88 Animal Life 
As the bats above named come from tropical or sub-tropical regions, the cage 
ought to be kept in a fairly warm room, especially if it is desired the collared species 
should breed, as they readily will if kept properly. In order that the inmates may 
not be annoyed by the glare of light and inquisitiveness of prying eyes during the 
daytime, a blind or curtain should be suspended in front of the cage, if not over the 
whole at least covering the upper half. During the daytime bats are very quiet, and 
spend most of their time in sleep; if anyone comes to have a look at them, all they 
usually do is just to blink an eye at the intruder and then cover up their head with 
one wing from the light. The temperature should not fall below fifty degrees, and a 
higher temperature is much better and makes the animals more lively; they mope 
considerably if kept in too cold a room, as they are very susceptible to a chill. 
Cleanliness is an imperative necessity with these and all other animals, and those 
people who have failed as pet-keepers have nearly always fallen over this particular 
stumbling-block, viz., uncleanliness. The floor must be thoroughly cleaned out every 
day and fresh bran put down, and not less than 
once a week the floor must be serubbed over with 
boiling water and disinfectant soap. Unless this 
be done the cage and its inmates speedily become 
an offensive nuisance, not only to the owner but 
to the bats themselves, as there 1s a peculiar, yet 
not naturally unpleasant, odour emanating from bats 
of all species, which speedily becomes intensified 
with the slightest neglect. 
The staple diet of the frugivorous bats is fruit 
of various kinds, preferably dates, figs, bananas 
and grapes, but apples, pears and raisms, and 
almost any kind of good mpe fruit may be given. 
A little boiled rice serves as an hors d’@uvre. The 
water must be always sweet and fresh, as bats are 
very particular animals with regard to this. Boiled 
carrot sweetened with sugar or honey has been 
recommended. 
The insectivorous bats are best fed on most 
finely-shredded beef or mutton, imsects of various 
Photograph by George Solly. '-—s'i«kinds, such as beetles, grasshoppers, etc.; frogs, 
anne Toes too, are particularly acceptable to the Indian false 
vampire. Cockroaches may be offered when beetles cannot be obtained. 
The insectivorous species, as might be well inferred, are more strongly scented than 
the frugivorous kinds, and extra cleanliness is advisable; they are also more quarrelsome, 
and those of smaller size than the other msectivorous ones should be kept in a separate 
cage, as occasionally cannibalism is developed, with the result that the larger make meals 
off their companions of smaller size. 
