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Minecraft Animal Taming

What is known as ‘Minecraft animal taming’ is a popular aspect of the game. It offers unique benefits and adds an element of companionship to your Minecraft adventures. However, not all animals can be tamed. In this guide, we’ll tell you what you can and can’t do. Also, we’ll explain how to tame the animal mobs that allow it. Note that this guide refers to animal mobs only and doesn’t include hostile mobs like creepers, zombies or other mobs like the allay even though it is somewhat tamable. Let’s have a look at Minecraft animal taming.

Overview Minecraft Animal Taming:

Why should you tame Minecraft animals?

Tamed animals not only offer you company, but also a number of tangible benefits:

  • Protection: Wolves attack enemy mobs, cats keep creepers away.
  • Mobility: Horses, donkeys and mules speed up your travels.
  • Farm animals: llamas and donkeys carry chests for long journeys.Atmosphere & fun: Parrots dance to music, axolotls help in the water.

As you can see, even this initial question opens up a whole host of possibilities to improve your gaming experience.

How to Tame Animals in Minecraft

Similar to breeding, Minecraft animal taming might be a bit more complicated than you think. Not every mob can be tamed. If a mob is part of the ‘Minecraft animal taming: yes’ category, what you need to do mainly depends on the animal itself. Here’s a breakdown of the most important aspects of taming different animals in Minecraft, focusing on the universal similarities:

  • Find animals and approach them with caution: Animals appear in different biomes, and some only in certain light conditions. With most tamable animals, the player must approach them carefully so as not to scare them away.
  • Feeding: Using food is a common method for taming. Different animals prefer different types of food.
  • Patience: Taming usually requires patience, as some animals cannot be tamed on the first try. They may also throw you off or run away at first – so stay calm and try again.
  • Waiting for hearts: As soon as the animal is tamed, hearts (not to be confused with the hearts on the life meter) or special animations indicate success. Some animals, such as horses, also snort or neigh. Pay attention to visual and acoustic signals.

While breeding requires two animals, food, and two clicks, Minecraft animal taming might take more time. It is possible that you’ll need more than one try or certain additional items.

Minecraft Animal Taming: Which ones are possible?

Minecraft features a range of tamable, trust-building and non-tamable animals, each offering different interactions and experiences. The tamable animals often offer functional benefits such as transportation, storage or support in battle. You can recognize them by visual cues such as a collar, and they obey you. Trusting animals can be fed in the same way as tamed animals, but they do not follow you or fight for you. The animals that cannot be tamed primarily serve as resources for materials or enrich the ambiance of the game environment.

tamabletrust-buildingnon-tamable
donkeysfoxesbees
happy ghastocelotsdolphins
catsaxolotlpolar bears
llamasfish
mulesbats
parrotschickens
horsesrabbits
wolvescows
pandas
sheep
turtles
pigs
squids
goats

Many of the non-tamable animals are passive mobs you encounter on a daily basis in the game. For example, sheep, cows, or chickens are friendly and will peacefully live next to you. There is no need to tame them in any way. That is the difference between tamable and non-tamable animals. Minecraft animal taming is useful only if the mob can be a profit to your gaming experience, but won’t behave like that without any help. 

Animal Taming – Minecraft’s Guide to Friendly Companions

Now that we have established the similarities between the tameable animals and sorted out which mobs can be tamed and which can’t, let’s have a look at the differences. We’ll tell you how to tame each tameable animal and what you need to do so. So, have a look at this Minecraft animal taming guide to friendly companions.

How to Tame a Cat in Minecraft

Cats spawn in villages with more than four beds. They are definitely one of the animals to be seen most often. Still, they run away from players. To avoid this, you will have to tame them. All you need is:

Hold the fish in your hand and try to move slowly or not at all. You’ll need patience when trying to tame a cat in Minecraft. In the end, it is worth it. Every once in a while, a cat will bring you an item. Unless you click on it, it will follow you around. And the best part about it: creepers and phantoms avoid cats and therefore you as well.

How to Tame a Donkey in Minecraft

Donkeys may not seem like the perfect mob companion, but they can be an immense upgrade to your gaming experience. Still, they will need patience too. You have to try to ride a donkey several times until it stops throwing you off its back. Click on the donkey and try riding it. That is how to tame a donkey in Minecraft. Once it is done, you will have a companion for long distance journeys that can also carry chests with 15 slots. This means your new best mob friend increases your inventory on an adventure.

How to Tame a Fox in Minecraft

Foxes in Minecraft can’t be tamed in a classical way. They will run away from players. However, if you manage to breed two of them, it results in a baby fox that trusts a player. Therefore, you will need:

  • sweet berries

Once you meet a fox, you will notice that it is pretty hard to make two foxes breed without them running away. If you need any help, check out our article on the Minecraft fox. You’ll most definitely need a lot of patience to achieve the goal, even now that you found out how to build trust with a fox.

How to Tame a Horse in Minecraft

Taming a horse in Minecraft is pretty much the same process as it was for a donkey. Both animal mobs are there to ride them. So, again, all you need is patience. As with the donkey, you try to ride it as often as necessary until it will let you sit on it. Sadly, you can’t put chests on a horse. Nevertheless, a horse is a great way to travel in Minecraft, and with a little patience, taming one is not that hard.

