Bat. Bat at home How to keep a bat at home

Often, when choosing a future pet, people are guided by the latest fashion trends in this direction, or fall under the spell of fantasy books or films. As a result, they acquire those animals and birds that, in fact, are poorly suited for keeping in apartment conditions or in captivity in general, if not at all.

Flying families.

Chiropterans are divided into two suborders:

Fruit bats (one family) and bats (16 families).

Bats and fruit bats have some differences:

Fruit bats use their vision to a greater extent to navigate in space, since their echolocation is presumably rather poorly developed. Bats, on the other hand, use mainly their echolocation abilities, which are essential when moving in the dark.

Bats in zoos are kept in enclosures lit with red lamps - this is due to the fact that, unlike fruit bats, they are completely immune to the red part of the spectrum, and in such an environment they believe that they are in complete darkness.

The body of bats is devoid of hair (only some species have shaft hair), and the body of fruit bats is covered with fluff.

Bats prefer to choose rock crevices and caves as habitats, while fruit bats settle in the crowns of trees.

Fruit bats

Fruit bats (flying foxes, flying dogs, etc.) in the house are quite unpretentious residents, unlike bats.

You can feed them the pulp and juice of fresh tropical fruits: mango, papaya, avocado, guava, bananas, coconuts, etc. Other products you can offer them include honey, yogurt, and fruit purees.

The habit of eating fruits on the fly is a distinctive feature of fruit bats, but they can also squeeze out the pulp and suck out the juice, holding the fruit with one leg. Taking this into account, it is better to hang fruits from the ceiling of the enclosure.

It is sometimes useful for fruit bats to add crushed berries or a small amount of sea salt to their drinking water (you can also simply mix plain water and a special salt mixture for marine aquariums, sold in pet stores).

In addition to fruits, tubenosed fruit bats also feed on certain types of insects, which they catch in flight.

Small representatives of the fruit bat family can eat not only fruit pulp, but also pollen and nectar.

The bats

These are more difficult animals to keep at home, and only chiropterists can provide them with the proper conditions.

The diet of bats is not so easy to compile, so owners have to overcome many difficulties to select a complete menu for their pets.

The main diet in captivity consists of insects (adult beetles, larvae, beetles, pupae) and mealworms. You can buy them at the pet market or grow them yourself. But often, even when purchasing, you can encounter the problem of a shortage of such a component of the diet: either it’s not the season, or, conversely, the food is in great demand and is quickly sold out.

Growing live food yourself is a long process that requires certain skills, knowledge, attention and, of course, time. Yes, and directly feeding a bat is also not an easy task, so you should assess your capabilities in advance and honestly answer yourself whether it’s worth getting such a pet or whether, in fact, you simply won’t have the time and energy for such troubles.

Bats can also be fed a mixture of milk, yeast, calcium glycerophosphate, natural juices and egg yolks, but not more than once a week.

Overfeeding a bat can lead to obesity and death of the animal.

Mouse house.

Since representatives of both families fly a lot in nature, they must be kept in very spacious enclosures to ensure the opportunity to move a lot in the air. In addition, it should be taken into account that defecation in these animals occurs precisely during the flight, so the floor of the enclosure requires constant maintenance, for which it is better to cover it with newspapers, which must be constantly replaced with new ones.

The body temperature of bats is determined by the degree of their motor activity: it is different during flight, during sleep and immediately after waking up. Based on this, the air temperature in the room where bats are kept should also change several times during the day. For example, the digestive process requires an ambient temperature of about +30 - +35 degrees; otherwise, the ineffective functioning of the stomach can lead to putrefactive processes in the intestines, which can be fatal. But mice cannot sleep at this temperature; discomfort will also have a detrimental effect on their health and shorten their lifespan.

A similar problem is solved by dividing the enclosure into several compartments, separated from each other by a metal mesh with carefully processed edges (to avoid injury to the animal). It is necessary to make a hole between the “rooms” so that the bats can choose the most comfortable room for each time of day and type of activity.

In one of the compartments, using heating devices or electric lamps, the temperature must be constantly maintained for comfortable digestion, i.e. +30 - +35 degrees. The place farthest from this part of the enclosure should always be at room temperature.

Humidity in the enclosure is maintained using numerous water bowls attached to the walls. Bats, adapted to a fairly humid climate, hover over the bowls, quickly flapping their wings, raising a cloud of water dust and basking in it.

Sleepy kingdom.

