AboutJonathan Wright Expertise I can answer questions about wild mammals, as well as other wild animals. I can also answer questions on extinct animals and zoos.
PLEASE DON'T SEND ME ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT PETS. IF YOU ARE REALLY WORRIED, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A VETERINARIAN. PLEASE DO NOT ASSUME THAT UNPAID PEOPLE ON ALLEXPERTS ARE AVAILABLE 24 HOURS A DAY AND WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH ADVICE THE MOMENT YOUR ANIMAL GETS ILL. Find out how to look after a pet before you get it. It is unfair to keep an animal in inappropriate conditions and give it the wrong food. If you can't keep an animal in good conditions, please don't bring it into your home. I'm not a vet and I don't have any expertise in animal medicine and care. I don't agree with people taking animals out of the wild and then expecting other people to give free advice on how to look after them. It is cruel to take animals away from their parents, who are able to look after the babies and may look for them, while putting their other babies at risk. You may need a licence to look after some animals. You may be breaking the law by keeping wild animals; please check with a local wildlife organisation.
IF YOU FIND AN INJURED ANIMAL, PLEASE CONTACT A WILDLIFE VETERINARIAN OR CHARITY AND LET TRAINED STAFF LOOK AFTER THE ANIMAL. DO NOT TRY TO LOOK AFTER AN INJURED ANIMAL IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
Please do not remove eggs from nests. The mother birds will know the right temperature for the eggs and will not sit on them if the temperature is warm enough for them to develop naturally. It is illegal to remove eggs of some species and, unless you have an incubator or a broody hen, the egg may not develop. If you are allowed to touch the eggs, you can candle them (check details on websites) to see if the eggs are fertile. If the eggs are not fertile, they will not hatch.
I do not agree with fights between different animals. Please do not ask me questions about them.
Experience I have a zoology degree and have been interested in animals since I was two years old. I am a zoo volunteer at London Zoo. I have appeared on a BBC Radio Quiz, 'Wildbrain'.
Organizations World Wide Fund for Nature. Zoological Society of London. London Bat Group.
Publications Newsletters of London Zoo volunteers and the London Bat Group
Education/Credentials BSC degree in Zoology. 'A' levels in Zoology and Chemistry. 'O' Level in Biology.
Question iam doing a college assignment on pipistrelle bats and was wondering if you could tell me how much food and how often they are fed when in captivity being rehabilitation
many thanks
Charlotte Brannan
Answer Dear Charlotte
Thanks for your question. I am a member of the London Bat Group, so was pleased that you are interested in bats.
I have compiled information using http://212.187.155.84/pass_06june/list_wpmod_cont/ukwildlifefirstaid/Health&Man/... and a bat care leaflet obtained from the Bat Conservation Trust. Please note that you people should avoid hand-rearing pipistrelles and other insectivorous bats, unless they are qualified for the task. This task should be left to trained people, with licences. In Britain there are laws about keeping bats and people can be prosecuted for keeping a bat illegally.
You can use a small paintbrush or a very small pipette, or a small catheter attached to a small syringe for feeding a bat. Bats found grounded or injured are usually dehydrated and many perk up immediately when they have had a drink. This drink should be water or an oral rehydration solution, such as Lectade using a pipette or small paintbrush, with a gradual changeover to a milk substitute over several feeds.
Some people feed baby bats with cows' or goats' milk. You can feed very small bats by placing a drop of milk on the lips, preferably with the bat held upright. Alternatively, you can allow the bat to lap milk off a paintbrush. Powdered skimmed milk, with a 1-2% fat content, may be used possibly with added glucose. The site advises people to avoid changing the type of milk used or mixing different milks. Milk substitutes include Esbilac, which may be mixed one part powder to one part water. This may lead to bloat.
The site suggests that you should feed bats every 2-3 hours during the day (7.00 a.m. to 11.00 p.m.) and at longer intervals at night. Esbilac may be used to reduce the number of feeds to four a day. Please note that very small species, such as pipistrelles require more frequent feeding (e.g. every hour), particularly for neonate young.
You can gradually wean the bat to mealworms at 2-3 weeks. You may squeeze out the insides of mealworms so that the baby can lap them up. Alternatively, you can add mealworm fragments to milk, with more added gradually. Later whole mealworms may be given; the bat must be taught to eat these and eventually to eat them from a bowl. Some juveniles appear reluctant to wean from milk to mealworms diet and you need to persevere with this. Alternatives to mealworms include waxworms and buffalo worms. The leaflet says that you can use a small amount of canned cat or dog food in an emergency.
Please note that the natural diet of pipistrelles is very different. They eat small nematoceran flies, as well as caddis flies. They also eat mayflies, lacewings and moths. Soprano pipistrelles feed mainly on chironomids (non-biting midges) and ceratopogonids, while common pipistrelles eat psychodid and anisopodid flies. The Nathusius's pipistrelle eats small to medium-sized flying insects, especially non-biting midges of the family Chironomidae.
I hope that this answers your question. Please note the legal situation about keeping bats. I have various contacts within the London Bat Group. Some of these have been successfully keeping bats for several years. I am sure that I shall be able to obtain additional information.
I wish you all the best with your college assignment.
