Bat House Forum

[woodbutcher17]

Can anyone tell me if bats will use a bat house made from 6" pvc pipe ? The 1 that I have made is 6" dia. 48" long with 4 baffels with groves cut every 1/2". The baffels are spaced 3/4" apart. I also have a 6" landing pad at the bottom. I was going to make and mount 4 on 1 pole but I do not want to waste my time with this if I need to make them bigger. .Thanks. . .Woodbutcher17

[IowaNate]

6" PVC is quite small...although 4 mounted to one pole might help with occupancy. I try to keep all my bat houses at least 10" wide. I am sure that 10 or 12" PVC with the same baffle design would sure help to increase your success!

[woodbutcher17]

That is what I was kinda leaning toward. The only reason I was useing 6" is becouse I got a 20' section for free and thought I would keep my cost down but on the other hand I don't want to waste my time with something that won' work. I wll more and likely use the 6" for bird houses. .Thanks for the info. .... Woodbutcher17

[woodbutcher17]

On 2nd thought I see that the Mayberry Bat house is 6.5" dia. and I think that it has 3 baffels & mine has 4. Do any of youall have this house and how well does it work for you ? Thanks for any info you can give me...

[garverm]

I was thinking about your question. Here are a few thoughts. First, temperatures in PVC tubes can soar to 150 degrees versus 120 degrees in the same conditions in a wooden nursery house. This information was from a study on the uninsulated Maberry PVC tube house. Second, larger diameter PVC pipes with wooden baffles can help to offset temperature swings. The BatCan is 10" diameter x 32" tall. See link below. Note that I have seen 5-gallon and 7-gallon plastic buckets that could be used at a fraction of the cost of the BatCan. The height is below specs though. Maybe two or three of these buckets could be cut and attached to give you the diameter and height that you need. Would be rain proof and wind proof, plus you would get to be as creative with baffles, vents, insulation, air flow, as you want. Stucco, paint, bed liner, and pet mesh could all be adapted.

http://www.batmanagement.com/Ordering/batboxes/batcan/batcan.html

[woodbutcher17]

Thanks for the info. I guess there are some basic sizes to go by and everything else is by trial and erra. If it works do it & if it don't then do something else. I beleave when I go bigger I will use 10" or 12" dia. schedule 35 sewer pipe. I can get 4 to 5 tubes out of a 14' section. The cost is not to bad. I also recycle pine lumber from CLEAN pallets from where I work for the baffels.