Chiropterans require a short winter hibernation lasting about one and a half months. At this time, it is recommended not to feed them for three to four days until the expected hibernation, after which they are placed in a compartment of the enclosure, where the temperature will gradually drop to 3-7 degrees. If during the hibernation period any noticeable external changes in the animal’s condition appear in body position and reaction to external stimuli, then it is wiser to interrupt the hibernation by placing the pet in a warm compartment of the enclosure, and after waking up, begin feeding small portions of mealworms and milk mixtures.

Any pet requires care and great responsibility on the part of the owner, and bats are no exception. On the contrary, when deciding whether to buy such an animal, you need to take very seriously all the subtleties and complexities of its maintenance, and then your pet will bring you a lot of joy, reciprocating the attention and love.

Since childhood, we have associated a bat with something mysterious, incomprehensible and always ominous. But there are always brave souls who go against the system, break stereotypes, and even keep bats at home to prove their own originality.

What does Wikipedia say?

Before you think about keeping bats at home, read the Wikipedia article about them. As it turns out, WHO has recognized bats as a natural reservoir of rabies, Ebola and Marburg viruses. And these are the most dangerous pathogenic viruses for humans; you can learn more about them from the same Wikipedia.

What is a natural reservoir? It is a long-term carrier, host of pathogenic organisms, which provides them with the possibility of long-term or even permanent existence. For some viruses, the natural reservoir is humans, and for rabies, Ebola and Marburg viruses, bats.

The presence of an infection in the reservoir does not always lead to its illness; sometimes it occurs without symptoms. But under certain conditions the reservoir can open, and then the disease will manifest itself in full. It is necessary to draw conclusions.

If you are bitten by a bat, domestic or wild, you should go to the hospital immediately. It is not at all necessary to think that you are already infected with a terrible infection and are hopelessly ill, but caution does not hurt.

Maybe it’s better to watch the wonderful comedy “The Bat”, but not to have this animal at home? Apparently, it’s not for nothing that people attribute to them a connection with the devil. By the way, the word “rabies” is based on the root “demon.”

General information

Now let's talk a little about bats, their diet and lifestyle.

Bats belong to the order Chiroptera. They differ from their closest relatives, the fruit bats, in the absence of claws on the toes of their front legs-wings. Their outer ears have a complex shape with a folded edge, so the hearing acuity of bats is several times stronger than that of humans.

Bats are small in size, weighing only 5-10 grams, although there are species larger than fruit bats. The wingspan is much greater than the body size. The facial part of the skull is shortened, the teeth are very sharp, and have a system of ridges and tubercles. The eyes are small, vision is weak, but mice are oriented in space thanks to well-developed ultrasonic location; vision in this process does not play the main role.

What do they eat?

There are about 1,100 species of bats on the planet, all of them slightly different and eating different foods. Thus, insectivorous bats feed on insects and can catch and eat more than two hundred mosquitoes in 1 hour. Large species of bats hunt lizards, frogs, and fish.

Vampire bats that live in South America suck the blood of mammals and birds; there are only three species of vampire mice on the planet, the main thing is not to have them at home. If a mouse has tasted human blood, it will try to find it to get some more tasty food. The animal recognizes its prey by smell.

However, among them there are also vegetarians who eat exclusively plant foods - nectar, pollen, nuts, berries, fruits.

Therefore, before keeping a bat, it is necessary to determine what type it is, how it differs from other bats, and what it needs to be fed. For advice, you should contact scientists - chiropterologists, they are the ones who study these animals.

Depending on the species, the house bat eats oranges, bananas, apples, as well as beetles, mealworms, larvae, and wax moths. You will have to raise or catch insects yourself, or buy them from pet stores.

Most species of bats are nocturnal animals. During the day they sleep upside down and at night they fly in search of food. These animals can fall into torpor, during which their metabolism slows down, breathing intensity decreases, and heart rhythms decrease. In addition, bats hibernate for 7-8 months a year, and during this entire time they go without food or water. As a result, weakened individuals die due to dehydration.

But during the active period, their metabolism is very fast, and they need a lot of food. During a night of hunting, 1 individual can eat food weighing about 1/3 of its weight.

However, it is not recommended to overfeed a mouse living at home; this can lead to obesity and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. On the eve of hibernation, the mouse is not fed at all for several days, but there should be a lot of water in the drinking bowls.

But are they needed at home?

By collecting insect pests of forestry and agriculture, mice thereby bring great benefit to humans, but why are they needed at home? What conditions need to be created for keeping domestic bats, and is it worth tearing them out of their natural habitat?

