Operation Vhagar

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België
Ruiselede
Operation Vhagar

Hi, I'm Noah! Follow my journey as I learn everything I can before bringing home my future military macaw, Vhagar.

I'll be sharing what I learn, the gear and toys I collect, plenty of chaos, and—when the day finally comes—lots of photos of baby Vhagar. 🦜

09/08/2026

Designing my own fun little bird toys ❤️

27/07/2026

Hi lovely people! ❤️

For the past few weeks, I've found myself tumbling down quite the rabbit hole.

It all started because I decided to make a parrot toy. One toy turned into two, two turned into a dozen, and before I knew it, I had opened a little shop! After listing a few of my handmade toys online, things started taking off, and now I'm taking the next exciting step.

This upcoming weekend, I'll be at the Farmer's Market at De Laerehoeve with Vhagar's Shop, and I thought... why not invite all my friends to come along? 😊

Whether you're curious about handmade parrot enrichment, want to say hello, or are simply looking for a fun day out, I'd love to see you there. There will be plenty to do throughout the market, with free activities for the little gremlins, good food, and lots of local vendors.

If you're nearby on August 1st or 2nd, come stop by, have a chat, and meet the little buddies that somehow turned into a whole new adventure.

Hope to see some familiar faces! ❤️

19/07/2026

So it's been a little while since I last posted!

It's definitely not because there hasn't been any Vhagar progress—quite the opposite. 😅 I've been incredibly busy preparing for my future feathered roommate. Most recently, I've been redecorating and reorganizing parts of my house to make sure there's plenty of room for her and all the chaos... I mean enrichment... that comes with owning a macaw.

Then I came across this chart, and I couldn't stop laughing. 😂

It pretty much sums up what I've learned over the past months. Parrots are an incredible amount of fun... but they're also an incredible amount of work. And honestly, I love that whoever made this chart put them right next to dragons.

As a future owner of a military macaw named Vhagar, I feel particularly called out. 🐉💚

Here's to preparing for my very own little green dragon—one toy, one perch, and one room makeover at a time!

12/07/2026

🩹 Operation Vhagar: Building a Bird First Aid Kit

Hey everyone!

For today's post I took a deeper dive into something I honestly hadn't thought much about before starting **Operation Vhagar**: building a bird first aid kit.

After doing some research, I realized that the most valuable tools you can possibly have aren't bandages or syringes...

They're **information.**

❤️ Your primary avian vet's phone number

❤️ A backup avian vet's phone number

❤️ The nearest 24-hour emergency clinic

❤️ An animal poison control number (if your country has one)

❤️ Your bird's normal weight

Those five things can save precious time during an emergency.

But... because we all love an overprepared queen 👑😅, I also wanted to look at what supplies are worth keeping on hand.

Some of these are **must-haves**, others are simply **nice extras**, and some should **only be used after receiving professional guidance from an avian veterinarian.**

Here's how I'm organizing my own future first aid kit!

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🟢 Every Companion Bird Owner Should Have

These are practical items that most companion bird owners can safely keep on hand and learn to use appropriately.

🚑 Emergency Transport & Monitoring

✅ Small hospital cage or temporary hospital cage

✅ Transport/pet carrier

✅ Gram scale and perch

✅ White paper towels

✅ Small bag of your bird's regular food

✅ Ziplock bags (for droppings, feathers, or samples)

✅ Notebook with emergency information and weight records

🦜 Safe Handling

✅ Restraint towel

✅ Velcro strips

🔦 Basic Equipment

✅ Pen light or flashlight

✅ Sharp/blunt scissors

✅ Tweezers

✅ Magnifying glass

✅ 1 ml syringe

✅ 5 ml syringe

✅ Heating pad

✅ Hand sanitizer

✅ Misting spray bottle

🩹 Basic Wound Care

✅ Bandaging materials

✅ Vet wrap

✅ White bandage tape

✅ Steri-Strips

✅ Cotton-tip applicators

✅ Latex-free cosmetic wedges

✅ Individually wrapped sanitary pads

✅ Coffee stirrer sticks (for emergency splints)

✅ Sterile saline solution

✅ Flour or cornstarch (for minor nail bleeds)

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🟡 Useful Extras

These aren't essential, but can certainly be useful depending on your situation.

