ColonyCondo - 5 chamber resin

How high off the ground does the bat house need to be installed to be successful? Can it be mounted on a shed? Will bats eat mosquitoes?

The bottom of any bat houses should be about 10' above ground or higher, without obstructions immediately around the swoop zone around the bat house (such as bushes/small trees, etc.) Mounting on buildings is actually quite successful, because the bat house stays warmer longer into the night. Except in desert environments,  bat houses -must- receive -direct- morning sun (or more) to start a colony. Bats eat mosquitoes, but no bat is a mosquito specialist...if there are larger, juicier prey around, that will go first. However, just having bats around also can depress insect activity.... insects can hear the bats coming.  -JC

Will this house Eptesicus fuscus or are the spaces too narrow? My current house is the summer home for 30+ Big Browns. Thanks.

Hello Martha- All of our bat houses are great for big brown bats; they should move right in, but they are very site loyal. If you have both bat houses up, only a few may use the new one initially. I recommend leaving the old one up simply to give them options, if possible. -JC

I have a neighbor, he has a LED dusk to dawn light in his driveway, where I want to set my pole for my bat house is about 55 to 60 feet from his light, I am planning on putting the bottom of the house about 18 feet from the ground. The back of the bat house will be facing the light. Do you think this will cause the bats not to take to the house in this location? Due to the light or will this light not bother them. We have lots of bats in the neighborhood. I live on the Texas Gulf Coast. I am going to buy your 5 chamber ColonyCondo bat house. Thanks in advance.

Being in the light is not a deal killer, but there has been recent work showing myotis-type bats distinctly avoiding brightly-lit areas. Your local Mexican free tail bats may not care so much, but it's going to be best to keep the bat house away from light as possible. -JC

Hello, I am trying to give the bats residing in my attic a place to roost once my attic is renovated and sealed (hopefully). My house is block, but the previous owners found it to be too cold and not insulated, so they framed the outside and installed vinyl siding. So I am unsure where to place these boxes, since siding was kind of not recommended. I'm in PA, north west. I have a barn that I can also install houses on and I can install a post. Should I place the boxes on the house to attract them to it? Can I move them away from the house and onto a pole after they establish, to get them away from the house?

Any of our Colony-series bat houses can be mounted on siding; the mount kit provides plenty of landing area even if you're mounting on vinyl siding. Mounting on a building that is being closed up for bats almost guarantees the bat house will be used. Install it close to the existing entrances. Bat houses can be moved off the building after a few seasons and bats will probably continue to use it. Barns are great for mounting bat houses on as well; you might consider the more economical DayLodge bat house and install on a couple side of the barn; more options=more likely bats will use one. Please see our All About Bat Houses manual here for more ideas: https://batmanagement.com/pages/manuals

What color bat house for central North Carolina?

Hi there- any dark shade of any color will do. If choosing from our Colony- bat house series, any of the colors -except- the lighter tan is fine. 

I have bats living somewhere in my roof or attic. I believe there are quite a few because I hear them at night. I also see they’re on the ground. I had my skylights cleaned the other day and three baby bats flew out. So that means there’s more than one mom. Anyway, my question is since I already have what I believe to be quite a few I am wondering if the five chambered one would be the best one to use. And how do I entice them to leave my attic roof and move in. I live in Lompoc, California, and they are here pretty much all year as we never get really cold. Thank you for any help with my situation. Also, I’m starting to get flies in the house all the time so I know that they’re living up there or at least I think that’s an indication of them living in the attic. Thank you.

Our bat houses are quite successful in your situation; just install near where you see them exiting the building. A couple sides of the building is even better. Flies and insects are getting in because of season changes and the crevices are available. They don't have anything to do with bats. The fix is the same for all of them; systematically sealing up the crevices. There's some info here with 4 articles starting here: https://batmanagement.com/blogs/bat-exclusion-control/bats-in-buildings

Hello, I am looking to find some estimates on costs for custom bat condos/hotels. I am thinking very large, like the giant condos on stilts that are like tree houses (see here: https://www.nps.gov/neri/learn/nature/grandview-bat-condo.htm). Is this something you all have experience with or possibly have an idea on how much one might cost to build and install? For context, I am currently working on a rough budget for a potential long-term research project. Thank you for your insights!

BCM used to build those condos- the uncredited photo of the baffles in that link is by BCM's John Chenger. We no longer advise building that type of structure. Smaller, modular bat houses heat up faster and are used more often than the large Condo. Multiple roosts is far better than 1 large one, to protect against disasters, vandalism, and predators. You can install multiple (such as 6+) 3x3 Modular Condos for less than one old-style Condo. If you want to explore the old-school condo more, search for "pa game commission bat condo plans". I would expect the raw materials to be ~$7k and require 1 week labor in a woodshop, and 1 week assembly onsite. In contrast, our Modular Condos are installed in a few hours.

https://batmanagement.com/products/modular-mini-bat-condo-3x3