When planning to have an exotic animal at home, first of all, you need to think about where it will live. Most likely, a house bat should live in a spacious enclosure, because it should be able to fly, and not sit still. In addition, the enclosure must protect the mouse from birds of prey, domestic cats and other animals that want to catch and eat it.

In nature, a bat hunts and eats at night, and sleeps during the day - at different times of the day there is a different temperature outside, it turns out that this is important for the normal functioning of the animal. Therefore, at home you will need two rooms with different temperatures - for sleeping and for absorbing food. The temperature in the room for digestion should be within +30 degrees, for sleep +20 degrees is enough. The temperature can be adjusted using heating devices.

Moreover, the mouse should be able to freely fly from one room to another in order to independently select the required temperature and comfortable conditions.

There should be many jars of water in different compartments of the enclosure, thanks to this, high humidity will be maintained in the enclosure, which is so important for the bat, and it will always be able to quench its thirst.

During hibernation, so that the animal does not die without water, it is necessary to spray water next to it with a spray bottle, but there is no need to wet the mouse.

The bat can overwinter in the same enclosure. When hibernating, it covers itself with its large wings, which creates a kind of cocoon, inside of which the temperature remains above zero even in severe frosts.

In favorable conditions, the average life expectancy of these animals reaches 30 years.

Nowadays you can find many unusual pets. Basically, their acquisition is carried out under the influence of fashion, books, films, etc. But not all animals easily adapt to life in apartments.

Feeding

A bat at home requires a very complex and extensive set of care measures. Only an experienced chiropterologist can provide the animals with the necessary conditions. In order for an exotic pet not to feel discomfort in captivity, the owner will have to overcome a lot of difficulties in order to provide his ward with adequate nutrition.

Since in captivity the main diet of fruit bats consists of mealworms, beetles, and larvae, the main difficulty will come down to purchasing or growing live food yourself.

Aviary

Since representatives of this family often fly, they need a lot of space in the enclosure. In addition, the designated area must be kept clean at all times; for this purpose, it is recommended to cover the floor with newspapers (for prompt cleaning).

Domestic bats, like their relatives in nature, constantly change their body temperature, which depends on the physical activity of the animal. During flight, sleep or awakening, the temperature regime is always different. In this regard, in the room in which bats are kept, the air temperature must constantly change. For example, the temperature expected for the digestive process is in no way suitable for sleep, and so on.

If you ignore the correct temperature regime, processes may develop that will significantly shorten the life of nocturnal animals. To solve this problem, the enclosure is divided into compartments, each of which is maintained at a different temperature; The “rooms” are connected to each other.

With such an organization of the enclosure, the mouse itself will choose the conditions that are comfortable for it at the moment.

Night guest

Not everyone decides to keep a bat, however, it happens that the animals themselves accidentally end up in a house, apartment, or outbuildings. In these cases, it is necessary to carefully, without injuring the animal, catch it and release it into the wild. However, how to catch a bat at home? One of the common methods of catching these bats is the method in which spider nets are placed, but in this case a person cannot predict the flight route of the animal. In addition, with such fishing there is a high probability of damage to the animal.

If a mouse flies into the house, then you can use a white sheet to catch it: the animal has a special love for this color, and there is a high probability that it will sit there.

Not everyone keeps familiar pets at home: dogs, cats, ornamental birds, hamsters. Lovers of unusual pets inevitably have to become real experts in their care, otherwise the animal will fall ill and die. But many are not afraid of new knowledge, and the homes of such enthusiasts are filled with creatures that you would not expect to see outside of nature. For example, a house bat.

What kind of animal is that

Bats are a suborder of bats. The name is due to the anatomical structure: from the toes of the front paws through the sides to the hind limbs, an elastic membrane runs, connecting them (“hands” literally turn into wings). In nature, they prefer to settle in caves and rock crevices. In villages and cities they can be found in secluded dark places: in attics and abandoned buildings. They are characterized by a nocturnal lifestyle. Contrary to popular misconception, they are not blind at all - they see (their vision is black and white), but they perfectly navigate in the dark thanks to their remarkably developed hearing.

On average, bats are small in size (comparable to small birds - tits, sparrows). At the same time, they are very nimble, and in flight they can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h. The body and head are covered with short fur that is soft to the touch, the muzzle, depending on the species, can be more or less similar to the muzzle of an ordinary mouse, but the ears of flyers are larger.

In the wild, these mice live for about 30 years. They will live a long time in captivity if the right conditions are provided.

Is it possible to keep a bat at home?