⭐ Dremel with bird-safe grinding stone

⭐ Bird/fish net (appropriate for your bird's size)

⭐ Hand-feeding formula

⭐ Coffee grinder (for grinding pellets into formula)

⭐ Sterile lubricant / KY Jelly

⭐ Clamp for a heating lamp

⭐ Bar of soap (some bird keepers use this for minor nail bleeds)

⭐ Water-soluble ointments (if recommended by your vet)

⭐ Calendula gel

⭐ 100% pure Aloe Vera gel

⭐ Drinkable Aloe Vera gel

⭐ Vitamin E gel

⭐ Oral rehydration solution (Pedialyte/Gastrolyte)

⭐ Activated charcoal *(only if specifically instructed by your veterinarian or poison control)*

⭐ Nutri-Cal high-calorie paste

⭐ Chamomile tea bags

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🔴 Do Not Use Without Professional Advice or Training

These aren't bad things to own, but they should only be used if you've been instructed by an avian veterinarian or properly trained.

Medical Procedures

⚠️ Hemostats (blood feather removal)

⚠️ Ripley Miller leg band removal pliers

⚠️ Heavy-duty leg band or cage cutters

⚠️ Oral examination tool (nylon dog bone/popsicle stick)

⚠️ Feeding tubes

⚠️ Culturette swabs

⚠️ Formalin collection jars

Medications & Treatments

⚠️ Hydrocortisone cream

⚠️ Hibitane® ointment

⚠️ Olive oil or sterile lubricant for egg binding

⚠️ Calcium gluconate/liquid calcium

⚠️ Cayenne pepper

⚠️ Pepto-Bismol (bismuth subsalicylate)

⚠️ Betadine (must be diluted correctly)

⚠️ Apple cider vinegar

⚠️ Other medicated ointments and treatments

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🚨 **A bird first aid kit is NOT a replacement for veterinary care.** Its purpose is to stabilize your bird while you contact an avian veterinarian as quickly as possible.

10/07/2026

😂 Spot the Difference... Macaw or Toddler?

Since yesterday's post was a little on the serious side, I thought we'd lighten the mood today.

People often tell me that owning a macaw is basically like having a toddler... except the toddler has a pair of bolt cutters attached to its face.

Honestly?
The more I research, the more accurate that comparison seems. 😂

✔ Loud when they have something to say. ✔ Curious about absolutely everything. ✔ Climbs on anything that exists. ✔ Puts random objects in their mouth. ✔ Can destroy something expensive in record time. ✔ Somehow manages to be adorable while causing complete chaos.

The biggest difference?
A toddler will eventually grow out of it.
Your macaw... probably won't. 😅

Luckily, that's also part of why I fell in love with them. Their personalities are huge, they're incredibly intelligent, and every day seems to come with a new adventure.

Future Vhagar, I'm already preparing my house... and my sanity. 💚🦜

09/07/2026

🦜 What Mobo Taught Me

A little story about why I'm preparing so much this time around.

When I was about 17 years old, I walked into a local pet store with €2,500 in my pocket after selling my horse.

That's where I met Mobo, a beautiful Blue-and-Gold Macaw.

Looking back, I knew almost nothing about macaws. My mom had African Greys, so I'd grown up around parrots, but that was the extent of my experience.

Mobo was sitting alone in her cage. She looked scared. The moment I walked over, she climbed toward me.

That was it.

I was completely sold.

I paid €1,000 for Mobo, leaving me with €1,500 for everything else she would need.

Today, while planning for Vhagar, I'm budgeting around €2,500 just for the initial setup. Looking back, I can clearly see just how unprepared I really was.

I loved Mobo, but love alone wasn't enough.

Because I was still in school, she spent much of the day alone. She screamed constantly while I was away, and eventually the complaints from the neighbors became too much. After two years, I made the incredibly difficult decision to find her a home that could give her the life she deserved.

It remains one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make.

But Mobo also taught me something invaluable.

She taught me that wanting a macaw isn't enough. You need time. Preparation. Money. A plan. A support system. And the willingness to put the bird's needs before your own.

Everything I'm doing now—researching, saving, making toys, finding avian vets, planning my home—is because of what Mobo taught me.

I can't change the past.

But I can make sure Vhagar benefits from everything I learned.

Thank you, Mobo. 💚

08/07/2026

🩺 Operation Vhagar: Finding the Right Vet

One thing I didn't really think about before starting this journey was how important it is to have an avian vet before you actually need one.

