So I found this bat...

Spiderface

Arachnoknight
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I was aware my building had bats but I was surprised to see this one was in my drop ceiling. The rest of the roost is up on the third floor but this poor thing must have fallen and then did enough exploring that mom could not find him to rescue him. I am going to try to place it outside near where the bats exit the roost in the evenings and hope that one of them comes to get the little guy. Otherwise I am going to have to call a bat rescue for help. It looked a little rough this morning but my wife has been feeding it formula from the pet store and it has a fat tummy and has perked up quite a bit.


 

beetleman

Arachnoking
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:eek: wow that is 1 cute little bugger,i hope he makes it,that's awesome that your taking care of him:clap: good luck.
 

Dark

Arachnobaron
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I'm No Bat Expert, but its eyes appear to be glued shut in the pictures, If its a Bat 'Pinky' or new born, I think its very unlikely to survive, If i were you, I would go to a place that knows what their doing, like a wildlife reserve or something, If its an adult and it just appears to be a baby, you can do as you wish =/


*edit* soory, made a mistake in reading what you said orginally, Goodluck

**edit Heres a link that may help you http://images.google.com/imgres?img...channel=s&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=G
 

Bayushi

Arachnoprince
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Usually when a baby bat falls, the mother doesn't try to rescue it. it's kinda sad but "that's the way of nature".

Good luck in the rescue and recuperation of the bugger. I had a Brown bat as a pet a few years back. we found it at work with one of it's wing broken. Really cool little rodent, but they eat alot of bugs every night so it gets expensive feeding them.
 

bugmankeith

Arachnoking
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If your looking for a rescue it's important you feed it in the mean time, i'd say your doing ok so far.
 

Randolph XX()

Arachnoprince
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unfortunately, they have such high metabolism rate, so u can't really leave it alone for very long, like u need to feed it really often even when they are adults
 

Hedorah99

Arachnoprince
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I would also just like to point out the amount of bats that carry rabies. This is one of the reasons why there are very few rehabilitators for bats. That and generally if you find a bat on the ground its 3/4 dead and not much can be done for it. That does look like a baby and without constant attention it probably won't make it. :( Good luck in finding someone to help you.
 

Spiderface

Arachnoknight
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unfortunately, they have such high metabolism rate, so u can't really leave it alone for very long, like u need to feed it really often even when they are adults
You are so right. I was up about 4 times last night feeding him. On the plus side he seems to have gotten the hang of eating from the sringe and has no problem letting me know when it he is hungry. It is just a baby like a lot of you have suggested. I have already left a message with the nearest bat rescue so hopefully they will call me by Monday.
 

AneesasMuse

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He is a cute little fella! I hope he makes it and you or the rescue are successful in rehab'ing him.

In the meantime, one thing that is essential with baby rodents... their Mom usually helps them eliminate after each meal and you'll need to do this for him, if he's not doing it on his own. Just wet a soft cloth (or Qtip, if he's that small), with warm water and gently massage around/on his little "bottom" (not knowing gender makes proper terminology a challenge) and he should urinate/defecate. It's a little weird at first, but it's very important! Also, PetAG makes BeneBac for small animals... something he may or may not have got from his Mom... and it will aid in his digestion, offer good flora to his GI that he really needs, etc.

Good Luck!! :)
 

pitbulllady

Arachnoking
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I guess I need to point out here that bats are NOT rodents, or even related to rodents! They're insectivores, and are more closely related to moles and shrews and even hedgehogs than they are to mice, rats, hamsters and the like. They do have that high metabolism, though, that all small mammals have, so feeding this baby enough or the right type of formula would be tricky. Hopefully, that bat rescue organization will respond and pick this little fella up.

pitbulllady
 

Spiderface

Arachnoknight
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Actually the little bat is doing better and better each day. It is visibly stonger and is eating well. My wife and I take turns feeding him and it is difficult at 2am to get out of bed because he is hungry AGAIN but he is fine. We were out in touch with the right people for bat rescue and we are waiting a phone call from them to make arrangements to place him in their care. I will be glad to give up the responsibility but I will be sad to see the little guy go.
 

AneesasMuse

Arachnoangel
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Just to clear things up on the rodent vs. insectivore issue... bats are in the order of Chiroptera and not, in fact, Rodentia.

Simple mistake with a simpler solution. :)

Good Luck with the little fella, regardless!
 

Ron_K

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:embarrassed:
I would also just like to point out the amount of bats that carry rabies. This is one of the reasons why there are very few rehabilitators for bats.
Actually, that is one of the biggest urban myths around. Bats are no more likely to be carrying rabies than any other wild mammal. This belief came about due to the fact that most bats that are found by people are sick ones. This is due to the fact that they are secretive by nature and rarely seen by most people unless they are flying around at dusk. Furthermore, many of the common species of bats in the US are so small that even if one were to bite you, it would be most unlikely to be able to break the skin, unless it happens to bite you in a tender area. Their jaw muscles just don't have the strength to puncture your finger for example. Their teeth are similar to most mammals with a set of canines that are not extremely sharp like a rodents.
 

bugmankeith

Arachnoking
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I thought as bats get older they are also hand fed mashed insects and live mealworms?
 

Spiderface

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Update. The bat was picked up while I was at work today and is now in more capable hands. I'm glad to see that responsibility go to someone else. It was beginning to require more frequent feedings throgh the night and I was really draggin at work today. It was a great experience but I would not want to see this happen again.
 

Hedorah99

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Update. The bat was picked up while I was at work today and is now in more capable hands. I'm glad to see that responsibility go to someone else. It was beginning to require more frequent feedings throgh the night and I was really draggin at work today. It was a great experience but I would not want to see this happen again.
Glad to hear. :D Like Mushroom said, keep us updated on the little bugger.
 
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