LThe bat is an extremely difficult pet.“And I want to fly!” It is impossible to ignore the animal’s desire (it will wither away), which means that it will be necessary to provide air space. This should be a free enclosure of sufficiently large size. You need to cover the floor with paper and clean it regularly, changing the bedding (animals defecate in flight).

But the main difficulty with the enclosure is not its size. The fact is that the body temperature of bats changes, this is due to their motor activity - it is different during sleep, rest and flight. The ambient temperature should change accordingly - several times during the day. For the digestive system of an animal to function, a temperature of +30...35°C is required. If the temperature is lower, the stomach and intestines of the mouse function worse - instead of digestive processes, putrefactive processes occur in it, which can soon lead to the death of the animal. Too low a temperature also has a bad effect on the animal's sleep - as a result, it gets sick.

To make the enclosure suitable for keeping your pet:

• it should have several compartments with different temperatures, the compartments are separated by a stainless metal mesh with small cells and the edges are carefully sealed to avoid injury to the pet;
• holes are made between the compartments so that the mouse can independently choose a comfortable temperature mode;
• drinking bowls are required;
• a compartment is needed for hibernation, which lasts 1.5 months - there should be a gradual decrease in temperature. The animal is not fed for three days before hibernation; 48 hours before going to bed, it is placed in a compartment evenly cooled to +3...5°C, and the animal’s condition is carefully monitored. If any deviations are noticeable, you need to move the mouse into a warm place, artificially interrupting winter sleep. In the first days, the awakened pet is hand-fed with formula milk and a small portion of regular food.

What do bats eat at home: planning their diet and diet

At home, the animal will willingly eat:

• mealworms;
• adult beetles (chafer beetles);
• pupae;
• crickets;
• Zophobas (larvae of darkling beetles);
• milk mixture.

To increase the nutritional value of the worms, 3-4 days before the mouse meal, put them in flat jars and treat them generously with vitamins and protein: meat (boiled and raw), fresh vegetables (carrots, cabbage), you can give white bread dipped in milk. Before feeding the mouse, be sure to separate the worms from the remains of their food.

Composition of milk formula for mice:

• milk (1 glass is enough);
• 1 egg yolk;
• purified beer yeast (or bran, you will need wheat) -1 tsp;
• Ca glycerophosphate liquid or granules - 5 g;
• honey or rosehip syrup - 1 tsp;
• vitamin E - 2 drops.

Sometimes you should add 2-3 crushed multivitamin tablets to the finished product.

For the first feeding, you should pick up the mouse in its usual position and bring the mealworm directly to your mouth. Then the animal itself learns to eat them from the jar. The milk mixture is fed using a pipette. It is given periodically for 7 days, then a break for 1–2 weeks. Give out worms and insects in portions 5-6 times a week.

It is enough to feed a healthy individual once a day - in the evening, when it begins to be active. For a sick, weakened woman, 3-4 times a day, a liquid vitamin-yeast cocktail made from milk is a must in her diet.

How to determine the amount of food your pet needs? Flyers do not hunt at home; they get food more easily than wild ones - keep in mind that they are prone to gluttony. The rufous noctule can “persuad” hundreds of mature mealworms at a time, while the sharp-eared noctule can “persuad” 50–60. For their health, you need to reduce such portions by half. In the first days in a new place, during the adaptation period, 1/4 of the maximum doses is enough - 15–20 worms is enough.

Further, in the process of observing the animal, you will adjust the regime and diet according to its individual needs. Don't feedmousefrom her table and other food not intended for her - this will kill the animal.

Other nuances of content

Some individuals are very easy to tame. Aggression and fear in an animal can be caused by the wrong way to hold it - head up, but for it this is just as “comfortable” as if we were held upside down.

NPlease note that you will have to communicate with your pet at night - somewhere from 23.00 to 07.00 the mouse is awake. Pay attention to your tame animal - otherwise you will end up with a depressed, lethargic animal.

If you do sleep at night, flights will disturb you with noise. And if you let the mouse fly freely, then furniture, appliances, and curtains will be covered in droppings.

Bats can breed if you have a lot of them and they live in a non-residential building (an old chicken coop, barn). Older babies will need a separate enclosure.

These animals get sick when kept at home from:

• temperature violations;
• improper feeding (they are able to eat up to 60% of their own weight at a time. Limited activity and excess food lead to obesity and indigestion, both conditions are deadly for animals).

