I frequently have both little brown and big brown bats occupying the same house. But the little browns form a nursery colony whereas the few big browns just seem to be "hanging out" in the same house. In one house I have a maternity colony of about 150 little browns, but there seems to be about a dozen or so big browns that are not nursing (also not in close contact with the little browns). Is it possible to get both species to form maternity colonies in the same house? I know that big browns tend to favor slightly cooler temps for nurseries, which I tried to fulfill with my 4 chamber bat house (mounted on a post). I have bachelor colonies of big browns in separate, smaller houses, at my residence. These houses are mounted on my house and are only three chambered and much smaller than the above mentioned house. So I am wondering why the larger house with more temperature gradients doesn't entice the big browns to reproduce.
Any ideas on how to get both species to form nursery colonies in the same house?
I've never had maternity colonies of big browns & little browns in the same house.
I have observed the same thing you have with a few big brown bachelors sharing a house with a little brown maternity colony.
I am starting to notice a pattern of my big brown maternities favoring houses mounted on buildings and my little brown maternities favoring houses mounted on poles.
This next season I am going make a chart to more accurately record data on my bat house usage.