The Christmas Bunny

[gentle giants]

This is a movie I had not even heard of before yesterday, it's called The Christmas Bunny. I was looking for a child friendly movie we could watch for our New Year's get together. I thought this looked cute, so we rented it. It was WONDERFUL! The plot was sweet in itself, but they also had tons of great bunny care information in it, and it was all CORRECT! It's so rare to find a movie where they have actually done their research and not just tossed in some of the typical bunny care myths just for looks. They even talked about the fact that rabbits eat their cecotropes.

But anyway, in case you couldn't tell, I am totally recommending this movie to everyone. It's safe for any age group, there is no bad language or anything in it. Has anyone else already seen this movie?

 

[Rosemarie]

I purchased this movie for my daughters for Christmas. I however had a totally different opinion of it.

The advice they give, for example, feeding pellets and how it's a waste of money, we just shake our head at. However, they did say feeding good quality hay is a must. That I agree with.

The number of times they scruff the rabbits in the movie. In our club it is a strict rule that no one is to scruff any rabbit for any reason. We pick up and hold with them 2 hands and fully support the rabbits. I know many people who do scruff, however, it is not something we believe in and do not do to our rabbits. Also, being in the public eye, it would be perceived as cruel.

Then the boys who shoot the rabbit, then push it down the slide, all the time never getting a good talking to or a swift kick in the pants, that's just wrong! For anyone to be lead to believe that treatment of any animal like that would be acceptable! What kind of message are they trying to send to people?

Anyone thinking of getting a bunny and to be lead to believe this is all acceptable treatment, they would be learning incorrectly right from the start. It's a shame they didn't speak to someone who really knows something about rabbits instead of that person they got "the real bunny lady".

You are correct though, they were right on about the cecotropes!

I had higher hoped for this movie.
It is a good movie however for teaching people the right and wrong's of bunny care. We plan to use it in our club to teach what NOT to do with your bunny!

Sorry to disagree with you gentle giants, I don't mean to be rude or disrespectful to you or anyone else who enjoyed this movie, this is all just my opinion.

 

[Kipcha]

You really found the information to be correct? Because for the most part, I didn't.

Saying that the correct way to pick up a bunny is to scruff it was my biggest beef. Everytime they picked up a rabbit I had to cringe. I understand that some people do, but personally, I would NEVER scruff a rabbit unless it was doing something that I feared would injure itself or someone else and I had no other option. It's different if she had said it was ONE way, but to claim it's the PROPER one is just wrong.

And to say that a rabbit cannot digest their food without hay isn't correct either. While hay is important, they won't die if you run out for a day. And THEN to throw in that pellets are not necessary and just another way to rip you off? I think a rabbit CAN survive without pellets, but there are a lot of nutrients that rabbits get from their pellets, it is healthier for them to have a good quality pellet then not.

Not to mention using a wire cat brush to brush out the angora. Now, I am no proffesional groomer, but isn't there a lot more to it then that? Such as blowing out the coat?

And lets not even get started on all those rabbits running free through the barn with christmas lights strung everywhere, not only within the reach of the rabbits but also where it could easily set fire to the large abundance of hay and straw everywhere. That is most definitely not a safe set up. I understand it's for atmosphere, but it really does send the wrong idea.

THEN there is the fact that the boys shot the rabbit with a BB gun and NEVER REALLY get punished for it. Sure, they have their guns taken away for a while and a short talking to, but really, if I had ever even thought about doing something like that my punishment would have been far more severe. It obviously didn't sink in because they continue the abuse later on in the movie. They were more worried about lecturing the girl for biting the boy they what they were doing to the rabbit to begin with. If someone had done something like that to one of my buns, I would have done far worse to the perpetrator. While the biting issue should be addressed, the fact that the boys enjoy tormenting small animals is something that needs to be looked into. This is what got to me the most. The way their abuse is just overlooked like it's no big deal.

In case it isn't obvious, I found this movie extremely frustrating...

Edit; Oh, I see my Mom posted above, I guess we saw it around the same time. This is what happens when I'm at work and she's at home

 

[gentle giants]

The only problems I had with it were the whole don't feed ANY pellets thing and not making mention of the need for spay/neuter. I personally feed as few pellets as I can, because hay is supposed to be the main diet. As a matter of fact, my rabbits spent most of the summer grazing off my lawn with little to no supplemental feeding from me, and did great. And they were all running together, I had the boys all neutered.

They could have been more careful about how they picked them up, but I will tell you as someone who does rabbit rescue, I DO scruff my rabbits. I support their legs/bottoms so that the scruff is not taking their weight of course, but with the majority of the rabbits I take in having little to no socialization, it's a safety issue. I have tried picking them up without scruffing, and the rabbit tends to be more frightened and struggle harder than if I did not take hold of the scruff first. Plus I wind up bleeding, sometimes quite a lot.

The movie doesn't emphasize the boys being punished for hurting the rabbit, but they definitely come out looking like jerks for doing it.

Here are good things I got from it, bunny care items that most people don't know but need to: The bunny lady lists types of hay and tells which ones they should have (timothy) and which ones they shouldn't (alfalfa). She also tells the married couple they will need to protect their furniture and cover/hide electrical cords, because the bunny needs to have free run time in the house. She mentions that their teeth never stop growing. She tells about the cecotropes. She talks about how most of the rabbits she has were gifts given to kids for Easter or birthdays and then abandoned once they weren't "cute" anymore. (Again, that is a rescue thing, I have heard that many times myself.) She tells how twigs from certain kinds of trees are great for the bunnies to chew on. The dad mentions that he is a domestic bunny and can't live in the wild. And while the brush she is using on the angoras may or may not have been accurate, at least they make it obvious they they need lots of brushing. I don't *think* that the blowing thing is necessary for pets, I want to say that has to do with harvesting rather than just grooming, although I could be wrong on that.

