Mother bats usually have only one offspring per year, and they are viviparous. A baby bat is referred to as a pup. Pups are usually left in the roost when they are not nursing. However, a newborn bat can cling to the fur of the mother and be transported, although they soon grow too large for this. It would be difficult for an adult bat to carry more than one young, but normally only one young is born. Bats often form nursery roosts, with many females giving birth in the same area, be it a cave, a tree hole, or a cavity in a building. Mother bats are able to find their young in huge colonies of millions of other pups. Pups have even been seen to feed on other mothers' milk if their mother is dry. Only the mother cares for the young, and there is no continuous partnership with male bats.

The ability to fly is congenital, but at birth the wings are too small to fly. Young Tampa bats become independent at the age of 6 to 8 weeks, Orlando bats not until they are four months old. At the age of two years, bats are sexually mature.

A single bat can live over 20 years, but the bat population growth is limited by the slow birth rate.

Bats are natural reservoirs or vectors for a large number of zoonotic pathogensincluding rabies,severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Henipavirus (ie. Nipah virus and Hendra virus)^] and possibly ebola virusTheir high mobility, broad distribution, social bat control(communal roosting, fission-fusion social structure) and close evolutionary relationship to humans make bats favorable hosts and disseminators of disease. Many species also appear to have a high tolerance for harboring pathogens and often do not develop disease while infected.

Only 0.5% of bats carry rabies. However, of the very few cases of rabies reported in the United States every year, most are caused by bat bites. Although most Tampa bats do not have rabies, those that do may be clumsy, disoriented, and unable to fly, which makes it more likely that they will come into contact with humans. Although one should not have an unreasonable fear of bats, one should avoid handling them or having them in one's living space, as with any wild animal. If a bat is found in living quarters near a child, mentally bat removal handicapped person, intoxicated person, sleeping person, or pet, the person or pet should receive immediate getting of bats medical attention for rabies. Tampa bats have very small teeth and can bite a sleeping person without necessarily being felt. There is evidence that it is possible for the bat rabies virus to infect victims purely through airborne transmission, without direct physical contact of the victim with the bat itself.

If a bat is found in a house and the possibility of exposure cannot be ruled out, the bat should be sequestered and an animal control officer called immediately, so that the bat can be analysed. This also applies if the bat is found dead. If it is certain that nobody has been exposed to the bat, it should be removed from the house. The best way to do this is to close all the doors and windows to the room except one to the outside. The bat should soon leave.

Due to the risk of Tampa rabies and also due to Tampa health problems related to their faecal droppings (guano), bats should be excluded from inhabited parts of houses. For full detailed information on all aspects of bat management, including how to capture a bat, what to do in case of exposure, and how to bat-proof a house humanely, see the Center for Disease Control's website on getting rid of bats and rabies. In certain countries, such as Tampa, it is illegal to handle bats without a license.

Where rabies is not endemic, as throughout most of Western Europe, small bats can be considered harmless. Larger getting rid of bats can give a nasty bite. They should be treated with the respect due to any wild animal.