll take more than a day before we're seeing this happy face again!

Oh poo, now that I've made myself gloomy from talking about such serious subjects, I think I'll go have some chocolate ice cream and play a game of "Plants vs. Zombies." It's supposed to be a kid's game, but it's very addicting. The idea is to protect your house from zombies with plants. Each plant performs a different function, and you need all of them functioning together in order to defeat the zombies. The trick is to organize them on a grid in the best order and in the least amount of time so that you can kill all the zombies before they make it to your front door. I know... >_> it sounded absurd to me too. But the repetition and simplicity of it (plus the ADORABLE plant characters and the cute sound effects) make it very fun and relaxing.

So, until Snoball's next adventure...

-Haylee

The Pictures I Couldn't Post Before

I'm back from putting Snoball to bed so I wanted to post a few more photos. These are the photos I couldn't post before, while he was here. (I didn't want to embarrass him or bruise his ego, afterall.)

Snoball and David cuddling on his tree stand:



And my favorites - Snoball discovered a mirrored wall in the apartment today. At first he seemed a little confused, but then he decided to flirt a little with the "other bird" and see if he could convince it to scratch his head for him. -lol-

Please don't tell Snoball I posted these!!! :D

I Love My New Tree Stand!

Mom surprised me by picking me up from the store today and bringing me to the apartment to see my new tree stand! I really really like it, but first let me tell you about the reptile store.

Mom cleaned my cage and gave me new food and toys when she arrived. I played on top of the shelves again - I love doing that. After she was done we went for a car ride and drove to the reptile store so Mom could get food for her snakes (yuck). I got lots of compliments. People told me I was a pretty bird. I liked that. Here's a picture of Mom and I looking around at the store:

Oh, and I got to ride in a big truck! I get scared of big trucks when we're in Mom's car because it's small. But when I'm in the big truck I feel really tall and stuff isn't as scary as it is when I'm close to the ground. Mom even let me sit on the back of it while she was waiting for David in the parking lot. See?

And here's Mom and I riding inside it:

After all that, we came back to the apartment and I got to see my new play gym! I really liked it SO much. I spent two hours on it just sitting and playing (and snacking)! Mom gave me grapes, animal crackers, bean sprouts, and potatoes, corn, carrots, and a whole bunch of stuff. She said she's going to buy me a swing for the top of the tree, but I just like to hang from it. ...And bounce on it. :)

Oh, Mom says I gotta go get ready for bed back at the store. That means I have to ride in the truck again. Riding in cars hurts my tummy, but it's not so bad in the big truck. I guess I don't mind it as much. I asked Mom if she would spend the night with me in my cage, but she said it's too small. She promised that she would come play with me tomorrow though. She has to come work tomorrow so that means I get to be out ALLLLLL day! :D

Love,

Snoball

P.S. Here are a few more pictures of me on the tree stand:

Snoball's New Toy

Snoball got a new toy the other day, but I forgot to post it. I made it myself from "a few of his favorite things" :)

The toy is just as big as he is, and has lots of bits and pieces hanging off of it from here, there and everywhere. But the entire thing cost no more than $11.00. The bell in the center is an "indestructibell" which is made from powder-coated metal and has a short clacker so that he can't rip it out like he does with all the other bells. That was the priciest component at a whopping $3.00. The plastic chain and leather pieces were no more than $2.00 ea. And best of all, if he breaks any one part it can easily be replaced for $2.00 or less! He loves this thing. It's so funny to see him sit and fiddle with it. He tries very hard to get his talons around the plastic links, and if he can't get his toes to fit in them "just so" then he won't grab it. So he has to sit there and work his feet like mad, trying to slide his toes into the links and it just looks so silly.

I'm going to go pick Snoball up from work in just a minute and we'll be going to the reptile store. Hopefully Snoball will feel up to posting a blog about it. ;)

-Haylee

Snoball's Play Gym Is Finished!

David and I worked all day long completing Snoball's tree stand. Because of some issues with batteries for the power tools the entire process took roughly 8 hours! The whole process went something like this:

1. Hunt down bird-safe trees and chop off some branches

2. Strip the bark from the branches and remove all foliage

3. Bake the branches in the oven at 220 degrees for a few hours to kill all bacteria.

4. Sand the branches

5. Assemble

Of course, the assembly wasn't very simple. We used two 2"x4"s screwed together into a T shape for stability. The base and platform were 2'x2' plywood pieces, which we covered in linoleum tiles for easy clean-up. We put wheels on the bottom so that it could easily be moved. Each branch had to be attached separately by screws, but pilot holes were drilled first so that the screws didn't split the wood. We also added some screws with eye holes to hang toys from, and the tallest branch (which flexes over the top of the gym) is attached at the base by 4 screws so that it can bounce and bend without snapping off. Snoball loves to bounce so I'm sure he'll love that. :)

