HUSBANDRY

Husbandry of Australian bats is described in Jackson (2003) and Olsson and Woods (2008). Current recommen­dations include the following (J Mclean pers. comm.):

• Flight cages for rehabilitation of flying-foxes should be a suitable height, ideally 2-6 m, such that flight is not compromised, especially if recovering from a wing injury (Fig.

• Flight aviaries for microbats ideally should be round or hexagonal with a minimum diameter of 8 m (or larger depending on the species) and a central housing to encourage continuous flight. An outer 6-mm metal mesh is needed to stop predator access, but with a softer plastic mesh inner for the microbats to land on.

• For microbats, the mesh size of the cage should be considered in terms of the size of insect prey to be attracted for the bats. If attracting insects into the cage with a light, consider a larger mesh size near the light if larger insect prey are required.

Fig. 42.1. Rehabilitation enclosure for flying-foxes. Design features include: 6 m high ? 12 m wide ? 14 m long; 4 m plastic roof, 10 m open to sun/rain; snake-proof outer wire, lined with tensioned netting; opportunity to climb trees so orphans are used to climbing trees rather than netting; and internal lower cages, on left and underneath plastic roofing. These include a separate feeding cage for little red flying-foxes because of their more specialised diet; separate treatment cage, with inside and outside sections, that keeps flying-foxes in lower area for ready access; and two feeding cages with a 'human' area between with fridge, sink and bench. Cage floors are plastic heat-welded to gutters for ease of cleaning. Flying-foxes are caught in the smaller cages when they come down to eat or entry points to feeding area can be closed remotely later in evening. All waste goes into four very large worm farms at the back of the cage. Gutters carry water waste into a tank and it is pumped into a septic system. Photo: Tolga Bat Hospital

• For hospitalisation of microbats and small pteropo- dids (e.g. eastern blossom-bats and tube-nosed bats), a flexarium (nylon mesh enclosure) is most suitable. Once flight is desirable, a larger area is required. Small pteropodids are best housed in a microbat cage for flight, rather than a flying-fox cage.

• A dripper bottle for water (e.g. with ball bearings to prevent drips) will help to keep water clean in flying­fox enclosures.

• For flying-foxes, an alternative to a salt lick is to provide salt water (e.g. 1 teaspoon salt to 2 L of water), as well as fresh water.

2.