A senior female is usually the pack leader, although age and temperament, not gender, determine rank. Banded mongoose are active during daylight hours, emerging at dawn from their dens. They form long, single-file processions as they move through their territories. They forage until midmorning, resting up during the heat of the day and resuming until half an hour before sunset. The strong front claws are used to dig up prey.
Insects form the bulk of the banded mongoose diet, along with bird's eggs and reptiles.
Breeding Up to four litters a year consisting of four young are born. Unlike other mongoose, all reproductively mature females give birth. The gestation period is two months, with most births occurring during the rain season. Banded mongoose have strong communal ties. The young remain behind at the den where they are looked after by two babysitters, usually adult males, while the mothers go off to forage, returning to suckle the young.