The Common Palm Civet is a nocturnal omnivore. Its primary food source is fruit such as chiku (from a long-lived, evergreen tree native to the New World tropics), mango (a tropical fruit of the mango tree) and rambutan (a medium-sized tropical tree). It also has a fondness for palm flower sap which, when fermented, becomes ‘toddy’, a sweet liquor.

It is also fond of coffee cherries. They eat the outer fruit and the coffee beans pass through their digestive tract. An expensive coffee called ‘kopi luwak’ is supposedly made from these coffee beans. Kopi luwak is said to have a gamy flavour and sells for more than $100 per pound. Common Palm Civets will eat reptiles, eggs and insects as well.

The Common Palm Civets species name comes from the fact that both male and female have scent glands underneath the tail that resemble testicles. It can spray a harmful secretion from these glands. The common palm civet is solitary, nocturnal and arboreal. Common Palm Civets spend the day asleep in a tree hollow. Common Palm Civets are territorial.