stepping up

Question
I have a Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo (Sweetie),she is 6 years old and we just recently purchased her. She is very tame and loves to be touched, scratched and gives kisses. I work from home so I spend most of my day with her as does my husband. She is a doll but, she wont step up.
I have raised two other large parrots, one Macaw and one umbrella, that I raised from babies so they learned this quickly without any aggressive moves.
Since she is still fairly new in our flock, we have not pushed the issue with her, but we do make several attempts daily, but with no success. She either ignores our request completely or she has lunged at our hands. We are able to touch her anywhere without any aggression from her as long as we aren't prodding her to step up. I have tried using a hand held perch, which she just gently grasps with her beak and pushes it away.
I am not fond of toweling unless absolutely needed, so my question is what would be the best way for us to get her stepping up with the least amount of stress for her.
She is such a loving bird that this is really puzzling me. But I have never taken in an adult parrot and I just want to make sure that we don't loose her trust or stress her in any way.
Thank you for any advice or suggestions you have to offer.
Deborah

Answer
With any adult parrot it can be quite a long time before they will willingly step up. When I got my 5 year old Goffins Cockatoo, she would just sit there and grumble "step up" at us over and over until she got sick of it and bit us. Since Sweetie seems like a very tame bird, I'm sure she knows how to step up, she's just not sure if she wants to be nice to you yet. Just give her time and let her adjust to you and your family. It took Kai about 6 weeks before she would reliably step up without biting, and 4 months before she would step up EVERY time we asked instead of just when she felt like it. For now just ask her to step up, when she doesn't, you should LEAVE the room. Do this every time for a week or two. See if she starts to step up at all. Whenever she steps up, give her LOTS of praise, treats and play time. This will make her want to do it again. If she doesn't start stepping up at all within a week or two, bring one of your other parrots (preferably the cockatoo) into the room and ask Sweetie to step up. When she doesn't, ask your other 'Too to step up. When it steps up, give it a treat and lots of praise. Now try it again with Sweetie. After a few times of this, she probably will realize that she'll get a great reward if she steps up. Don't just poke and prod at her until she steps up. You want her to be your friend and let her settle in easily. It may take quite a long time, but it will happen eventually.