Each year thousands of flying-foxes come into care around Australia requiring varying types and levels of care. Adult flying-foxes can come into care at any time of the year, but orphaned baby flying-foxes usually come into care between October and December, if their mothers have lost contact with them or have been caught in netting,  on fences or been killed on powerlines. This is also the time of year when grey-headed and black flying-foxes give birth to a single young, only once a year. If you see a flying-fox on powerlines during these months (even if it’s not moving), please call Bat Care Brisbane or the RSPCA immediately, as there could be a live baby still attached to it dead mother. The baby can survive for up to 4 days, but will eventually starve to death. Brisbane’s Energex does assist by rescuing these orphans from powerlines. During this time there is also an increase in the number of injured adult bats, as they search for more food to maintain their energy levels to feed their young.

Raising Orphaned Baby Bats

Raising an orphaned baby flying-fox or microbat is very rewarding. Babies bottle-feed on milk and require 4-hourly feed for the first few weeks. They are gradually weaned onto fruit and available flower blossoms. They grow quickly and will start to fly around 10 weeks old. At this stage, carers need to distance themselves to ready the bats for release back into the wild.

Bat babies are constantly attached to their mother’s underarm nipple for the first 6 weeks of life. When they become too heavy for their mothers to carry, they are left in the colony ‘creche’. Young are dependent on their mother’s milk until they are able to fly at around 10 weeks old. During this time, young non-breeding males teach young bats the ways of the colony and bat behaviours and life.

If you find an injured or sick flying fox or any bat, please contact the Bat Rescue Hotline urgently on 0488 228 134 and for more info please visit www.bats.org.au