Help needed w/ acquired parrot of cancer patient

What a kind thing to do.

The literal taking care of a Quaker is easy to do. Feeding them and changing their water daily, changing their papers weekly (or as needed). It's the social aspect that demands your patience.

Quakers by nature are sassy little nuggets who are VERY territorial of their cage. As in, my parrot LOVES to play and nuzzle and eat from my hand and wrestle, but if I catch him in the wrong mood he can try to lunge at me if I stick my hand in his cage when he's not ready. I don't take it personally. It's just part of his personality.

It's hard because, like children, they develop a sense of security at different rates. I'd say give him at LEAST a few days or even a week of not even trying to touch him. Just keep his cage clean and feed him and talk to him a LOT. I know my Quaker loves when I'm in the same room as him even if all I'm doing is reading the paper. They're social critters. They also love to eat the same time as you. So sometimes I'll snack in that room too. By spending time together both actively (talking to him) and in actively (reading, eating) he will ideally see that you're not a threat. Some kids realize this in a week. Some can take a month.

Their hobbies are kind of personalized too. My Quaker loves to preen and shred so I buy him toys that cater to that. He also loves to organize so he gets little lids instead of me throwing them away. Now may not be the time to give him a ton of toys (all changes, even good ones, can be stressful. As in, my parrot is usually TERRIFIED of new toys for maybe a few weeks. Then realizes they're not going to eat him, and then he loves them). But down the road toys are good. There should be enough room in the cage for him to spread his wings without whacking anything. But also at least a few toys in there. Make sure to keep getting new toys to keep him entertained.

Remember that right now he's biting out of fear. Not rage. He thinks you're coming into his house with this giant leather thing that's bigger than him. He doesn't know you or your intentions. He doesn't have any idea how much fun you're going to have. It's like handing a 2 year old to a stranger and saying this is your parent now.

I doubt you'll teach him any new words or tricks (though you can try!) but in my head it'd be ideal to get him to a place where he can come out of his house to sit on your shoulder while you do dishes, laundry, eat, walk around the house etc. hang out while you guys watch tv. But you have a few months before he'll be there. Good luck and stay patient. It's going to be hard for a while but once he realizes he's safe you'll love your sassy new family member.

Welcome JennV! You've gotten excellent advice above. I don't have a lot to add, but I just want to stress that with patience you can almost certainly turn things around for this bird. It takes a lot of time for such things, generally, but just because she is a biter now and is not friendly doesn't mean that she'll always be that way. Birds can be remarkably flexible learners, and with the right treatment can really make surprising recoveries from situations that are not ideal. You're doing a really wonderful thing by taking this bird, so thank you for that. It will undoubtedly be a challenging process, so please feel free to ask as many questions as may come up... everyone here is happy to help! Keep us posted!