text: 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 doesn't get tea every day but he likes it. He's old. It can'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.
target: 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 .
  The rest of the 25 bats in the aviary have acquired a taste for the tea too .
  While it may look like regular tea it is his own purpose-made tea .