When foraging, ringtail possums prefer young leaves over old ones. One study found the emergence of young possums from their pouches corresponds to the flowering and fruiting of the tea-tree, "Leptospermum" and the peak of fresh plant growth. Young eucalypt leaves are richer in nitrogen and have less dense cell walls than older leaves, however the protein gained from them is less available due to higher amounts of tannins. When feeding, the possum's molars slice through the leaves, slitting them into pieces. The possum's caecum separates the fine particles from the coarse ones. These particles stay in the caecum for up to 70 hours where the cell walls and tanned cytoplasts are partially digested.