How to target bird to touch stick/not bite, etc

[Eurycerus]

Regarding target training, how do I get my little friend to stop biting the stick? She bites it (not hard or aggressively) or starts to bite it and I take the stick away and then give her a treat. If I can I will gently tap her beak after she nips it and then give her a treat. (I read the taming post and such and it seems I'm doing the right thing but I wasn't sure if there was another method I am missing)

I seem to have accidentally trained her to nip at the bars (since I often target her towards the edges of perches but sometimes I'll target with the door open) and expect a treat. I noticed her doing that and then looking at me expectantly. In order to try and dissuade this and make sure she didn't feel punished by not getting a treat, I have been practicing target training with her when I see her behaving like that. Any other suggestions?

Also she is reluctant to go to the bottom of her cage, which makes sense but am I supposed to be able to target her down there?

[hooligan]

I usually do trick training on top of Scrubby's cage (we detached the play top that goes with it, and have it set up somewhere else) or on a desk nearby. She gets distracted easily, and will stop cooperating if her food or toys are in reach.

When I first started target training with her, she also wanted to chew on the stick. I just started clicking and pulling away immediately after she touched it, and I never really gave her the opportunity to examine the stick when I wasn't holding it. Once she realized that the click was followed by the treat, she'd hear it, look for the treat, and would let go. After enough times, I think she just figured out that all she had to do was touch the end of the stick to get the reward.

[Eurycerus]

Great thanks! Glad to hear other people went through it too! I thought maybe I was doing something wrong.

[Cockatielsongs]

Is it bad if the bird does bite the stick instead of simply touching it?

[hooligan]

Well, I think most parrots that aren't afraid of the stick are going to want to try to chew on it, but no, you don't want to let them do it.

In Michael's training guide, he says "Do not let the parrot attack, play with, or chew up the target stick. Not only will this ruin the training aid but it will also teach the parrot a behavior different from what we are trying to achieve. Use the distraction of the click upon touching the stick to catch your parrots attention. Immediately bring forth the treat while pulling the target stick away. If the parrot continues biting the stick too hard, you can click and reward when the parrot approaches the stick and is about to touch, but before the beak has actually clasped the tip of the stick."