A few more pictures:

We baked a few more (smaller) branches and intend to make another play gym for the smaller birds at a later time. All together, the entire thing cost us about $60.00 - compared to $300.00 for a store-bought one. I'd say we did alright. :)

Creating A Play Gym For Snoball

Unfortunately, Snoball is away from me tonight so he can't post his own blog. I'll take over once more but Snoball should be back posting tomorrow night. :)

I stopped by my work this morning to bring Snoball lots of goodies and spend some time with him before leaving to visit my siblings. David and I are spending the night at my dad's house tonight so we won't be able to see Snoball until tomorrow night. We took video and pictures while we were there - we got a great video of Snoball talking and bouncing but my computer is being stubborn tonight. I'm going to continue to try to upload it but it may have to wait until I get back home and have the better computer.

Snoball's treats and goodies consisted of a baked sweet potato, a HUGE container of purple grapes, two kiwi - cut into bite-size pieces, an orange - sectioned, two types of pasta with a smidge of olive oil (good for feather/fur/skin), and some organic flaxseed crackers with cheese flavoring. He loved the grapes of course, but he also took to the crackers right away. He likes picking the individual flaxseeds off the crackers and eating them before eating the cracker itself. He does it so carefully and daintily that its comical to watch.

The real action of the day is the project that David and I have embarked on. We've decided to make our own tree stand for Snoball, rather than buying one for $300. So we took a hand saw and some tree clippers and went "stick hunting" in the woods behind my dad's house. We were able to find several bird-safe trees in the area, and we got a few great branches from them. We cut them all off and dragged them back to the house where we stripped the leaves and bark off. I took pictures of this, but - again - my computer is being stubborn... Anyway, after stripping the bark we baked the branches in the oven at about 200 degrees for almost 2 hours. The wood turned a light, lovely color and any blemishes and bacteria were taken care of. We're letting the wood cool tonight, but first thing in the morning we're going to the hardware store to get some screws, bolts, washers, etc. and some hardwood for the base of the tree stand. Once it's completely finished I'll take more pictures and post them. :)

The goal is to have a play stand that I can keep at work for Snoball. As it is right now, he has to take turns with the other birds or sit on top of cages/furniture. Honestly, I think Snoball would rather sit on the cages and furniture but it makes the owner of the store mad. -lol- If this works out well, Snoball will have AT LEAST two gyms - one for the house and one for work. I'd love to have one for every room of the house so that Snoball can always be with me, but that might be asking a little much from David... -lol- We'll see.

Pictures and videos by tomorrow night - scout's honor!

-Haylee

Image credit goes to: http://maticgolob.deviantart.com/

Snoball Goes To The Park

Snoball is spending the night at my work tonight, so I promised him I'd post a blog for him. We went to the park today - David, Snoball and I. Snoball definitely had fun and we made sure to take lots of pictures.

We woke up early and got everyone fed and watered. Snoball was already up and ready to play so we had a quick breakfast of toast (no butter for Snoball) and off we went. The park was a small one near a community that David used to live in. There was lots of open space, plenty of trees, a lake, and clear skies. Snoball rode around on David the whole time. He doesn't want to admit it, but I think he's really warming up to David.

Exhibit A:


Snoball was very talkative and kept saying, "I love you" and "Hi, Snoball." I was worried that he would be scared of planes and helicopters flying overhead, but he didn't even flinch. At one point, a duck popped out of the bushes unexpectedly, and flew off just over our heads. I thought for sure it would scare Snoball, but he just watched it fly away.

Here are some pictures from the park:

Hopefully we'll be able to do it again soon. After the park Snoball went to work with me. He took a nap in his cage and had some lunch, then came back out to play. He decided to climb on top of the bird cages and unhook all of their toys, one by one. I didn't realize he was doing this until he'd knocked down 5 cages' worth of toys. So I had to open all of them and string everything back up. -lol- I was a little angry, but I had to admire his intelligence. And when he said, "Hi Snoball" I had no choice but to forgive him immediately. I'm a sucker, I know. But look at that face! How could you stay angry at this for any period of time? How!?

- Haylee

Photographic Evidence

Snoball's first dad sent me this picture tonight:

It seems Snoball is no stranger to this computer stuff afterall... :)

Mom Is A Little Frustrated

Just wanted to update everyone on how Snoball's first night went. He did great until right around 7:30 when he started getting antsy. I was told he would start to get loud when he was ready for bed - right around 8:00. I got everything ready for his bedtime: Got a cage ready for him, fed him dinner, moved everybody around, played with him a little more, and finally tried to put him to bed.

