A bat suffering from arthritis has found an unusual cure for his pain by sipping on a mug of tea . Walter the 22-year-old grey-headed flying fox bat , from Sydney , picked up his bizarre taste after sneaking a slurp out of his owner 's cup of Tetley 's tea . The bat has been grounded by the debilitating disease and spends his time lying around in hammocks , sipping on tea and eating snacks . Scroll down for video . Walter the bat ( pictured ) who is suffering from arthritis has found an unusual cure for his pain by sipping on a mug of tea . However , while Walter may prefer a mug of tea instead of a mug of blood , he drinks only purpose-made tea . Since Walter acquired the unusual taste , all of the other 25 bats in his aviary have also began drinking the beverage , which has been nicknamed ' a hug in a cup ' . Aviary owner Mandi Griffith said she makes two cups of tea in the morning , one for her and one for her bats . 'Now I love my bats , but not so much that I left them slobber in my cuppa , ' she said . 'To keep everybody happy , I 'd make myself a morning tea , and a second one for the bats . Walter the 22-year-old grey-headed flying fox bat , from Sydney , picked up his bizarre taste after sneaking a slurp out of his owner 's cup of Tetley 's tea . Mandi said Walter lives a life of leisure and likes to flap around in her hand in the sun , pretending he can fly . 'While he can hang as a normal bat would , his arthritic limbs are suited to a soft hammock so he totters around the aviary from one hammock to another , snacking on treats on the way , ' Mandi said . 'He also sits on my hand and I walk him around the garden so he can flap his wings in the sun and pretend he 's flying . ' Walter 's owner said he is a 'gentle soul ' and was handed to her so he could live out his final years in 'gentle retirement with other bats in a similar circumstance . ' Since Walter acquired the unusual taste , all of the other 25 bats in his aviary have also began drinking the beverage , which has been nicknamed ' a hug in a cup ' A video of Walter sipping from a cup of tea , posted by fellow bat-loving aviary volunteer Megan Churches , has garnered over 10,000 views after being posted online at the beginning of March . 'Walter does n't get tea every day but he likes it . He 's old . It ca n't hurt him to have something he loves - so he gets it whenever , ' 58-year-old Megan said . Megan said she likes to record the day to day activities of the bats in the aviary and has a lot of fun with the flying creatures . 'Today , one of the bats grabbed my sunglasses , had a munch on them and played with them before fending off another bat who wanted them , then they both dropped them on the floor of the aviary , ' she said . The bat has been grounded by the debilitating disease and spends his time lying around in hammocks , sipping on tea and eating snacks . 'That 's the stuff I like to record . ' Grey-headed flying foxes are one of four species of flying fox native to the east coast of Australia . They are classified as threatened as their numbers have dwindled dramatically due to deforestation .
An Australian bat has found an unlikely cure for his arthritis in a cup of tea . The 22-year-old bat picked up the taste while drinking from his owner 's cup . He said he was surprised to find that it helped him with pain and stiffness, but also gave him energy.