With the pets I've had throughout my life, one thing has always been true: having a veterinarian you trust makes all the difference.

My regular vet is absolutely fantastic and available 24/7 in emergencies... but they don't treat birds.

That meant one of my jobs during Operation Vhagar was finding both a primary avian vet and a backup avian vet, just in case.

One thing I've learned is that parrots are masters at hiding illness. In the wild, looking sick makes them an easy target for predators, so by the time a bird looks obviously ill, they've often been sick for quite a while.

That's why I think it's so important to trust your instincts.

If I notice on Friday afternoon that Vhagar seems just a little quieter than usual, isn't quite as interested in food, or simply feels "off," I'd much rather call my avian vet immediately than wait until Saturday or Sunday, when my regular bird specialist might not be available.

Waiting for a bird to look seriously sick isn't always the safest option.

I'd rather make one unnecessary trip to the vet than one trip that's too late.

One of the biggest lessons I've learned so far is that preparing for a macaw isn't just about buying cages and toys. It's also about preparing for the moments you hope never happen.

💚 Future Vhagar deserves that preparation.

07/07/2026

🧸 Toy Tuesday - Day 1!

One of the most important things when caring for a large parrot like a macaw—or honestly, any parrot—is making sure they get plenty of mental stimulation.

In the wild, these birds spend their days flying, chatting with their flock, foraging for food, chewing branches, and exploring their environment. We often expect them to be happy spending much of their time in our homes, so it's our job to make that environment as enriching as possible.

The downside? Parrot toys can get expensive.

The good news? They don't have to be!

Like many things in life, you can either pay someone else to make them, or you can roll up your sleeves and make them yourself.

For today's toy, I spent €10 on colorful wooden blocks from a pet-safe bird retailer. Since the pack contains plenty of blocks, I'll be able to use the leftovers for future projects.

Everything else was either repurposed or recycled:
🪢 Sisal rope left over from another project.
🦜 Spare parts from some of my mom's old parrot toys.
🥤 And today's recycled star of the show... paper straws!

A fun toy for Vhagar one day, less waste in the bin, and a project I genuinely enjoyed making. I'd call that a win! 💚

06/07/2026

💰 Operation Vhagar: The Financial Reality

One of the biggest parts of Operation Vhagar is, without a doubt, the financial side of things.

A baby Military Macaw from a reputable breeder is likely to cost me around €2,500. But that's just the beginning.

I'm budgeting at least another €2,500 for Vhagar's initial setup. That includes a quality cage, carrier, play stands, toys, perches, food, travel equipment, and everything else needed to give a macaw the best possible start.

On top of that, I'm also building an emergency vet fund and taking out pet insurance.

Speaking as a former horse girlie... I know just how quickly veterinary bills can empty your wallet. 😅 I'd much rather prepare for an emergency that never happens than find myself unprepared when Vhagar needs me most.

Macaws are incredible companions, but they definitely aren't an impulse purchase. They're a lifelong commitment that deserves careful planning, both emotionally and financially.

That's exactly why I'm documenting this journey. I hope it gives people a realistic look at what goes into responsibly preparing for one of these amazing birds. 💚🦜

05/07/2026

🦜 Hello everyone!

My name is Noah, and for years I've dreamed of sharing my life with a macaw again.

Now, after a lot of research (and probably an unhealthy amount of bird videos 😅), I'm finally taking the first real steps toward making that dream a reality.

After carefully looking into the different species, I've completely fallen in love with Military Macaws. Their intelligence, their goofy personalities, those incredible hidden blue feathers... I just adore them.

So I thought it would be fun to share the whole adventure with you! From researching, saving up, building toys, bird-proofing my home, and buying supplies, all the way to the day I finally get to welcome my very own baby military macaw.

The funniest part? The baby doesn't even exist yet... but the name has already been chosen. 😂

Meet Vhagar (well... future Vhagar), named after my favorite Queen of Dragons. It just felt like the perfect name for such a magnificent bird.

I hope you'll enjoy following along as I learn everything I possibly can before bringing Vhagar home. Here's to making one lifelong dream come true! 💚🦜

Question for you: If you could name a macaw after any fictional character or creature, what would you choose?

Adres

Boop
Ruiselede
8755

Website

https://projectvhagar.my.canva.site/project-vhagar/, https://projectvhagar.my.canva.site/vhagars-shop

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