Adelaide Bat Care, Australia

Adelaide Bat Care – was founded by Mary Crichton in 2008 after she started caring for Microbats in 2005. The rescue centre provides 24 hour rescue, care and support for bats in need. The Adelaide Bat Care website – www.adelaidebatcare.com.au was then set up to provide global education and awareness. Mary set out to gather as much information as possible throughout Australia and globally from organisations and individuals with a passion for the world’s bats. The website became a place to share the resources available to the bat community, including the crucial importance of all bat species on Earth.

‘I discovered the fabulous Brinsea TLC when struggling to keep sick and injured Microbats in optimal recovery temperature and humidity which no other equipment I was using at the time provided for these special, gentle mammals.

The beautiful thing about these life-saving, critical care units are that we can set the temperature to the consistent cosy warmth that the Microbats need to not go into torpor (going into and out of torpor – semi-hibernation/sleep – uses up too much precious energy and fat reserves that the Microbat requires to sustain life during periods of no insects for months in the Winter periods of Adelaide – therefore, they die!!). So the constant, accurate warmth temperature that we can adjust as required, together with the humidity within this TLC which once again is able to be adjusted, provides the absolute optimal and perfect environment for gentle and comfortable recovery for our little ones who come into care from cat attacks, barbed-wire caught, bird/predator attacks, car attacks, human attacks, heat stress and human disturbance just to name a few of the obstacles that they face in their lives!

Microbats in care usually range in weight from 1 gram to 18 grams. They range from ‘jelly bean size’ to ‘small/large mouse size’. I place the Microbats into a Bat Cube/Bat Hut within the TLC so that the Microbats can still do their thing – ‘hang out’! I can only put in one Microbat at a time (quarantine) – a second can go into a ‘bra wash bag’ as well if urgent but ideally only one Microbat or the same colony rescue can go into the TLC at the one time.

For such little ones, it can become a little time-consuming, however, with my favourite Brinsea TLC, it makes my rehabilitation work so much more effective and efficient (and stressless and less worry!) and the Microbats just love the warmth and get far less stressed I feel.

I have the external pump but do not use it – I am happy to refill the water catchment and I also sometimes add extra little bowls of water outside of the Bat Hut inside the TLC for extra humidity in our cooler climates here in Winter in Adelaide.

The Big Bats require another level of tender loving care and at the Tolga Bat Hospital Jenny Maclean is an expert in using the larger TLC units for the Flying-foxes.’

Mary Crichton

Adelaide Bat Rescue, Australia