Will they visit?: Honey Possum will visit home gardens located near local reserves, parks, or bushland
Natural Distribution: Widespread and common throughout the South West and Perth region.
Honey Possum – (CC)Bo Janmaat. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Australia License (Atlas of Living Australia)
Honey Possum – (CC) Bo Janmaat. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Australia License (Atlas of Living Australia)
Honey Possum – Provided by Perth NRM
Habitat at a Glance
See Habitat Guide for more detail
Shelter: Hollows in large trees, balga skirts, and constructed nest boxes
Diet: Nectar and pollen
Water: Not required
ReWild Benefit: Pollination
Habitat Guide - Shelter
Natural Shelter
A garden with many different flowering shrubs and trees will be popular with your resident Honey Possum. They will live inside hollows of large trees and within the skirts of balgas. Honey Possums are nocturnal. You may see them in a garden during cloudy days as they visit flowers from dawn until dusk.
Novel Shelter
Below is a habitat box template for a honey possum. Ideally, install the box on a mature tree close to the main trunk or a thick horizontal limb. Ensure the box is inaccessible to resident dogs or cats. Before you build:
Nest-boxes are a long-term commitment and need maintenance and repair over time.
Chipboard is okay, but degrade after a year of use.
Hardier and untreated timber (i.e. Jarrah) will last longer and are less prone to attack by fungi, bacteria, and microorganisms.
Keep away from treated timber as this can emit fumes toxic to wildlife and their young.
Avoid using metal wire inside a box. A wooden ladder on the inside of the nest-box is much more suitable or grooved timber will work well.
Maintenance is critical to ensure wildlife remain safe. Last thing you want is a side panel falling off with an animal or its young still living inside.
Habitat Guide - Food and Water
Providing natural sources of food
A garden with native shrubs and trees with provide an abundance of flowers to feed honey possums. They feed on banksias, bottlebrushes, grass trees and kangaroo paws to name a few. A variety of shrubs with varying flowering times will provide food throughout the year.
Providing sources of water
Honey possums attain all their water from their diet.
ReWild Benefits
Honey Possums are small pollinators and can help drive a more connected ecosystem. The greatest threat to local Honey Possums is the lack of suitable habitat and the predation by cats. If you see them foraging in your garden, you can record your sighting on Atlas of Living Australia!
