# Rabbit Blood In Nest Box?!!!



## BullardBarnyard (May 9, 2013)

Hello Everybody! I wasn't sure whether or not to post this under an emergency, but I guess I'll just put it here. 
My Netherland Dwarf rabbit is pregnant, and she's a little late. This is 30+ days, and today she built a nest. 
She's had a little nest going for awhile, but today it looked like she's filled it with an entire 40+ rabbits worth of hair. 
So, onto my question, she's in an area where there's a nestbox, (it's a recycled chicken coop) and near that, there's a small brick where her food and water is sitting. Well, there's little blood splats on the brick and some in the nest box. It doesn't look like pee-blood, it just looks like she was bleeding. 
Is this normal? 
Mom said it was her water break, and we watched her have little contractions at about 6 pm, but now it's 10 pm, and no babies...


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## VickieB (May 9, 2013)

Are you sure there are no babies? Have you looked under all the hair?


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## sonnythebunny (May 9, 2013)

yeah 
My doe had pulled fur, and I hadn't looked in in, and when the fur was there for 3 days I looked in it and there where the babies! 
she built a little hollow in the hay about 5 in. deep, and they where at the bottom of that.


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## brentr (May 9, 2013)

In a similar situation (finding blood and seeing contractions) four hours apart, I would wait until the next morning before doing any examination.  Birthing a litter takes time, and sometimes all the kits don't come at once.  Like any birth, there is going to be blood.  If the rabbit doe is looking and acting okay, then I would just back off and give  her some space.

Check the next morning in the nest box and look thoroughly - they do get buried under a lot of hair sometimes - and also pick up and examine your doe.  The good ones clean themselves up to the point that you almost can't tell they gave birth (ignoring that they've stripped off all hair )  Most will also remove any trace of blood in the nest box bedding - eat it or lick it clean.

You may have just come in in the middle of the event.  Hopefully everything turns out all right.


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