# bats as pets....



## cloggers (Mar 13, 2010)

bats have absolutly fasinated me since i was little, i remember seeing them on tv and in the nocturnal cave at chester zoo, there just a creature that amazes me. we've even got them in our roof and thats how i normally get to sleep, listening to them.

anyway to the point, since joining this forum its opened my eyes as to what people keep as pets. and i would love having a mini colony of bats. but i've read some contradicting stuff, 
there illegal to keep? 
and captivity greatly decreases their live span?

the only way i could get round it, would be by having a bat rescue (the idea is growing on me by the minute :blush and i'd still need a license.

so any thoughts, if it obviously does do them great harm then i wouldnt dream of owning them for my own selfishness.
but any ideas?


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## Ben W (Nov 18, 2008)

You dont need a licence to do bat rescue, but you will need rabies injections


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Ben W said:


> You dont need a licence to do bat rescue, but you will need rabies injections


Yes you do need a license, go anywhere near a bat without one and you could end up in hot water.


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## cloggers (Mar 13, 2010)

Fixx said:


> Yes you do need a license, go anywhere near a bat without one and you could end up in hot water.


thats what i'd read, but it was on one of those yahoo question things and i dont trust them really, so thought i'd check.
so i'd need a bat rehabilitator license? (Also on yahoo question, so could be wrong 'title')


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## Ben W (Nov 18, 2008)

Anyone can help an injured bat WITHOUT a licence, and you dont need a licence to do bat rescue, but there is no harm in having one.
As i said you will need a rabies injection before dealing with bats anyway


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## Snake_bite (Apr 10, 2010)

You can actually get Egyptian fruit bats quite easily. they do very well in captivity. They require a large indoor heated aviary however and they would also benefit from an outdoor aviary to really stretch their wings. they vary in price from £50 each up to £250. They eat a wide variety of fruit and veg. They do not require a license however I would advise that you think very carefully before taking on a couple of these. They are not your average pet and require a lot of specialist care


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

Snake_bite said:


> You can actually get Egyptian fruit bats quite easily. they do very well in captivity. They require a large indoor heated aviary however and they would also benefit from an outdoor aviary to really stretch their wings. they vary in price from £50 each up to £250. They eat a wide variety of fruit and veg. They do not require a license however I would advise that you think very carefully before taking on a couple of these. They are not your average pet and require a lot of specialist care


Agreed! Egyptian Fruit Bats are the most commonly kept species of bat, as far as I am aware. Of course, they are pretty messy.


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## Ben W (Nov 18, 2008)

Just a follow on from last night, i picked up this injured long eared bat today.


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Ben W said:


> Just a follow on from last night, i picked up this injured long eared bat today.


 
Amazing animal,I love bats


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## cloggers (Mar 13, 2010)

aww he's lovely,
is there something wrong with his wing?


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## hippyhaplos (Jan 12, 2010)

We have bats in our loft... You never notice them until dusk and you see them emerging and out in the garden doing midgie catching dives We had no clue we had them until we found a dead one on the deck


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## Ben W (Nov 18, 2008)

yes he has got a badly torn wing membrane, split away from the body full length, its a slow healing process but will see how it goes


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## cloggers (Mar 13, 2010)

bless, hope he recovers soon : victory:


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## reptara (Feb 18, 2010)

He is gorgeous, hope he recovers well


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

I kept egyptian fruit bats for quite a few years.
Easy to care for as long as they have a 'heated' (70 to 80f) room to live in and a flight area.
They can't swallow solids, they chew, drink the juice and spit out the pulp so need to be fed a variety of juicy fruits. I gave mine fresh fruit juice as well every day and every 3 days mixed in honey, calcium and vitamins. Their poo is loose but not particularly smelly. They breed like..fruit bats! A pair or trio can turn into quite a group in not too long!


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

Ben W said:


> Just a follow on from last night, i picked up this injured long eared bat today.


That terrible wing damage, poor thing. Hope you can rehabilitate it and release it again.

I work at a wildlife rescue and we take in injured and orphaned bats, without a licence. Anything that we couldn't release we would contact our local bat warden to collect.

I was going to suggest to the OP that occasionally bat rescue will have a bat that is unable to be released that will have to be kept in captivity (I know of a few people who have 1 winged bats), best thing is to contact the Bat Conservation Trust.

Either that or buy a fruit bat.


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## carlo69 (Apr 12, 2007)

Caz said:


> I kept egyptian fruit bats for quite a few years.
> Easy to care for as long as they have a 'heated' (70 to 80f) room to live in and a flight area.
> They can't swallow solids, they chew, drink the juice and spit out the pulp so need to be fed a variety of juicy fruits. I gave mine fresh fruit juice as well every day and every 3 days mixed in honey, calcium and vitamins. Their poo is loose but not particularly smelly. They breed like..fruit bats! A pair or trio can turn into quite a group in not too long!


I remember them mate , lovely little things


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## Nix (Jan 23, 2008)

I used to work for a bat hospital. The rabies vaccine is a nasty one. Eep I remember it well. Made me sick for a week. If you are keeping bats on your premises and working as a rescue centre you will need a license. If you are picking up an injured bat and taking it to a centre you don't need one. 

Ben W - looks like a case for olive oil to me to stop the rest sticking together?

Long eareds were always my favourite, most friendly of them all! We used to have a long eared that couldn't fly at Cornwall bat hospital. Long term resident. We had those bamboo blinds hanging off all the walls that he used to climb around on. If I went in the bat room and he was out having exercise he would climb down and climb on my shoulder to hang on the underside of my hair which I always wore in a plait. Nearly took him home a couple of times!


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## cacoonkitty (Aug 10, 2008)

awwwww wow.. hes sooo gorgeouse..ive never seen a wild one of these before..where do you live in th u.k ?? his wing looks quite bad..what happends if he cant heal that up..he wont be able to fly so wont be able to feed himself then ..he will need to be kept in captivity then..so i think you better contact the bat trust..or bat care people..its important as i think the long eard bats are quite endangerd....along with the others too probaby..well done for rescuing him though..poor little guy. x


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## 955i (Aug 17, 2007)

I'm afraid I would be astounded if that BLE recovers from that injury.

Anyone considering bat rescue should be aware that it can be a soul destroying undertaking (hence why I stopped doing it after a noctule that looked like he was going to make it then died and proved to be the last death I could take) and, as wild animals, the ethics of keeping a bat that will never fly again alive has to be seriously questioned. I know that people keep disabled bats for 'educational' purposes but in most cases in my experience euthanasia is by far the most humane route to take.


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