Boki, I'm glad you came here for help, because I really think you are over-thinking this whole thing...Yes, you absolutely HAVE TO get your bird out of the cage every single day for at least a few hours or more, otherwise he is going to become extremely bored and stressed very quickly, and this is how things like Plucking and Self-Mutilation start...They literally have the intelligence of a 3-4 year-old human child, and they aren't just "smart", they use logic and reasoning skills just like we do. They can understand what is going on, what is being said and what it means...Dogs can't do that, but you would never think of keeping a new puppy or dog locked-up in a tiny crate 24/7 would you? Think about that for a minute...
ParrotGenie said something that I agree with full-heartedly, and that is that it is SO MUCH EASIER to work with your bird, train your bird, and most of all bond with and earn the trust of your new bird OUTSIDE OF THEIR CAGE!!! In fact, I think it's nearly impossible to do it while they are inside of their cage, and you're actually fighting a losing battle if you try to work with your bird on anything at all including "stepping-up" while he is inside of his cage...Here's why:
***You've got a new, young bird that I'm assuming was not hand-raised but rather raised by his parent-birds, so he's not used to people or hands. Combine the fact that he's in a brand-new home with people he doesn't know. Think about that....it's scary, right? Well here's what you need to understand about birds...they are extremely territorial, even if they are the tamest pet parrot in the world who is completely bonded to their owner, they can still be horribly territorial about their "territories", which usually consist of their cage and/or some kind of play-stand or T-Stand. Take my almost 4 year-old Quaker Parrot, Lita...Lita was hand-raised and I brought her home when she was 12 weeks-old...I could handle her from the moment I put her in my truck for the hour drive home, and she sat on my shoulder the entire ride. I could scratch her, hold her, she stepped-up, she loved to snuggle right from the moment I met her...And now she's been with me and my flock/family for almost 4 years, and we are extremely bonded and close...And to this day if I put my hands inside of her cage while she's inside of it and try to get her to step-up or try to pick her up while she's inside of it, I will get my hand ripped apart!!! However, if I simply open up the door to Lita's cage and wait for her to come-out on her own, she comes to the door and immediately flies to y shoulder or hand, gives me a kiss, and off we go...Why? Because she is extremely territorial about "her territory"...That's her "safe space" and she doesn't want ANYONE inside of it, not even me...
Now back to your new baby parrot...You've only had him for what, a few days? He wasn't hand-raised so he's not used to people at all, which makes it even more stressful for him. So right now, his cage, or rather "his territory" is the only "safe space" he has, and when you put your hands inside of that cage he's not only scared of you because he doesn't know or trust you yet, but you're also not respecting "his territory"...So if you're trying to teach him to "step-up", which is one of the first things you want him to learn to do with you, but you're trying to get him to do it while he's inside of his cage, it's only going to make him more and more scared of you and distrusting of you and set you further and further back, because you're invading "his territory"...So not only do you need to let him out of his cage for at least a couple hours every single day for his physical and psychological health, but as ParrotGenie already mentioned, if you want to "Earn His Trust" and teach him to trust your hands and step-up for you, you need to do it OUTSIDE OF HIS "TERRITORY". So...respect his "territory" needs to be rule #1...
***Now, his wings are clipped, which in your situation might actually work to your advantage quite a bit, simply because you aren't comfortable handling him, he isn't hand-tamed, and the absolute WORST THING you can do when trying to earn the trust of a new, parent-raised, non hand-tamed bird is to chase the around a room, from window to window...i cringe every time someone in your situation tells us that they have "spent the last hour chasing my bird from window to window, all around the room with a towel"...All you are doing by chasing a new baby bird who is not hand-tamed all around a room just to get control of them is losing more and more of their trust and setting your progress further and further back...So in this situation, the fact that your bird's wings are clipped is a good thing, because you don't have to chase him...
****Your bird's wings will grow back-in fully to the point that he'll be able to fly again within about 2 months (assuming that they were clipped properly and weren't butchered or chopped off up into his Secondary-Flight Feathers)...So assuming that his wings were clipped properly by someone who knew what they were doing, that means that you have about 2 months before he'll be able to fully-fly again...So you need to take full-advantage of the 2 months or so that you have where he can't fly, and work with him every single day OUTSIDE OF HIS CAGE, so that by the time his wings grow back-in and he can fly again, he will at least be willingly stepping-up for you...He probably will not fully trust you yet at that point, but you should have made much progress by then...
****So, here's my first question for you...Have you tried simply opening-up the door to his cage and then waiting for him to venture-out of the cage on his own yet? Or have you been putting your hands inside of his cage every time you open the door up? If I were you, I would shut the door to the room you have his cage in, and then simply open-up the door to his cage, and then just chill and go about your business in the room, and wait for him to come out of his cage on his own, in his own time...Just open up the cage door and then step away but stay in the same room. Watch TV, read a book, listen to music, whatever, but do not put your hands inside of his cage anymore unless it is to change his food or water or to hang a new toy or clean it. That's it. From now on you need to totally respect his territory and STOP TRYING TO FORCE HIM TO COME OUT OR DO THINGS! "Forcing" a young, baby bird who is not hand-tamed to do ANYTHING is setting yourself up to fail automatically...And that actually goes for ALL birds, even tame ones...They are not dogs, they don't work like other pets....Think about what happens when you try to "Force" another person to do something; it doesn't usually go well, right? Well that's how it usually goes with birds too, you cannot "Force" them, just wait for them to do things on their own, and then REWARD THEM when they do.
***So here's where you need to start (and by the way, pretend like you just brought him home today, and "Hit the Reset Button" and start-over completely)...Shut the door to your room where his cage is, open-up the door or doors to his cage (all doors the cage has so he can see they are ALL open), softly and gently say "hello" to him and ask him to come out, and then go about your business in the room. And the second he comes out and stands on the cage-door or even just on the edge of the door, you need to verbally praise him and give immediately give him his favorite treat! Birds work on "Positive Reinforcement" only, meaning you need to reward them when they do what you want them to do instead of ever punishing or scolding them, that doesn't work and fails miserably. If you don't know what his favorite treat is yet, try things like an unshelled sunflower seed/kernel, or a little tiny bit of a cracker, or a little tiny bit of a piece of cereal, etc. Whatever his training-treats are they need to be something that he really, really loves, that are very small and that he can eat very quickly and move-on to the next thing (not something he has to sit and spend 10 minutes eating), and they need to be a very special treat that he ONLY GETS WHEN TRAINING/LEARNING AND HE DOES SOMETHING GOOD. THAT'S IT, YOU CAN'T GIVE IT TO HIM ANY OTHER TIME OR IT LOSES IT'S VALUE. So from this point forward, every single time you open up his cage door, when he comes to the cage door or comes out of the cage on his own, you MUST reward him with a "Training-Treat"...Keep plenty of "Training-Treats" in your pockets at all times when you're at home so you can reward him ever single time he does something you ask or that he's supposed to do...
So instead of starting-out working on "step-up", you need to simply train him to come out of the cage when you open the door....and once he gets to the point that he comes out of his cage automatically whenever you open the door, THEN you can work on "Step-Up" the same way, by respecting his "territory" and keeping your hands out of his cage except for food/water and cleaning, and only work with him on training outside of his cage...
