Is it possible to keep a bat as a pet

This bathroom has a window covered with a shade, but you are not allowed to open it to get fresh air, or even look outside. There is a sink, but only your captor knows how to turn the water on. There is a toilet where you can eliminate, but only your captor decides when it should be flushed. You get the same thing to eat day after day after day after day. There are no pictures on the walls, no TV, no computer, no phones, and no friends. Each type of bat has specific housing needs.

Some items you may need to have in your bat enclosure include:. You should have all objects in duplicate so that you can replace the objects while washing soiled objects. Fruit bats eat fruit, nectar, and tree seeds. If you have an insectivorous bat, get ready to buy lots and lots of mealworms. Bats should be able to climb in and out of their dishes. Tree bats prefer to hang over their food.

They also urinate while feeding, so be sure they can roost on something absorbent while they eat. You can easily find some bats, like flying fox bats and fruit bats, for sale online. Bats are wild animals and will never become tame domestic pets like a dog or a cat. However, bat owners and zookeepers often train bats to care for them with less stress to the keeper and animal.

Most bats do not drink blood. Due to the nature of bats, a lot of people have always asked the question, do bats make good pets? We have been asked this question quite a number of times by the readers of my blog, and I think it is time I answered that question here. If you are reading this informative post, it means you have been thinking about getting your self a pet bat, or you already have one, then you are wondering if bats do make great pets. Whatever the case maybe, it is important that you get the answers to your question, and that is why we wrote this article to answer the question properly, do bats make good pets?

If you have been looking for the answer to this question, then keep reading you will get to see the answer to the question you have asked for a very long time. Before we get to the answers to your question, we need to look at a bat as an animal critically, this will help us to figure out the characteristics that may enable them to be used as pets before we start considering whether they will make good pets or not.

The bat is often seen as a very spectacular animal because it doubles as a bird and as a mammal. Bats are often regarded as wild animals, but they can equally seek shelter in homes due to the fear of predators and climatic severity. As a matter of fact, bats are the only mammals that can fly , and of truth, they are very exceptional in the air because their wings are tiny and give them the advanced ability to maneuver in the air even more than birds.

Bats have a very high metabolism; hence they can digest bananas, mangoes, and berries in about 20 minutes. That they are nocturnal and move around more in the dark does not mean they do not use their eyesight in the daytime, it simply means most of their activities are carried out in the night because they see more at night.

Moving around in the night presents bats the opportunity to stay away from their predators. So you see that it is more convenient to move at night since they can get their food and equally stay safe. There are many species of bats in the world, and this makes them a very significant number of the animal population.

It is said that bats make up a quarter of the population of all the animals on earth. As a matter of truth, taking bats as pets will require a lot of courage and proper understanding of the bat as an animal, this is because a few cases of bat originated diseases, the pointy teeth of the bat and the spectacular way they sleep by hanging themselves upside down definitely creeps a lot of people out including me.

Keeping them as a pet is a terrible idea. You may feel the same way or not, but that does not mean one cannot use bats as a pet, but it comes with regulations of some sort. Bats are the only flying mammals, which is why they need to process food quickly so they can keep their energy up.

It also means that you should expect your pet bats to eat a lot. Pet bats will also urinate and poop frequently. Unfortunately, unlike traditional domestic pets, pet bats cannot be potty-trained. It is going to come out unexpectedly anywhere your pet bat likes. Approximately 20 minutes after your pet bat has eaten, everything will get processed.

Wondering what spats are? Let us explain. When a fruit bat consumes fruit, it is only after the sugary juice, not the pulp. It means that when your pet bats take a bite of fruits, they mash it up against the roof of their mouths to squeeze out as much juice as they can. When satisfied, your pet bats will spit the rest out just like that. In other words, any space where you will keep your pet bat will be dirty with mashed-up bits and pieces of fruit.

Their spat will also attract other insects who like to eat fruit, like cockroaches and fruit flies. It only means that where there are bat spats, insects like these are sure to follow.

In a natural ecosystem, it can be a great thing. But you do not want to create this kind of ecosystem inside your home. Aside from their eating and digestive behavior, bats are also responsible for doing other activities that might be frowned upon by people. Bats are known to be very sexually active. Multiple masturbation a day, engaging in a sexual act with both male and female bats, and getting erections—these are all normal for them.

Some wildlife centers even have training sessions to explain these activities to children specifically. They or you may not be comfortable with the idea of witnessing bats do their thing. Ready for more? If you do not know yet, a pet bat is exotic. If you are well-off, then the money may not be an issue for you at all.

Still, there is no getting away with the special accommodations needed to house your pet bat properly—that is if you do want to house your pet bats appropriately. The first issue here is that bats fly. So, it does not matter how small the specific species of your pet bat is; they are still going to need a vast space. The ideal one is an open space where your pet bat can fly freely, even if it is relatively small. Should you restrict their flying area, expect your pet bat to become overweight.

Additionally, they might attempt to fly despite restrictions which could lead them to harm themselves. You also cannot clip their wings just as you would a bird, so an escaped bat poses a danger. If you are still keen on owning a pet bat, then take note of the proper housing for these mammals. A suitable bat enclosure is about the same size as a bird flight cage. Bats naturally look for the highest points in a place.

Most probably, this area will be your ceiling, on top of your cabinets, or anywhere inconvenient for you to reach. If your pet bat is particularly small, expect them to slot into tiny crevices. So, imagine finding your pet bat situated in a very odd and unexpected place like in your stack of dishes. If your pet bat is on the larger side, however, know that they will most likely be clumsy fliers. For them, a closed environment like your home would risk them always crashing into something.

Bats are also nocturnal or crepuscular in some cases.