I agree with Grey Dove that she may never be comfortable with you picking her up. I think most who have had bunnies for years know this. I have had Vivian for 4 years and she is an expert squirmer. The moment I try to pick her up she tries to turn into a snake! Then even after she settles in, I can’t let me guard down as she will act like she’s settled in and then try to suddenly leap out of my arms. I have to let the vet techs know about this as she could really hurt herself! If I don’t pick her up too much, she seems to actually be much better about me picking her up (ironic) It’s just that the few times I do have to, like to clip her nails, she just seems to know it’ll be over soon enough and she’ll get to go back. However, when I have to pick her up more often, she gets even more feisty!
And so again, I agree with Grey Dove, since your bunny is new to you and vice versa, I would just establish some more trust first. But then you will need to get comfortable with picking her up so that you can be secure and not accidentally drop her. So the practicing of picking up is really more for her safety. When you practice picking up do so kneeling or being close to the ground. (I know this may make her squirm more as she sees escape so near, but you will need to know how to securely and safely hold her during that anyway.)
How do you pick her up now? Also, you mentioned you have to pick her up to take her outside. Do you mean outside of her cage, or to go outside to a outdoor pen? I’m just trying to get what the transitions are.
I can tell you how I pick up Vivian. She is a squirmy one and will try to leap out of my grasp right away. I have to be quick, confident and have a secure grasp, but not so tight it would hurt her of course. I use my right hand (i’m right handed) to secure her shoulder down to the floor – that way she can’t escape when I use my other hand to quickly scoop up her backend (this is when she tries to squirm or kick) so I am make sure to have her back feet secured as well during this scoop move. I then bring her quickly to my chest. My other bunny would bite me when I brought him close to my body, so I made sure to have a towel over the part that his mouth would be close to.
Some bunnies though are much better with being handled. My bunny Bailey and Forrest both didnt’ enjoy being picked up, but once they were up, they didn’t try to escape or bite. Some bunnies got more comfortable with more practice (though most never enjoyed it) while other bunnies like Jack, Rucy, Vivian would get more agitated when they had to be picked up too much. Due to their health issues and having to have meds etc, that may have been the real issue –as for them, being picked up meant meds or something negative.
Edited for typos