At any rate, it's by far the most accurate movie I have ever seen as far as rabbit care details go. While nothing is ever perfect, I do feel that this movie would correct a lot of misconceptions that a lot of people have about rabbits. Plus it's still a sweet story.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Scruffing, while holding back the ears AND supporting the bottom, is the safest way, IMO, to lift and carry a rabbit. They aren't able to struggle as much. I was told that a rabbit uses it's ears, much like a cat uses their whiskers, to feel around and move, etc. So pinning the ears back keeps them from moving.

I don't ever just scruff and lift. I do not want to damage my rabbits skin/fur, etc. but I feel that scruffing and supporting the bottom is a safe method of handling, and it's what 4-Hers are taught.

I haven't yet seen the movie, as I don't have Netflix and don't know where it's available to rent, but I would like to watch it.

Emily

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

As far as grooming for angoras and other long haired breeds, a slicker brush can be used but it is not the best. I have not seen the movie, but in the trailer it does show the bunny lady grooming a long haired rabbit. It looked like she would have just been brushing along the top. With any animal that has a longer coat, you need to get down to the skin when brushing. This is what gets out any knots or tangles and lets you see if there are any mites, fleas others other things you should know about. A slicker brush should also be used with a comb to get out any tangles. Ideally, even for pets, a blower should be used. It opens up the coat to help prevent tangles and matts from forming as well as blows out the dander. Brushing will remove some of the wool while blowing will only blow out the few hairs that are already loose or have come out on their own.

I do some rabbit grooming and have seen far too many totally matted rabbits (frankly 1 is too many). These rabbits have to be totally shaved which can be stressful on a rabbit who is not used to being groomed. Since rabbit skin is so thin, there is a risk of cutting the skin. With very thick mats, it can be hard to tell where the tail is in a huge matt, testicles can also be at risk if the bum is heavenly matted and poopy.

Proper grooming is very important for any rabbit with long fur. While saying that they should be brushed is good, showing proper coat care would be better. Even just saying that when you brush you have to get down to the skin would be better than just running a brush over the top of the fur.

 

[Raspberry82]

I saw this on netflix recently and just loved it too!! I especially loved seeing all the little bunners frolicking around in the hay barn, so cute!

 

[gentle giants]

Korr_and_Sophie wrote:

As far as grooming for angoras and other long haired breeds, a slicker brush can be used but it is not the best. I have not seen the movie, but in the trailer it does show the bunny lady grooming a long haired rabbit. It looked like she would have just been brushing along the top. With any animal that has a longer coat, you need to get down to the skin when brushing. This is what gets out any knots or tangles and lets you see if there are any mites, fleas others other things you should know about. A slicker brush should also be used with a comb to get out any tangles. Ideally, even for pets, a blower should be used.

Thanks for the details, I haven't had any experience with Angoras so I wasn't sure. I think asking any movie that is not a documentary to get that detailed would be just about impossible though, not only would it be about four hours long but you would lose the story in all the details. I just really thought this movie did a good job giving great bunny care information without making it dry or making your average viewer lose interest.

 

[JjGoesBounce]

I heard it was very sad, am I correct or terribly wrong.

Jj

 

[gentle giants]

Some parts of it are, but it has a happy ending.

 

[slavetoabunny]

I purchased a copy of the movie and loved it.

 

[Cheyrul]

My kids and I thought it was sweet and it lead to feeding and handling talks.

I did not get the feeling the boys were not disciplined but the focus was the girl's reaction and the rabbit being okay.

My biggest beef, actually I have two, the rabbits having full run of the barn with wires everywhere and now my husband things it is okay to scruff. He is not rough when he does, it. Okay, I have only caught him once and told him to stop lol.

 

[eclairemom]

My daughter loved it she has watched it at least 4 times. I haven't seen it yet. Movies are never perfect especially if someone watching knows a lot about the subject matter. I hated watching EMS related shows and movies when my husband was really active in the FD because he would comment on every detail that was incorrect. Oh he loved The Christmas Bunny.

 

[gentle giants]

eclairemom wrote:

My daughter loved it she has watched it at least 4 times. I haven't seen it yet. Movies are never perfect especially if someone watching knows a lot about the subject matter. I hated watching EMS related shows and movies when my husband was really active in the FD because he would comment on every detail that was incorrect. Oh he loved The Christmas Bunny.

Yeah, my kids got to watch it twice before we had to return it. :biggrin:

I am not trying to offend anyone here, but I do stand by the fact that I scruff my rabbits. Like I said, I don't support their weight for more than a split second that way before I get their feet on my chest or arm. If your rabbit is gentle and ok with being picked up and you can lift them safely without scruffing, that is wonderful and I have no issue with it. But a lot of rabbits most emphatically DO NOT want to be picked up, and I have found that these rabbits will a lot of times freak out on you if you even try to put your hands under their feet/chests without taking hold of the scruff first. I would feel really uncomfortable with teaching a child that has never handled a rabbit before not to ever scruff at all, to me that is asking for a dropped rabbit and child that is badly scratched and never wants to hold a rabbit again. JMO.

 

[mistyjr]

Its a very good movie, I have watched it and my 3 year old loves it, New owners before buying rabbits, Should watch it, Its a much and love love it, Its based on here in Michigan and a well known breeder here in Michigan have rabbits in the movie, But its very good movie! Loved it and heart warming

 

[Nela]

It's a good enough movie. Sure, there were some minor things that can be debated, but again, I think 'debated' is key. Quite frankly, I was more concerned about the kid and how the whole situation was portrayed. I'm not sure I really liked that man! Lol :expressionless