Yesterday I told myself I& #39;d take a break from bat care. Have now just agreed to go and pick up a baby bat!
It is a little stressful sometimes but I& #39;d be more stressed knowing there& #39;s a bat that needs help
He& #39;s baby
Had a big big drink of milk and a big stretch. Will try and get this one reunited to mum tomorrow. Think it just went for a bit of a wander and got lost! After all, mum will be the best flight teacher of all
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Someone& #39;s exploring
Just fed the baby (12:30AM) and have an alarm set for 4 hours& #39; time to feed him again
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He looks like he should start weaning any time now, so I& #39;m going to add some mashed up mealworm (
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤢" title="Angewidertes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Angewidertes Gesicht">) in with his food tomorrow.
His tiny little full tum is... so cute
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥺" title="Pleading face" aria-label="Emoji: Pleading face"> got back from my survey this eve to him scampering around the tank, which is a good sign!
I should& #39;ve weighed him when he came in really, but I was a bit more concentrating on getting him fed! He& #39;s still got a lot of mites, but the good thing is they often wander onto my glove so I can squash them. That can& #39;t help him having that lot taking his blood!
Wandering around the hand
He had a wee in the previous video I tried to take
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Hm. Set him up, waited, (retrieved him from the floor), waited some more (retrieved him from some ivy he fluttered over to and then scampered up!
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😳" title="Errötetes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Errötetes Gesicht">). Couple of common pips appeared, showed just a passing interest in him.
I had ID& #39;d him as a soprano pipistrelle (I mean, I could be wrong, I& #39;ll have another look at him tomorrow) and didn& #39;t hear any sopranos, just commons. So guess something has happened to mum or the roost has moved
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He& #39;s not too far off being able to fly, to be honest. Maybe a week or two? So I& #39;ll strengthen him up and release him when he can fly and he may be able to find the roost himself.
Positive news is that 3 kids and 2 adults got to see a bat & #39;properly& #39; (I.e. not just whizzing around) for the first time, and all commented on how cute he was. One little girl kept shushing her mum & #39;shh, we don& #39;t want to frighten him!& #39;
He& #39;s started biting the milk syringe which is a good sign they& #39;re ready to move onto more solid food. Here& #39;s Bryn enjoying his first mealworm insides.
He will just eat the insides for now (I kill the mealworm and then squeeze them out, slightly gross I know, but it& #39;s what the bats like!). He will slowly start munching at the exoskeleton as well as he has more.
He& #39;s trying very hard to chew off bits of exoskeleton but his jaw isn& #39;t strong enough yet! If I hold the other end he pulls it like a tug of war
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He did not want milk this evening
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He is a voraciously hungry little boy! Won& #39;t be long until he& #39;s chomping down the whole mealworm. He& #39;s also exceedingly sweet and gentle. Not a single protest or squirm from him when I cleaned around his mouth when he& #39;d finished eating.
Bryn weighs a whopping 3 grams today! He was 2.6g on Thursday!
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Bryn:
No exercise
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Only roost
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No exercise
Only roost
Weight update! I& #39;ve picked up adults lighter than this before
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When you see an animal do a big stretch, you have to comment on the big stretch. Sorry I don& #39;t make the rules
Worm Time
He got this far through this worm and now he& #39;s having... little snooze
Settling down in the hand cave for a warm after his evening feed
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3.5g today. Up from 2.5 - he& #39;s grown so much
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Bryn doing his best posing
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Got a photo of the internarial ridge (bump between the nostrils) on him that helps ID him as a soprano pipistrelle
Finished his dinner, warm hand cave time
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The way he tucks his little foot in at the very end
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me: I& #39;m a proper scientist and ecologist
also me: omg look at the baby bat I can& #39;t
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also me: omg look at the baby bat I can& #39;t
Daily weigh-in! He& #39;s doing lots more wing stretches now so he might think about flying soon
He& #39;s started eating whole mini-mealworms
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No more squeezing the guts out for me
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Settling down after lunch
Bryn& #39;s growth in 8 days
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Don& #39;t you think it& #39;s about time you started to think about flying?
No, he says. I& #39;m actually fine just lying here, thanks
No, he says. I& #39;m actually fine just lying here, thanks
Exercise time
Bryn has grown a lot but he has a lot more growing to do until he& #39;s as big as Taff!
They chatted to each other from a safe distance
Babies always tend to get on with each other well but I wouldn& #39;t trust an adult male around a juvenile, so no, they& #39;re not going to be properly introduced, before anyone asks!
A momentous day! He& #39;s learned how to feed himself!