Video: how a mouse can behave in an apartment

You can see for yourself: having a bat at home is a big responsibility, not to mention the costs of arranging its habitat, heating, feeding (you wouldn’t grow food for it yourself). Think twice before getting such a pet.

Caring for pets disciplines, helps to throw out unspent tenderness on a little friend who is always waiting at home and rejoices at the arrival of the owner.

It is common to have cats, dogs, fish, and parrots in homes. Less commonly found: raccoons, tarantulas, ants, rats.

Bats are also domesticated. Many people find it difficult to imagine this animal as a pet, which is associated with the warmth and comfort of home.

But lovers of chiropteran mice will not agree with this. These animals are much cuter than they seem, their faces are incredibly cute.

At home, such mice will not have to think about food or hunt. Their owner must take care of this.

Feeding them is not that easy because they won't eat leftovers like many cats and dogs. The diet of bats must be balanced; their digestive system is very sensitive.

Important! A bat can eat food at one time, the volume of which reaches one third of its own weight.

Basic rules for feeding bats at home:

• Bats should be fed at night, around midnight.
• Do not overfeed mice.
• You should protect your fingers from being bitten.
• When the bat finishes eating, it should be placed in a room with a temperature of at least 30 degrees.

Feeding should begin with a small amount of food. The mouse must adapt to the new diet. In addition to insects, these animals happily drink milk. It is necessary to give them water to drink; dehydration will harm their health.

An important point is the temperature environment. All bats that live in Russia are predators.

Fruit-eating individuals live in warm countries. Predatory bats need to provide a temperature of at least 30 degrees.

During the daytime, maintaining the temperature regime is not so important. This is only necessary for the period of digestion of food.

If the ambient temperature is lower than expected, the digestive system may not work, and the animal will die from poisoning from unprocessed foods.

Attention! Bats are carriers of diseases, including rabies. You should show the animal to the veterinarian.

It is better to make sure that it is safe to keep a wild predatory animal. Rabies is difficult to treat and is fatal.

Features of keeping bats at home

Since these pets sleep throughout the daylight hours, all that their owner can be content with is the sight of a sleeping mouse hanging upside down.

You won’t be able to tame them with your hands: you won’t be able to scratch them behind the ears or stroke their soft back.
These animals are exotic in terms of domestication. They will feel bad in captivity.

If an individual accidentally gets into the house during the cold season, it should be kept until summer. When it becomes warm enough outside, it is better to release her into the wild.

If an animal behaves anxiously: refuses food, does not sleep, or vice versa - sleeps even in the dark, it is worth showing it to a doctor. There is a possibility that the pet is sick.

In any case, it is necessary to show the bat to a veterinarian upon first contact in order to exclude the presence of dangerous diseases.

When a wild animal gets into a home where it no longer needs to hunt to get its food, it begins to overeat.

This is a survival instinct aimed at maintaining the population. You need to carefully monitor the amount of food your mouse consumes.

Features of bats:

• The head of this animal is exactly the same as that of an ordinary mouse.
• The size of the average individual living in Russia is similar to the size of a tit or sparrow.
• These bats are much faster than ordinary birds.
• Their teeth are sharp. Number of teeth - 38 pieces.
• The body is covered with fur.
• Perfect hearing compensates for the fact that these bats are almost blind.
• The animal can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h.
• Like all predators, these animals need meat in their diet.

If you want to make a bat your pet, you should take care of a special enclosure. It should be spacious and kept clean.

The air temperature, as mentioned earlier, should be 30 degrees. Otherwise the animal will not survive.

The enclosure is installed in such a way that one part of it constantly maintains the required temperature.

The animal will independently choose where to settle. There should be several drinking bowls with water below. Bats need moisture.

The main problems that arise for owners of these exotic animals:

• Bats get used to the owner; if he stops communicating with the animal while it is awake, it becomes sad and gets sick.
• Waking time starts at 23:00 and ends at 7:00 am.
• The pet does not sleep all night, preventing others from doing so.
• The bat empties its bowels in flight; if there is no enclosure at home, feces will be scattered on the furniture and floor.
• Nutrition has its own peculiarities: you will have to grow insects at home or buy them in specialized stores.

Before getting a pet, you should think carefully about whether you can handle the responsibility.

If the decision has already been made, the characteristics of the animal should be taken into account in order to provide better living conditions. No difficulties can compare with the feeling of warmth and comfort that pets give their owners.

Bats will be no exception. Cute faces will soon become family. And difficulties in content, over time, will turn into a habitual way of life.

Remember the main rule: we are responsible for those we have tamed.

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