Target Training - Bird Biting Stick Hard Instead of Just Touching It

[lobster14]

I've been working on target training with my cockatiel. First couple of sessions were not too successful as he was nervous/shy about the stick. (It's just a chopstick). But we've had success recently and he definitely realized now that go to and touch the stick is the behavior I want. The only problem.... sometimes he will bite the stick either aggressively or really hard (like he would when trying to shred a toy). It's about 50/50 between him biting hard/crazy vs just touching it gently or giving it a nibble.

I really just want the touch or nibble, but I'm unsure how I should handle the harder bites he does on the stick. Since this is new training for him, I don't want to send too many mixed messages! I do pull the stick away and reward (treat and praise) as SOON as he touches/bites, but I'm wondering if I should only reward him when he gently touches the stick and not reward him when he bites hard. Any thoughts?

 

[Fuzzy]

Sounds like you are making great progress! Biting hard is fine - he has done what you asked. With time he will realise that he only needs to touch the tip gently to get his treat. However make sure he is motivated to work for the treat before you start. And don't train for too long - a minute or two now and again through the day is better than one l-o-n-g session where he becomes satiated with the treats and "bored" or "aggressive", ie. he may be biting the stick hard because he's had enough training.

 

[Hibiki]

You can try put the target stick at a distance where the bird could just barely reach it with the tip of the beak. That way the bird simply cannot add force on it. Target train like this for several iterations, then the bird should understand that biting hard is unnecessary