Anyone have Bats for Pets??

[zzGypsy]

we had a bat as a pet for a summer when I was growing up... because my dad was doing some research on bats for his position as a prof at CSU. we had a small red bat, very fox-like in it's look, color, face. they are not really what one would consider a "pet" animal. this bat got used to being handled, but always had to be handled with leather gloves, because it would bite with it's very sharp little teeth, and they have claws. we fed it meal worms - held them in a pair of tweezers for it to grab. they'll eat near their own weight in meal worms daily. we released it so it could rejoin it's source colony in late summer so it could hibernate as it's designed to do.

we had a colony of vampire bats as well, they ate blood which we got from the slaughterhouse. they are *not* cute, and there are lots of complexities in keeping them alive. feeding and caring for them was my summer job one year.

I do *not* suggest bats as a pet. most don't do well solo, and unless you're pretty knowledgeable in bats, keeping them alive and healthy is tricky. in addition, there are a number of diseases including white nose fungus that are killing off the majority of bats in some areas, and it's thought that people entering their caves may be one of the ways the fungus is being spread.

most bats eat bugs, there are a few, like the large fruit bat, that eat fruit, they're tropical and don't live in the US. your local variety of bats are probably insect eaters. a bat house is a cool thing, if you want to have bats around, that'd be the right way to do it.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
having worked with my dad to capture bats in the wild, which is NOT easy, I can confirm that's true. bats you can catch without concentrated effort you do NOT want to touch. they can be ill from things besides rabies, but it's not worth the chance of finding out... whatever they do have, you don't want it.

 

[ChickiKat]

bats are best in the wild, they eat tons of mosquitoes!!

 

[kuntrygirl]

sunny & the 5 egg layers :

Just be sure your pet bat doesn't have rabies...

Yes, I did read about rabies.​

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
WOW!!! That is cool being able to have that experience with a bat.

 

[zzGypsy]

BTW, you don't have to be bitten to get rabies from an infected bat. bats can sneeze the virus out as an areosol, so you can get it from breathing the air in an enclosed space like a cave with infected bats. this wouldn't be a problem in an open air environment, like with a bat house under your eaves, but I would be a little concerned about getting it from handling an infected bat as well.

anyway, a bat house would be a good thing. it's fun watching them hunt the bugs under the street lights at night.

ETA: before going off to work with the bats in the wild, we had to have our rabies vaccines... just like your dog or cat does.

 

[pinkfoxfarm]

1: fruit bats are not native to the USA, bats in the USA eat insects as their primary diet, partiucarly moths and skeeters and do a VERY good job of it...we NEED more bats but unfortunatly numbers are dwindling due to a number of various issues one of which being white nose.

2: bats are a VECTOR species, NEVER EVER EVER handle a wild bat unless your trained and LISENCED to do so, they can and often do carry rabies and people working with bats even in capitivty are required to have and keep up to date their own rabies shots...(belive me as a vector rehabber, rabies shots arnt fun and are very expensive)

3: keeping bats in the usa as PETS is illegal in ALL states, you must have special permits to keep bats, these permits are for the public and wild populations health and saftey and i belive at this time the only people that can get permits for bats (due to them being high risk for health and being a high risk for extinction animal) are Zoos and educational facilities...i do not belive the usda is currently allowing ANY permits for private ownership...

4: bats make TERRIBLE pets...they are not like dogs or cats, there not even remotly domesticated and a even if raised by humans as a baby they never "tame down" (i rehabed many bats in the UK), infact being handled by humans actualy makes them les afraid and MORE likley to bite...
their guano (poop) also has an incredibly pungent odor in captivity and because they NEED a clean environment to keep them healthy, a 3 times a day cleaning of enclosures is normal in zoological settings.
also being noctournal, there not realy all that entertaining being they sleep all day and do NOT like being disturbed.

personally i think bats are beautiful little creatures and are evolutionary GENIUS, but they are NOT pets and never will be.

if you enjoy bats you can make and buy batboxes, there available online including blans and most agricultural extension centers have plans available, many even offer free or low cost classes to make them or provide kits! were having such a decline lately and there such beneficial animals that the usda and anyone involved is encoraging everyone to put up bat boxes!

to place a bat box you must remember that bats do not fly out of their box....instead they drop before taking flight, because of this they prefer a relitivly highly mounted box with a clear drop to the ground and around it...(so placing a box in the woods would be silly) a very tall post in an open feild, or mounting the box to a tree on the edge of the woods, or even the top of a barn would be best. (dont mount the box on ahouse unless you want guano smell...they poop...alot!)
and remmeber bats eat insects so dont use pesticides around your home, use natural means ot keep insects in check (no standing water, keep wood away from hour house ect) but chemical pesticides kill all the bugs, no bugs no food no food no bats.

and then be patient...it often takes a while for a colony to establish in a bat box...they need to feel safe and secure in thier surroundings and prefer not to be disturbed.
to watch them simply take a lawnchair outside just as dusk is setting in and sit quietly, if theres a food source in your area, theres bats...there just so fast that all you see is a little black blurr.

i LOVE them and encorage anyone and everyone to enjoy them by observation and education...they do not do well in capitve situations.

 

[zzGypsy]

also in this area you have to keep an eye on the bat houses for wasps - wasps think bat houses are perfect and until they're bat-populated, wasps may move in. once the bats are in there, the wasps seem to leave the houses alone, but if the wasps have already moved in, the bats won't.

 

[OldGuy43]

First, just to dispel the bad rap bats have gotten; According to the CDC a rabid bat is no more likely than any other mammal.
http://www.cdc.gov/rabies/bats/education/index.html

They do make terrible pets as everyone else has pointed out. They don't do anything and their impossible to feed. Catching one isn't that difficult. Did so once as a teenager. Kept it for about 3 days before returning it to the wild.

 

[kuntrygirl]

I wonder if I have bats in my area? I never saw any.