Well, Snoball decided he didn't want to go to bed afterall. Instead, he wanted to stay up and bounce... Ok, no problem. We bounced for a good 20 minutes with him chanting "sno-ball-sno-ball-sno-ball" with every bounce and then laughing about it afterwards. Then he started screaming again. I asked him if he was ready for bed and he responded with a loud "ehh!!" which means "yes" as far as bedtime is concerned.

So I tried again to put him to bed. He went in for a minute, and then decided he still wasn't ready for bed! So I brought him a grape (his favorite). He nicely took it from me and then proceeded to throw it on the floor quite angrily. Appalled, I told him he could play by himself then. This did not make him happy, and he took to climbing the cockatiel cage and throwing all of my school books off the top of it. I then gave him a chew toy to play with which he shredded and promptly started screaming again. No amount of shushing made him stop. I finally had to pick him up and bounce him to make him flap and stop screaming.

Attempt at bedtime number 3: Success! Snoball finally settled in on a snuggly perch and mumbled himself to sleep. He's been quiet ever since.

Tomorrow morning we're going to the park together. It's just a small local park where we walk the tortoise. Yes, the tortoise... We get a lot of looks from people! -lol- He has to have 20 minutes of sunshine every day and they instinctively eat while on the move, so we get him his exercise and his breakfast all in one go. Hopefully Snoball will enjoy it. After that, he'll be going to work with me where he'll spend all day sitting somewhere he's not supposed to and knocking things off shelves. -lol- But that's why I love him.

-Haylee

Image credit goes completely to: http://helpmeimblonde.deviantart.com/

My First Day With My New Family

Today is the first day that I've spent with my new family. Mom arrived at work (where I was staying) late so I had to wait in my cage for a little while. But I didn't mind since she made me a big pinata toy last night. I was having so much fun playing with it that I didn't even want to come out when she got there!

I came out after breakfast to play. Mom even let me play on top of the big, tall cabinets. I love sitting up there because I can see the whole store. People stop and talk to me but no one can reach me all the way up there so I feel safe. Mom knows I like it there - she lets me stay there for as long as I want if I am good.

I got to spend time with my new dad, too. I'm still a little nervous around him, but I don't typically like men. He gave me some baked potato with a little cheese so I guess he's alright. And he bought me a really fun toy with lots of leather and plastic pacifiers on it. Maybe I'll like him better as time goes on. Mom says I will.

The apartment that my new family lives in right now doesn't allow animals. I think that's a horrible rule and should be changed immediately! Mom and I snuck in the back way so we didn't get caught. We had to climb six flights of stairs to get to the apartment. Well, Mom did - I just rode on her shoulder. Every time she climbed a step I did a little bounce, and we went bouncing and laughing all the way up! I loved it, and Mom said I was cute and silly, but climbing stairs makes her tired. Maybe she should try to fly.

When we got upstairs I got to meet my new feathered friends. I have three brothers now - two cockatiels and a red-bellied parrot. I don't like him much - he tries to pick on me. Mom doesn't let him but he still glares at me from his cage... I like the cockatiels, though! They shared their treats with me and even let me play with their toys and sleep on their cage.

Mom spent some quiet time with me for a little while. She talked to me and told me she knew how hard this was for me. I said, "Hi" which means, "Yep - it is hard, Mom." But she promised everything will be ok and that they will take good care of me. Mom loves me a lot, so I believe her.

Love, Snoball

An Introduction

I am very excited to be blogging! My mom is helping me a little since I have a lot to say.

My name is Snoball (without the "w"). I am four years old, and I am a handsome Umbrella Cockatoo - my birthday is April 15th if anyone wants to send me gifts! Lots of stuff is changing in my life right now. I have a new family because my first family has to work a lot, and my grandma has been feeling sick. My first family took very good care of me - I couldn't have been happier! They loved me so much that they let me go to my new mom who can spend lots and lots of time with me. I still love my first family very much, and my new mom said I can visit with them whenever I want. That makes me happy. But she also decided to help me write this blog so that my first family and everybody else could see everything exciting that we do!

Right now I am spending time with my new family to get used to the way things are going to be. I'll be going back to my first family sometime next week, and then I'll stay there until my new family gets a better apartment. They said they're trying to find someplace really special so I'll be extra happy!

My new mom works at a bird store so I get to go to work with her everyday. Sometimes she said I will sleep at the bird store. I'd rather be sleeping with her, but I don't mind staying at the store - I have my own big cage there just for me, and everyone knows me there. They spoil me and take good care of me. Tomorrow I get to come home with mom. I'll tell her to take some pictures of me so I can put them on here. Please keep reading! I have a lot to say!

Love, Snoball