How to tame and breed animals in Minecraft (2023)

The world of Minecraft is filled with vicious creatures that will attack the players if they get too close. However, the game is also brimming with friendly and passive animals.

Most passive mobs spawn in the Overworld, with only one appearing in the Nether. A remarkable aspect of passive animals in Minecraft is that they can also be tamed. To do so, players must feed the mob's preferred food to gain their trust.

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Tame and breed animals in Minecraft

Taming animals

Taming wolves using bones (Image via Mojang)

There are a few benefits of taming animals, such as horses, as once tamed, they can be used as a means of transportation. In other cases, players would tame animals such as wolves just to have a pet that follows them around.

Here's a list of all the tameable mobs and how they can be tamed:

Horses, donkeys, mules, llamas, and trader llamas

When exploring Minecraft, players will find horses, llamas, and donkeys in the plains and savanna biomes. On the other hand, mules do not spawn naturally. Only by cross-breeding a horse and a donkey can a mule be spawned.

The taming process for these mobs is basically the same. The player must keep mounting the mob until it no longer dismounts them. Then, they can place a saddle on it to control its movement.

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Wolves

In the case of wolves, taming them is very simple. All players need to do is find a wolf in forests, taigas, and groves and then give it a few bones. Once tamed, a red collar will appear around its neck.

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Cats and parrots

Taming these two mobs is quite simple, as players only need to feed them their favorite food item. In the case of cats, one must feed them raw salmon or cod. When trying to get close to an untamed cat, they must tiptoe as the mob runs away quickly if it feels unsafe.

Parrots will eat seeds of melons, wheat, or beetroot. This colorful little bird can be found in the dense jungles of Minecraft.

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Breeding animals

Pandas in the game (Image via Mojang)

Breeding animals in Minecraft can have several benefits. It can provide a sustainable source of food and other items. By breeding animals such as cows, pigs, and chickens, players can quickly build up a population of these animals and have a steady supply of meat, eggs, and milk.

To breed animals, one must feed two of them their favorite food. Here are all the breedable animals and the food they eat:

• Horse and donkey: Golden apple, enchanted golden apple, or golden carrots
• Cow, goat, mooshroom, and sheep: Wheat
• Pig: Carrot, potato, beetroot
• Chicken: Seeds of wheat, pumpkin, melon, and beetroot.
• Wolf: Rotten flesh and either raw or cooked meat
• Cat or ocelot: Raw cod or salmon
• Axolotls: Bucket of tropical fish
• Llama and trader llama: Hay bale
• Rabbit: Dandelion, carrot, or golden carrot
• Turtle: Seagrass
• Panda: Bamboo
• Fox: Sweet berries or glow berries
• Bee: Flowers
• Strider: Warped fungus
• Hoglin: Crimson fungus
• Frog: Slimeball

Pandas, unlike other animals, will only breed under certain conditions. Eight bamboo blocks must be within a five-block radius of both pandas to facilitate the process.