Fruit Bat Husbandry Manual

Demspey J.L. and S.D. Crissey (1995), Nutrition. In: Fruit Bat Husbandry Manual, N. Fascione, Ed. AZA Bat Taxon Advisory Group. The Lubee Foundation Inc.

Development of the nutrition chapter has proven to be very complex and poses many challenges. For every institution that houses bats, there are almost as many different diets utilized. The purpose of this chapter is to provide general guidelines for managers to consider when developing a diet for bats. Here we present target nutrient ranges and practical diets that meet these ranges. The Bat TAG Nutrition Subcommittee is continuing to research this important topic, and this chapter will be updated on a regular basis as new information becomes available.

Meeting the nutritional needs of Megachiropteran and Microchiropteran fruit bats is essential if they are to thrive in captivity. Developing appropriate dietary guidelines is an extensive project that involves utilizing information from a number of sources. These sources include current feeding ecology data, published nutrient requirement data, food available to zoos, and food preferences of fruit bats, as well as input from academia and data on the nutrient content of successful diets currently in use.