How to Tame a Llama in Minecraft

As with the other rideable animal mobs, taming a llama in Minecraft is fairly simple. Hop on its back with your hands empty. It may take several attempts. Once it stops knocking you off and hearts appear above it, it is tamed. Now you can put a chest on it for some additional inventory slots. However, you can’t control the animal when riding it (and you also don’t need a saddle). If you want your inventory to be safe and close to you, put a lead on the llama, and it will follow you around.

How to Tame a Mule in Minecraft

You should definitely learn how to tame a mule in Minecraft! As a combination of both a horse and a donkey, it inherits only the best parts, and taming it is therefore also pretty easy. Just like with the horse or the donkey, you need to ride it by hopping on its back with a right click. Once it lets you sit on it and hearts appear, the mule is yours. Now you can ride it with a saddle and put chests on it. To be extra useful, many mules are even faster than minecarts.

How to Tame an Ocelot in Minecraft

Since version 1.14, ocelots are no longer properly tamed, but only gain trust. They are rare to find, roaming only in jungle biomes and running away from players. So before you try to find one, make sure you have the right food with you to be able to negotiate. The right foods are:

  • raw cod
  • raw salmon

The most important thing when approaching an ocelot is to stand very still. Hold the bait in your hand and don’t move. Don’t even turn your head too quickly, otherwise the animal will retreat. Don’t forget that you may need several attempts – every fish has a ⅓ chance of building trust. But once you have succeeded, the ocelot will trust you. A trusting ocelot no longer flees, but also does not follow you, does not teleport and does not sit down. It retains its own hunting behavior, scares off creepers and phantoms and no longer despawns. Be sure to take a lead or a boat with you for longer excursions.

How to Tame a Parrot in Minecraft

Parrots do not only look cool but can also be quite helpful. Therefore, you should definitely know how to tame a parrot in Minecraft! Taming them is actually not as hard as it is with some of the other animal mobs. First of all, they spawn more often than ocelots for example. Still, you’ll have to look in a jungle biome to find them. Then, all you need are:

Just feed a parrot until it trusts you. Afterwards, you can tell a parrot to sit or stand by clicking on them, similar to cats. It can sit on your shoulder or fly around close to you. The most useful part is that it imitates the sounds of hostile mobs in a radius of 20 blocks. This might be an amazing warning signal.

How to Tame a Wolf in Minecraft

As usual, you will find wolves in variants of the Taiga biome. First of all, they are neutral until they are attacked. So don’t attack them immediately when you see them. Since wolves appear in packs and represent this mentality, it’s a good idea to find out how to tame a wolf in Minecraft. You only need one thing:

  • bones (about 3-4 of them)

Once the wolf is tamed, it will stop accepting bones and a red collar will appear around its neck. From then on, it will follow you and attack enemy mobs for you. Tamed wolves have 40 health points (20 hearts).

Minecraft axolotl ‘Taming’

The advanced players might be wondering where the axolotl is on this issue. Well, it is a good question. How to tame an axolotl in Minecraft? Technically, it is an animal mob. Still, you can’t really tame it. Axolotls are mostly friendly. You might keep one you brought home from your journey to some caves. All you need is a bucket, really. Here is the warning: don’t put it next to frogs if you want to breed the amphibians. Axolotls will eat tadpoles and ruin your plans. So, if you want to ‘tame’ one, you can only put it on a lead to know exactly that it is close to you.

General Tips & Tricks of Taming Minecraft Animals

Now that you have all the necessary information you need, you could start your journey of taming all tamable animals in the game. Still, there are some tricks to consider when approaching the project ‘Minecraft animal taming’:

  • Habitat consideration: Some animals are only found in certain biomes, so you should know where to look.
  • Safety: Make sure the area is safe from enemy mobs when trying to tame animals.
  • Food supply: Always have enough food in your inventory for taming.
  • Do not hit or frighten: Animals that feel threatened will immediately run away or even attack you. Move calmly, refrain from aggressive gestures, and avoid accidentally clicking with the wrong hand.
  • Keep calm: Some animals need several attempts – patience is key.
  • Breeding: Tamed animals can often be bred to produce offspring that will inherit the tamed status.
  • Use name tags: A name tag prevents your pet from despawning. Give your companion a cool name that suits it.
  • Animals are not invincible: Enemy mobs, falls, or lava can be dangerous for your pet. Protect it actively with armor (if possible) or place it in a safe enclosure.

These tips are probably not new to advanced Minecraft players. However, it is not easy to put together an universal list when each Minecraft animal taming attempt will be different.

Conclusion: Minecraft Animal Taming

Taming is not always taming. Minecraft offers a number of animal mobs that you can tame. Some may follow a similar principle, some may not. After all, you will need patience when trying Minecraft animal taming. At least it will be worth it when your new pet companion protects you, warns you, or carries you and your stuff like additional weapons and tools for a long journey. Just roam different biomes and tame them all. You know where Minecraft animal taming is a good thing to do? On a Minecraft server from G-Portal, where you can ask your friends to join you on your search for rare ocelots or help you fishing to have enough bait in stock. No matter which animal you are looking for: have patience and good luck!

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