Do bats make good pets?

The Appeal of Bats

A lot of people might be interested in getting a pet bat. These animals are far from being a common pet, so it makes a person feel unique.

Some bat species are also very cute as they look like winged mice, which is why people might want to adopt them as pets.

The Problems with Pet Bats

Unfortunately, adopting a bat as a pet is not a good idea. In fact, there are many good reasons to avoid bats, as they'll make your life much more difficult.

The Smell

Bats are incredibly smelly animals. They have a certain musky scent to them that permeates through the area they live in. This alone is enough to turn off some people.

Yet it turns out that the smell comes from the bats' own urine, which they rub all over their bodies. It turns out this is a way for them to mark their territory and to communicate with one another.

So, you won't want to get a bat if you're particularly bothered by the smell.

The Waste

Speaking of waste, bats leave their feces and urine all over the place. This quickly accumulates and makes a mess of the area they live in.

Their droppings are known to be acidic, meaning it damages the floor and anything else it touches. This waste also leaves behind disturbing stains, so you don't want these animals in your home.

The Food

Keeping pet bats is very tricky, especially when it comes to providing food for them.

Bats have incredibly high metabolisms, which is why they constantly have to hunt and eat during the night. In fact, reports say that a single bat eats anywhere between 500 to 1000 mosquitos a night, just to sustain itself. How would you be able to provide that much food for them?

The best you could do is to use mealworms, but these lack the nutritional content that bats get from hunting insects on their own.

Even if you choose to go with a fruit bat instead of an insectivore, you'd still have to buy a lot of exotic or expensive food.

The Disease

Bats are notorious for spreading disease. In fact, they're the primary cause of rabies in much of the US, with people saying that 90% of all cases of human rabies in the US were caused by interaction with bats. This disease isn't something to take lightly, as it damages the nervous system and can even lead to death.

Bats also spread a deadly disease called histoplasmosis. This is a fungus that grows in their droppings and easily gets into the air, where you can breathe it in. Some people experience no symptoms at all, while others experience severe damage to the lungs and have bloody coughs and other symptoms. If not quickly treated, histoplasmosis can also lead to death.

So, you should be wary of the risks before you decide to get a bat as a pet.

The Lifespan

Out in the wild, bats live for up to 30 years depending on the species. This is a long time for such a small animal.

Unfortunately, by domesticating the bat, you'll reduce their movement so they can't fly as much as they need to. This has adverse effects on their health, shortening many of their lives to just 6 years.

The Legality

It turns out that you can't even own a bat if you wanted to. These animals are protected by law, and you cannot take most species in as pets.

There are exceptions, however, but you'll need to contact the US Department of Agriculture to get a license and permit to take in these animals.

Bat House

If you still want to have a bat as a pet, you should just consider building or buying a bat house for your yard. Having these is completely legal, and it allows the bats to move around and hunt as they please. It just provides them with a safe place to build a nest near your home.

The best part is that the bats can act as your own personal exterminators!