Bat House Forum

[marshallcountybats]

I think wider can be done with synthetic materials.  With the 5" x 5" square sections of PVC fence post covers, 3' sections could be turned horizontal and glued stacked together.  A little innovative cutting would allow the bats to climb up and down through the sections.

Yesterday, I saw black ribbed ABS plastic drain pipe in huge diameters.  It might prove easier to get a nusery colony of bats with appropriately spaced baffles inside one of those.

Rubicon bat houses are made from sheets of recycled milk jugs.  Their current bat house is not bad looking.  I would like to see one double the size of what they now offer.  It would be great should someone who has tested a Rubicon bat house speak up about their experiences.

[Terry Lobdell]

I have thought about sliding the 4" black ribbed plastic drain pipe over a 2X4 but have yet to try it......maybe next year.........it would be a very easy to make rocket style house............not sure how the plastic would hold up in the sun though.........

[marshallcountybats]

Terry, I think the plastic over a wood post (Synthetic Rocketbox) sounds like a good experiment for drawing big brown bat bachelors, especially if stationed in different areas of the property.

I am still looking at non-wood alternatives to building a nursery house for longevity and lightweight qualities.  Seems to be a need, but little development outside of the Bat Can and also the Maberry products.  I am not sure how the webbing inside the Maberry bat houses holds up or is proven to be okay with bats.  I keep thinking of the old lawn chairs that would need re-webbed every few years after the sun had rotted the webbing.

Anyhow, I am appreciative of your post, and I am still hopeful that someone might find a lead on helping me with the push for alternative bat roosts.

;)

[Terry Lobdell]

I think I am definitely going to try the black plastic ribbed drain pipe this next spring.

I will slide it over a single rough sawn 2X4.

I may not even saw kerf the 2X4 as I am observing many bats easily roosting from other rough sawn surfaces.

I will notch the 2X4 in a couple places so the bats can access each side.

This type of drain pipe has slits all the way around which will be good for ventilation.

On the top half of the house I will slide another layer of pipe over to cover up the slits in the first layer of pipe. This will help hold temperatures at night.

For a roof I could just use a large coffee can or get a stainless steel pet dish. Walmart has many different sizes of stainless steel bowls that would be perfect for roofs of rocket boxes.

[Terry Lobdell]

Here is a link to pictures on this forum of a double crevice rocket box with a popcorn tin exterior. It had a lot of use by my big brown maternity here at home this past summer. In fact, they were roosting in this box when the pups first took flight on July 15th.

http://www.batnic.org/forum/forum5/480.html